The Knicks are reportedly interested in hiring Raptors president Masai Ujiri to replace Phil Jackson

The whole hep basketball world may still be reeling from news that the Knicks will part ways with team president Phil Jackson, but that doesn’t mean owner James Dolan is resting on his laurels at the moment. Seriously! He’s not!

Masai Ujiri is one of the few actual general managers whom Dolan definitely knows by name. His familiarity with the Raptors’ current boss goes back to the Carmelo Anthony trade, when then-Nuggets GM Ujiri took Dolan and the Knicks behind the woodshed and paddled damn near every asset out of them. Ujiri then moved on to Toronto, where he fleeced the Knicks even worse in the indefensible Andrea Bargnani deal.

Unfortunately, Toronto appears to be in a strong position to keep Ujiri.

But there might be hope! Dolan and the Knicks are apparently utilizing the services of Tim Leiweke, who hired Masai back in the day, when he was the president of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (which owns the Raptors).

By the way, that “Oak View Group” you read about in the press release—in which Leiweke is partnered with MSG—was founded by Leiweke and...Irving Azoff! It always come down to Irving Azoff, somehow!