In addition, the Atlanta Hawks, Miami Heat, Sacramento Kings, Orlando Magic, Denver Nuggets, Washington Wizards, Golden State Warriors, Sacramento Kings, New York Knicks and Utah Jazz are all recognizing Juneteenth in some fashion. The Wizards and Washington Mystics are expected to walk from the Capital One Arena in Washington to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial on Friday morning. The Knicks joined forces with the New York Rangers to host an MLK youth panel on Thursday with former Knicks star Allan Houston and general manager Scott Perry.
Scott Perry Rumors
Knicks GM Scott Perry, speaking at a MSG panel Thursday and for the first time publicly since the coronavirus shutdown, encouraged the American youth to continue fighting for social justice and equality. “Let’s not allow this to be just a moment in time,” Perry said. “I’ve been around long enough to know that things that have happened in our history before — there’s a temporary outrage, and then boom, things are back to normal. Don’t allow this to be that time. This is a call of duty to action for all young people. And I would to you as well, you got to have confidence and belief in yourself.”
Perry said action can take different forms for athletes, who have to understand they’re in the spotlight. “I think their words have to be followed by corresponding appropriate action,” Perry said. “The impact that words and actions of an athlete can have, not only for the people in their presence, but the millions watching them on television or on their cell phones and latched onto every word, action and emotion that these guys and gals share. And so I think really being in tuned to that, understanding that responsibility, and continuing to reach out to their communities in the way they best see themselves best impact the community. Not everybody may be built to protest, but guys may be built in other ways to support minority businesses or help mentor youth in their community. “
Allan Houston, like Perry, pushed stamina for this movement. “I liken it to a team that’s on the road, odds may be against you, but there’s momentum… To our youth, just go out there and learn, educate yourself, but you have to train and you have to plan,” Houston said. “And then you have to endure. This is going to be a long haul, a long battle, don’t think this is going to change in two months.”
Jonathan Wasserman: Knicks, Rangers hosting a Juneteenth Youth Symposium now via Zoom, important discussion led by Allan Houston and Scott Perry pic.twitter.com/Y0a0sU4PAV
Marc J. Spears: The Knicks announce Brock Aller as vice president, basketball and strategic planning, Walt Perrin as assistant general manager – college scouting and Frank Zanin as assistant general manager – pro scouting. NYK also say GM Scott Perry signed an extension for the 2020-21 season.
Ian Begley: Knicks are adding Frank Zanin to their front office, league sources confirm. NYK president Leon Rose so far has added Utah’s Walt Perrin, CLE’s Brock Aller & retained Scott Perry as his GM. Zanin was last w/OKC & was an assistant GM with Brooklyn. First reported by The Athletic.
Chris Iseman: League sources confirmed the Knicks are adding Walt Perrin to the front office as assistant GM, as @Shams Charania reported. Leon Rose continues to fill out his front office, previously bringing in Brock Aller and bringing back Scott Perry.
Ian Begley: Knicks are expected to hire Jazz VP of Player Personnel Walt Perrin as assistant GM, per league sources. In addition to Perrin, Knicks president Leon Rose has added Brock Aller in a VP role and retained Scott Perry as general manager. The Athletic first reported the Perrin hire.
A few caveats here: the Knicks doing extensive homework on a player isn’t necessarily a sign that they are going to pick that player. They are probably doing extensive scouting on several players to prepare for different draft scenarios in advance of the NBA Lottery. Also, the Knicks’ scouting this season was done by GM Scott Perry and his brain trust. New Knicks president Leon Rose will obviously rely on that scouting to evaluate the draft. Perry is Rose’s hand-picked general manager for the 2020-21 season.
Knicks keeping Scott Perry
The Leon Rose era will begin with a familiar face as the Knicks have decided to retain Scott Perry as general manager. The Knicks confirmed that Perry will remain with a statement from team president Leon Rose. “Scott is a well-respected basketball executive who I have known for more than 20 years, and I look forward to continuing to work closely with him as we look to build a winning team in New York,” Rose said.
