Washington preparing to make lucrative offer to Raptors' Masai Ujiri to run Wizards' basketball operations, per report

The Washington Wizards covet Masai Ujiri after he built a championship team with the Toronto Raptors

The Toronto Raptors are fresh off of winning their first NBA title in franchise history after defeating the Golden State Warriors.

However, with that type of success, a team's assets are coveted by the rest of the league. According to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, the Washington Wizards are "preparing" a massive $10 million per year offer for Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri and are expected to seek permission from Toronto to speak with him about their vacancy in the coming days.

The Washington Wizards are preparing to offer Toronto Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri a deal that could approach $10 million annually and deliver him the opportunity for ownership equity, league sources tell ESPN.

Wizards owner Ted Leonsis is expected to reach out to Toronto ownership soon to request formal permission to meet with Ujiri and offer a staggering financial package that would include running the Wizards' basketball operations and, perhaps, taking on a larger leadership role in the Monumental Sports and Entertainment company that oversees the Wizards and NHL's Capitals, league sources said.

Ujiri is fresh off of building a championship blueprint after acquiring All-Star forward and NBA Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard from the San Antonio Spurs last summer. At the time, the move was looked at as a huge gamble considering that Leonard is set to be an unrestricted free agent this coming offseason.

However, Ujiri completely shook things up by shipping DeMar DeRozan out of town in exchange for Leonard and it ultimately brought a championship to Toronto. This NBA title comes after years of falling short in the postseason at the hands of LeBron James when he was a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The Wizards have been very active in searching for a replacement for Ernie Grunfeld, who was fired by Washington after being the team's general manager since 2003. The Wizards had interviewed Denver Nuggets president of basketball operations Tim Connelly, Oklahoma City Thunder executive Troy Weaver and former Atlanta Hawks and Cavaliers general manager Danny Ferry for the vacant position.

Tommy Sheppard is currently serving as the Wizards' interim general manager, but it's clear that the team is looking outside the organization for a full-time replacement. If Washington was somehow able to pry Ujiri away from the Raptors, that would be a remarkable step in the right direction for the franchise.