One thing I see a lot of people overlook about Masai is the contract that he signed with MLSE. As a refresher he had a lot of options and MLSE had to provide a lot in order to retain him.

According to articles from when he signed the details included:

According to Dobby and Smith, Ujiri’s contract with the Raptors includes a $15MM annual salary, with the ability to earn more in incentive pay if the value of the franchise continues to increase. Ujiri also received the new title of vice chairman to go along with his president title.

Wouldn’t Masai be losing money if we go into full tank mode? Both Rogers and Bell make money with viewership of the games through their channels and also ticket sales. So it’s in their best interest to have a competing team rather than a tanking team that wouldn’t have as much viewership and many people would not pay top dollars to go watch them live.