While the season remains in limbo right now, the Knicks needed to make a decision on Perry with a mutual option set to trigger on May 1. According to a league source, the two sides agreed on a one-year contract, keeping Perry in place with an important – and odd – draft approaching this summer. The Knicks would not discuss the contract.
However, Perry’s long-term future as GM still is not guaranteed with his contract up June 30. The draft is scheduled for June 25 and could remain there if the NBA cancels its season in May. Though Rose is considering keeping Perry, one NBA source told The Post, “The impression is Leon will do his due diligence.’’ An urgency to make a change, though, is lessened because of the new logistics amid the COVID-19 pandemic, especially with New York the nation’s epicenter. “The shutdown may have helped everyone — at least temporarily,’’ one NBA source connected to the Knicks said.
It’s a good bet Knicks GM Scott Perry will be in place for the NBA Draft 2020 whenever it is held. The current date is June 25. What happens after the Knicks’ draft is unclear. Because of the self-isolation rules, Rose will look to rely on his current personnel men who spent the season scouting college games.
Acting Knicks president Scott Perry is “in agreement’’ with Miller’s policies against a full-out tank. Miller declined to say if he’s spoken to incoming president Leon Rose, who has not been named officially. “I talk to Scott every day,’’ Miller said. “We talk about personnel, we talk about player development, we talk about everything. Multiple times, sometimes. We are in agreement, as we go through this, that we are high level trying to develop players. And as we do that, the approach that we’re taking is that their minutes are quality minutes. They’re bringing value to the team when they’re out there. We think that’s helping them develop and moving them forward.”
The first and most vital move for Rose is naming a general manager, a role still manned by Scott Perry. But he is not expected to survive the purge of the latest incarnation of the Knicks rebuilding plans. The coach, David Fizdale, was ousted in December, and team president Steve Mills followed last month. A source said Perry is not expected to last beyond his contract that ends after this season.
One NBA source said acting president Scott Perry, whose future still is up in the air, was particularly bent out of shape by Stoute’s comment. Asked if team brass or ownership spoke to him to put him at ease, Miller said, “I speak to Scott every day. I just left speaking with Scott. It’s really not necessary. There’s really no reason to put me at ease. I’m at ease. We’re getting ready to play in MSG and I’m coaching the Knicks tonight. We get to play basketball. It’s basketball season. “I don’t really have a reaction to it. “I’m locked into doing what we do here. My job is to get the team ready to play Washington. My focus is on the players.’’
If team president Steve Mills and GM Scott Perry were coming back next season, Miller had a shot to return if his record got to be around .500. But Mills is gone, Perry may be demoted or fired and incoming president Leon Rose is prepared to make a flashy coaching hire after the season. According to NBA insiders, ex-Knicks assistant Tom Thibodeau and former Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy are expected on Rose’s short list.
Knicks eyeing Jeff Van Gundy, Tom Thibodeau
Interim coach Mike Miller has won his share of Knicks’ fans by stabilizing the Knicks defense. He’s posted a three-game winning streak and a four-game winning streak that ended Sunday when the Knicks blew an eight-point overtime lead in Atlanta. Miller carries a 13-19 record entering the final game before the All-Star break Wednesday versus Orlando. If team president Steve Mills and GM Scott Perry were coming back next season, Miller had a shot to return if his record got to be around .500. But Mills is gone, Perry may be demoted or fired and incoming president Leon Rose is prepared to make a flashy coaching hire after the season.
According to NBA insiders, ex-Knicks assistant Tom Thibodeau and former Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy are expected on Rose’s short list. Neither Thibodeau nor Van Gundy have gained so much as an interview across the years. Owner James Dolan was said to hold a grudge against Van Gundy for quitting during the 2001-02 campaign.
Thibodeau is a Creative Artist Agency client and has worked with Rose, who will leave his position as head of CAA’s basketball department. According to a source, Van Gundy likes Rose and the feeling is mutual. Van Gundy and Thibodeau are still tight. Thibodeau was Van Gundy’s assistant during their Knicks days. “If Leon ever hired Jeff, the fans would love him,’’ one insider said.
Marc Berman: One thing of note: GM Scott Perry has a long relationship with William Wesley, who figures to join Leon Rose in some capacity.
