NEW KNICKS GM,
Perry picked as next Knick GM
STEVE MILLS found his No. 2 outside of the organization, agreeing to contract terms Thursday with veteran executive Scott Perry to become the new GM of the Knicks, a source confirmed.
And as The News reported last week, Mills’ push to replace Phil Jackson to become team president is now a reality.
Perry’s transfer to the Knicks comes exactly two weeks after Jackson was fired as team president. Mills, who served as GM under Jackson for three seasons, had quickly made a power move to convince James Dolan he should be team president.
Roland Lazenby, a best-selling author who also is Jackson’s biographer and supporter, implied that Mills had undermined the Zen Master.
“Many perceived Melo as Phil’s rival in NY. But certain insiders thought it was Mills, who was seen as obstructing some PJ initiatives,” Lazenby tweeted this week.
Perry, 53, needed permission from the Kings to interview with the Knicks on Thursday, where he was hired just three months ago to work under GM Vlade Divac. The Kings are also requiring monetary compensation for Perry, according to USA Today, with the expectation the Knicks will pay up.
If not name-recognition, Perry does hold an extensive — and largely promising — resume as an NBA executive. He was part of the Pistons front-office team that assembled an NBA champion in 2004, then moved to the Seattle SuperSonics when they drafted Kevin Durant. More recently, he worked for the Orlando Magic under Rob Hennigan (that did not go as well), and was hired by Sacramento just before the club was widely praised for its 2017 draft and free agency.
Still, Perry never held the top GM job. And Mills, the new team president, doesn’t have much experience in his position. The Knicks are also currently out of cap space — save for about $1.4 million — after using most of it on an eyebrow raising $71 million deal for Tim Hardaway Jr. Their biggest issue is Carmelo Anthony, who Mills is still trying to move to the Rockets as they pivot to a rebuild around Kristaps Porzingis.
They already have 11 players under guaranteed contracts, and are expected to add second-round pick Damyean Dotson.
Perry’s transfer to the Knicks comes exactly two weeks after Phil Jackson was fired as team president. Mills served as GM under Jackson for three seasons, and quickly made a power move to convince James Dolan he should be team president.
Many around the league believed Mills would elevate Allan Houston to GM given their comfort and close relationship. Both have worked under Dolan in some capacity for the majority of the last 20 years, achieving the owner’s important loyalty.
Instead, Mills looked to Sacramento — and simultaneously made the Knicks the only NBA team with an African-American holding both the team president and GM positions. There are only six African-American team presidents and/or GMs in the entire league.
With the exception of maybe Clarence Gaines (a Jackson hire), it’s a safe bet the Knicks front office will remain intact. Among the reasons former Cavs GM David Griffin removed his application from this hiring process was because Mills wouldn’t allow him to restructure the front office by bringing in his own guys. As the News reported, one of Griffin’s requests was to remove Houston, the assistant GM.
Perry was credited with helping restore the Sacramento Kings’ long-lost credibility this offseason. They drafted point guard De’Aaron Fox and flipped another pick into two — drafting Justin Jackson and Harry Giles. They also completed some reasonable free agent deals, which went against the bungling reputation of the Kings.
At his previous stop in Orlando, however, Perry was the assistant GM for a team that went just 132-278 with several botched roster moves during his tenure.