Toronto Raptors’ Draft Puzzles Following Front Office Changes

On Friday, the Toronto Raptors officially let go team president Masai Ujiri, sending ripples across the NBA as a whole.

Ujiri was a long-time decision-maker in the Toronto front-office, having been instrumental in building an eventual title winner in 2019. He’s been one of the more respected front office members league-wide for some time now, though the Raptors saw fit to move in a different direction.

The timing of the separation was especially interesting. Mostly due to Ujiri’s likely involvement in the drafting of Collin Murray-Boyles at the 2025 NBA Draft just days ago.

Murray-Boyles, a South Carolina forward, should’ve been an easy bet to land in Toronto in hindsight. At an undersized 6-foot-7, he can’t shoot the ball well, but that’s where the negatives end. He’s a solid scorer with overpowering strength and sneaky speed, one of the best defenders in the class with positional versatility, and a hub-esque passer capable of surprising often.

All-in-all, yet another Ujiri-type pick. The issue being, the Raptors have a number of these type of players already, including star Scottie Barnes leading the charge. Other wings and forwards rostered in Toronto include Brandon Ingram, RJ Barrett and Jonathan Mogbo.

Murray-Boyles is indeed a talented player. But his fit is somewhat questionable on the current roster configuration, and that could’ve very well led to deeper conversations. And could explain the odd timing of the move.

The good news is that while CMB’s fit isn’t perfect, he’s certainly able to morph into a variety of roles.

Per a much-earlier scouting report from NBA Draft on SI regarding the forward: “Murray-Boyles has upside as a connective passer, with the ability to find open teammates with his solid vision for a forward. On the other end, the freshman is a very disciplined defender who stays where he should instead of helping off too early or making risky attempts at steals. Instead, he reacts quickly to the defense in general with active feet and hands.”

Ultimately, Raptors fans can at least look forward to seeing CMB at Las Vegas’ Summer League in the next few weeks.