Mills negotiated with teams on trades up until Monday, according to the source, and several packages are in place for acting Knicks president Scott Perry with which to work. Trading Marcus Morris for a collection of assets and dealing with Golden State for point guard D’Angelo Russell are still on the table, according to the source.
Mike Vorkunov: GM Scott Perry, who is running Knicks basketball ops in the interim after Steve Mills was fired, addressed the Knicks as a team today before practice. He and interim HC Mike Miller spoke too. Miller says the approach is to maintain business as usual. Knicks next play Thur at MSG.
Adrian Wojnarowski: It is expected that GM Scott Perry will continue in his role as Knicks GM for forseeable future, league sources tell ESPN.
Either way, decisions will have to be made on the front office after the season. Both Mills and GM Scott Perry have separate mutual contract options for next season, according to a source, meaning they’d have to be picked up by both themselves and the Knicks to return. Dolan would love to pry Masai Ujiri out of Toronto, but there’s skepticism it can done with the team president under contract. Such a deal would be very complicated if the Raptors play hardball. Another name being mentioned around the league is Thunder president Sam Presti. Rockets president Daryl Morey is expected to be a free agent but is saddled with the China controversy. According to ESPN, Morey’s tweet supporting Hong Kong cost the NBA between $150 million and $200 million in Chinese-driven revenue. The league can say whatever for PR purposes but the preference is Morey’s departure.
LaMelo Ball has shut it down for good in Australia with a foot injury, but still should be a top-three pick in June’s draft. According to a source, the Knicks never got a chance to see the 6-foot-7 forward play live Down Under. Brass had plotted the trip for this month. In Ball’s last two games in the Australian National Basketball League in late November, he struck for consecutive triple-doubles. Par for the course. Maybe it won’t matter. There’s no guarantee president Steve Mills or general manager Scott Perry will make the Knicks’ lottery selection in June. To their credit, Mills and Perry have assembled six first-round picks in the next four drafts.
Steve Popper: Doc Rivers talking about the impromptu press conference Mills and Perry held 10 games in: “That was bad. I think we all know that.”
“There’s not one benefit of coming in as an interim coach,” Van Gundy said, speaking of the task generally. “Not one. No preparation time. You have to take over for someone who hired you who just got through a traumatic, life-altering experience of losing a job. You have to navigate how you can be loyal to that person and at that same time move forward with your team to get them to play well. That’s a very hard thing to do.” And he adds: “As a lifer who has not had it easy to get to the NBA, he is enjoying this great opportunity. And I’m not going to be surprised at the end of the year if Steve Mills and Scott Perry say, ‘Hey he did such a great job that we’re going forward with him.’”
Blatt, who has a strong relationship with team president Steve Mills and VP of player development Craig Robinson, is not expected to assist with the coaching staff. “David Blatt is a great basketball mind and we look forward to adding him to the organization,” Mills and Knicks general manager Scott Perry said in a statement released by the team. “He will be a great asset to our front office, G League team and international scouting.”
The New York Knicks have issued the following statement: “The New York Knicks organization would like to thank David Fizdale for his leadership and professionalism over the past two seasons. He represented the organization with nothing but class. We wish him all the best in his future endeavors. ” Statement from David Fizdale: “Coaching the New York Knicks has been a great honor and I appreciate Steve Mills, Scott Perry and Jim Dolan for providing me with this opportunity. There are lessons we take with us from every life experience and I am especially grateful for the lessons I have learned from the extraordinary group of people within the MSG family – from the players, coaches, development staff, and trainers to the arena crew, concession workers and ushers – who have all treated me and my family so well during our time with the team.”
Ian Begley: Taj Gibson said he and some other players heard from Steve Mills and Scott Perry after David Fizdale was fired. He says he also had a chance to say goodbye to Fizdale before Fizdale left the facility yesterday. Fizdale got emotional during the conversation. Taj: “Guys loved him.”
David Fizdale was laughing and shaking hands with several members of Knicks brass just hours before news leaked of his curiously timed firing. Video shows a smiling Fizdale greeting team president Steve Mills and general manager Scott Perry, among others, Friday at the team’s practice facility in Westchester.
