Nearly a month after reaching an agreement to make him as their new president of basketball operations, the Knicks issued a press release today officially announcing the hiring of Leon Rose.
“We are pleased to welcome Leon to the New York Knicks as team president, and believe he is the right leader to build a winning organization for our fans,” Knicks owner James Dolan said in a statement. “Leon is one of the most respective executives in professional basketball, with decades of experience working with NBA players and team management in all facets of the game. We are confident he brings the right combination of expertise and relationships to ensure the long-term success of the franchise.”
Rose is the replacement for former president of basketball operations Steve Mills, who was removed from his role by New York just two days before last month’s trade deadline. General manager Scott Perry has run the front office since Mills’ dismissal, but his future with the franchise is uncertain. Rose, who will “oversee all basketball operations and personnel” for the Knicks, figures to have the final say on whether Perry will remain in the front office.
Rose has been one of the NBA’s top agents for years and had a star-studded list of clients that includes Joel Embiid, Chris Paul, Devin Booker, and Karl-Anthony Towns. It has taken him a few weeks to tie up loose ends with those clients as he transitioned from his role as a player rep to a team executive.
The Knicks were linked repeatedly to Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri following Mills’ departure, but reports at the time suggested they were reluctant to aggressively pursue Ujiri with more than a year left on his contract. With the hiring of Rose, the organization will attempt to emulate a model that has been successful for the Lakers and Warriors, who are run by former agents Rob Pelinka and Bob Myers, respectively.
Although the Knicks have now made Rose’s hiring official, they haven’t scheduled a news conference to introduce him to the media, tweets Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. According to Woj, Rose’s plan is to remain behind the scenes for now, observing and listening and avoiding making any “big public proclamations.”
…now everything will be fine…
NOT!
A step in the right direction!
Unfortunately, they’re so many steps behind the right direction it’ll still take a little while to get on the plus side. But, at least they’re going forwards now. Would be great to see the Knicks competitive again!
I still don’t understand the logic of hiring a player agent to run a front office. It’s like hiring an arsonist to run the fire department. (Before anyone gets offended, I am referring to them being opposing sides, not that agents are criminals.)
Of course, logic and the Knicks have been on opposing sides for a long time, so maybe it might work for them.
I think this is a good move especially because Leon Rose has been so successful as an agent that he will try hard to make the Knicks a team again and I don’t see it as his nature to accept failure. He knows which players are worth trading or signing. It’s a big plus and I’m excited for the off season, the draft, and free agency!
It doesn’t really follow a model. Myers and Pelinka were younger, and not headline (managing) agents, when hired. Most significantly, neither was initially hired to head an NBA FO. Each could have been a good hire in his original role without demonstrating any broader skill set than they already had.
Hopefully, Rose will be a good hire. Not just better than the guy he replaced (that’s a given). But there is no precedent for doing this. His transactional skill set is something the Knick FO has never had. But that’s only one of the skill sets a good FO needs.
A FO chief (or leader of any kind) needs to be able to create an organization with all of them, and manage and coordinate them effectively to an end. Only time will tell if he has that ability. Although, even minor decisions often give you insight into how someone approaches their job.
Because Knicks and Dolan being Dolan I assume this will not work out, but you never know. Rose’s background does intrigue me, although it could be more of a curse than a blessing if he chooses to chase the big, overrated names.
Knicks have some nice young pieces to build around: RJ has shown some flashes, Mitch is a beast, Frank is already a great defender. Plus, the team [finally] has a number of first-round picks over the next few years.
Couple of smart moves and things could be looking much brighter. I won’t hold my breath, though.
Huge difference in being head of Basketball Operations at CAA in Leon Rose vs being just a plugged in high flying agent.
Rose has the chops to get the job done right.
Knicks fans should be happy with the glass half full instead of empty.
Have no clue who this guy is. I just want them to stay on rebuilding course. Knicks have not truly rebuilt. Since the day they got Ewing. This draft is most important since. We got 3 picks in top 36. Do not F it up. I like Miller. But he needs to go back to assistant coach. I’d like to see Mark Jackson. He helped rebuild Warriors. Think he is stronger from that. To do it in NYC would be special for local guy. He would not mess it up. All about this draft.
With Rose in control of the Knicks it’ll be a house cleaning for sure. Probably 80% of FO gone. Likely get a top GM no problem at all.
Sounds like Knicks fans all want an old school retread coach. See that as a very big mistake. Hire a future Star like Becky Hammon for the coach.