Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports
Last June, Masai Ujiri pumped his fists on a crowded dais in Oakland, his dark suit standing out in a sea of white championship tee shirts. Just 11 months earlier, the Raptors’ president executed one of the boldest trades in recent memory, flipping All-Star guard DeMar DeRozan, center Jakob Pöltl and a first-round pick to San Antonio for Kawhi Leonard, an injured, All-NBA forward with a year left on his contract. It was a risk. The reward—the first title in Toronto’s 24-year franchise history—proved worth it.
The easiest thing Ujuri could have done?