Knicks brass brush off O’Quinn’s dig

LAS VEGAS — Knicks president Steve Mills and general manager Scott Perry brushed off Kyle O’Quinn’s dig at the Knicks, but didn’t do a lot to dispel the big man’s premise.

After signing last weekend with Indiana, O’Quinn said he rejected a similar offer from the Knicks because he “wanted to be a part of something bigger than next year’s draft. I just felt like at this point, I owed it to myself.”

That insinuated the Knicks would be tanking the 2018-19 season.

“Kyle is Kyle,” Mills said Tuesday. “He’s obviously — it felt like it didn’t come out the way he wanted it to come out, knowing Kyle. Kyle is talking, but I still love Kyle and have a lot of respect for him.”

Mills and Perry said they each texted with O’Quinn after he signed to congratulate him, but haven’t reached out since the remark made headlines. The Knicks could have gone over the cap to re-sign O’Quinn after he opted out. Knicks brass mulled it because the club needs rebounding up front and he had a positive effect on the locker room in keeping players loose with his outsized personality.

O’Quinn signed a one-year, $4. 5 million deal after reportedly envisioning a long-term package that paid out something in the $30 million range.

“I drafted the young man [in Orlando] — I wish him nothing but the best,” Perry said. “I hope it works out for him.”

O’Quinn has never been to the playoffs in six years, and his prediction the Knicks are headed to the lottery — and are hoping to — doesn’t seem too off base.

“Playoffs” is a word Perry and Mills refuse to use as they build through the draft and they even downplayed their chances of signing a max free agent in 2019 with their cap space.

“We got to go through training camp, see how this team comes together before we have any idea what this team can do possibly from wins and losses,” Perry said. “We want to have a mindset in the locker room and our coaching staff [that] we want to compete every night. Let’s watch it play out. It’s easy for people to write things off. We still have to go out and play games. Let’s see how quickly the team comes together. If we compete, we’ll be in position to win some games.”

Mills reiterated it’s about improving.

“Our goals have been consistent,” Mills said. “We want to see our guys get better, want fans to have a team that has guys who will compete and try to win games every night,” he said.