The Atlanta Hawks have long been linked to some of the most prominent names as candidates for their vacant president of basketball operations position, and Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri has emerged as the latest lofty target.

Ujiri began his executive career with the Denver Nuggets and built the Raptors team that won the franchise’s lone championship in 2019.

“The Atlanta Hawks have interest in trying to hire Toront’s Masai Ujiri as their new president of basketball operations, league sources tell The Stein Line,” The Stein Line’s Marc Stein wrote on May 14. “It was not immediately clear, league sources say, what sort of shot Atlanta has at prizing Ujiri away from the league's lone Canadian franchise.”

As monumental as that report is, it could lead to another even more seismic decision.

Ujuiri’s history as a roster builder suggests four-time All-Star Trae Young could be a poor fit for a team constructed in his vision. Ujiri has shown a maverick mentality, trading for Kawhi Leonard – notably from the San Antonio Spurs – sparking that championship run.

In Young, who has not shown any signs of wanting a trade, Ujiri could view an opportunity to reach the same end-goal, albeit by moving into an entirely different stage.

Moving Young would put the focus on Hawks forwards Jalen Johnson and Zaccharie Risacher.

Notably, the Hawks’ plans for the future – irrespective of what happens with Young – align with what Ujiri’s past suggests about his preferences when putting teams together.

“What I was told was that they're envisioning either surrounding Trae or, maybe in the future if Trae is not on the team – and I'm not saying that they're looking to move him. I’m saying that like they’re setting up their roster in a way where they really are valuing a lot of positional size. And they like the idea of playing Risacher with Jaylen Johnson moving forward,” The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie told Keith Smith on the “Game Theory Podcast” in September 2024.

“They see those two as being really good complements to one another.”

Then you factor in Young’s contract extension eligibility and the player option for the 2026-27 season, the final year of his current five-year, $215.1 million contract, and the writing may be on the wall if the Hawks hire Ujiri.

More than just Young, the next Hawks basketball czar must determine Dyson Daniels’ future coming off an award-winning season and, most likely, an All-Defensive team selection.

That executive has several other roster decisions to address.

The Hawks missed the postseason in back-to-back years in 2023-24 and 2024-25 for the first time since the 2018-19 and 2019-20 campaigns.

That was the tail end of three straight years without playoffs, which the Hawks must avoid.