Knicks brass give Billups some pointers
Chauncey Billups wants to be Scott Perry one day.
Billups, the former AllStar guard for the Pistons, Nuggets and Knicks, spent three days earlier this week shadowing Perry at the Garden.
The Knicks’ first-year general manager has known Billups since he was in high school and Perry was an assistant at California, then at Michigan. They forged a deep bond when the Pistons made two straight NBA Finals in 2004 and 2005.
“I love Scott — I’ve known him since I was 16,” Billups told The Post in a phone interview. “He was there under Joe Dumars’ leadership and tutelage. We developed a great friendship through those years. You can tell he’s very good at what he does. ... I think he’s going to do a great job there.”
Billups is the lead panelist on ABC/ESPN’s NBA studio show, but he’s biding his time until potentially landing in some team’s front office.
Perry recently hired five new personnel men for the Knicks basketball operations department but this Billups apprenticeship bears watching. Billups recently turned down the Cavaliers GM job.
From Sunday to Tuesday, Billups was a guest of president Steve Mills and Perry, attending games against the Pacers and Hornets at MSG.
“Just me learning from my guy,” Billups said. “I got great respect for him and got a chance to meet with Steve. I’m trying to keep myself in shape for maybe an opportunity I hope to get to be in a position of Scott or Steve. Sharpening my tools, man. I’m very glad I did it. It was a healthy few days.’’
The Knicks’ schedule this week happened to contain consecutive opponents representing Perry’s last two stops. The Knicks host the Kings on Saturday after they played at Orlando on Wednesday. Perry was let go from the Magic last April and joined the Kings days later as executive VP of basketball operations.
In an unprecedented whirlwind, Perry, with an offer for more money and more clout, left the Kings in late July to become Knicks’ GM and work with Mills after Phil Jackson’s ouster.
Jackson is the most-decorated coach ever but couldn’t hack it as an NBA executive. Billups said he believes Perry has those tools to create a more stable culture.
“It’s connectability,” Billups said. “Scott’s going to connect with all the guys on the team, guys in free agency, draft picks. That alone is important for a player. I know what it meant to me to come to Detroit and have a guy like Joe [Dumars], who connected with us so easily. I think Scott is able to do that.
“He’s very organized, very professional. He’s seen it done the right way with our championship [in 2004]. Scott and Steve have done a great job with the environment.”
With the Knicks overachieving at 6-5 despite Perry boldly stating rebuilding plans, Billups thinks the club will hang around .500 this season. The former Knicks guard said it was “healthy” for the team to purge itself of Carmelo Anthony. Billups came to New York from Denver in the trade that netted Anthony in 2011.
“I’m not really surprised that they’re around .500,” Billups said. “They got what’s going to be one of the great players of this generation in [Kristaps Porzingis]. They got a lot of players around him like [Enes] Kanter — an automatic double-double. [Point guard] Jarrett Jack hasn’t gotten enough credit for his veteran leadership and just being a pro.
“The spirit of the team is good and they don’t have the Melo drama around the team. It’s good to see Melo in a good situation but healthy for the team as well to get that done.”