Mavs hire Masai Ujiri as team president — "focus on Flagg"

Dallas finally has a front office adult. The Mavericks named Masai Ujiri — the man who built Toronto's 2019 title — team president and alternate governor on Monday, ending a year of organizational chaos that started the moment Nico Harrison shipped Luka Dončić to the Lakers.

Ujiri's first press conference was a thesis statement. Asked about his vision, he leaned all the way into the franchise's new face: "When kings go, kings come — a king went, and we have a little prince here now. He's turning into a king." The prince is Cooper Flagg, the No. 1 overall pick and reigning Rookie of the Year. Every front office decision from here gets weighed against one question: does it help Flagg.

Ujiri also said he's "excited to see what Kyrie Irving looks like next to Flagg," with Irving returning from last year's torn ACL. Read between the lines and the build is obvious — Flagg as franchise centerpiece, Irving as veteran co-star, everyone else negotiable. The Raptors' Kawhi heist still echoes a decade later. Mavs fans are about to find out if Ujiri can run that play twice.