If Fizdale is fired in-season, he’ll have two years left on his contract, according to reports. It’s unclear if those two years are fully guaranteed. Mills and Perry also have years remaining on their deals. Mills, per sources, has a double option on one of the remaining years of his deal. So Dolan would pay them money not to work if he decides to fire them.
If Mills fires Fizdale, the next question is if he and Perry will keep their jobs beyond this season. In a conversation with Mills and other front office members after the Mills/Perry press conference, Dolan gave off the impression that Mills and Perry would be safe if the team showed progress, as SNY reported. Just how Dolan defines progress is unclear. But if Fizdale is fired, it seems as if the Knicks would have to play much better under the interim coach for Mills and Perry to keep their jobs and have a chance to hire another coach in the offseason.
Dolan had a conversation with Mills and other members of the front office the day after the press conference. Per SNY sources, Mills and management came away with the impression that they would be safe if New York showed progress. The Knicks are 2-2 since Mills and Perry addressed the media, presumably at the direction of Dolan, who was understandably unhappy with the club’s rough start.
Kiki Vandeweghe interested in Knicks president job?
Regarding the front office, Mills and GM Scott Perry are likely to last the rest of the season, according to sources. That could change if James Dolan gets cranky, but, regardless, the front office is far from safe in the offseason. Names are already being floated across the league of executives who might replace Mills. They include: Masai Ujiri, Sam Presti, Kiki Vandeweghe (who is interested in the job, according to a source), Daryl Morey (who probably won’t last in Houston following the China controversy), Trajan Langdon and Sam Hinkie.
David Fizdale done in New York?
One step: Mills and general manager Scott Perry addressing the media after Sunday’s loss to the Cavaliers while Fizdale was still in the locker room. Mills and Perry stressed that the team wasn’t meeting expectations, seemingly a veiled shot at the coach. Adrian Wojnarowski on ESPN: The dismissal of David Fizdale is inevitable, and there was, I think, a bond broken between management and their head coach with how they handled things after that loss Sunday night.
Knicks owner James Dolan spoke with team president Steve Mills and others in management on Monday, the day after Mills and GM Scott Perry held an impromptu press conference to express their frustration with the Knicks. Dolan speaks with Mills and other top decision-makers regularly, just as most NBA owners do, but this conversation seemed to carry a little more weight. Sources familiar with the conversation told SNY that management came away with the impression that their jobs would be secure as long as the Knicks ‘showed progress’ this season.
Despite another defeat, there was a clear attempt to calm roiling waters surrounding Fizdale. Sources indicated Mills and Perry felt their unprecedented James Dolan-inspired press conference Sunday came off as too harsh in the form of pinning the blame on the coach.
Sources told SNY that, in addition to Fizdale, Mills and Perry are also ‘on notice’ in the wake of the Knicks’ slow start. Regardless of what happens with Fizdale, opposing executives expect Mills and Perry to be given the remainder of the season to show Dolan that the team they put together can be competitive.
Mark Jackson an option for Knicks?
Chris Mannix: Should the Knicks eventually move on from Fizdale, there are in-house options — Keith Smart has been a head coach, Kaleb Canales was an interim coach in Portland — but the name to be watched is Mark Jackson. He was a pre-Fiz candidate and a favorite of GM Scott Perry.
Ian Begley: Steve Mills, Scott Perry and David Fizdale talking after practice today. Fizdale said he met with Mills and Perry this morning, as he does almost every morning. When asked about it, Fizdale said he feels he, Mills and Perry are together in sharing blame for Knicks’ bad start. pic.twitter.com/0yi21paf5s
David Fizdale's job not in danger?
Knicks fans may want to blame David Fizdale for the team’s awful start, but the coach appears to have the backing of the two people who matter most — general manager Scott Perry and president Steve Mills. “They have been incredibly supportive. We talk every day,” Fizdale said Wednesday before the Knicks played the Pistons. “The beauty of what’s happening inside our building is everyone is connected. They all see the work we are putting in.”
If Knicks president Steve Mills and GM Scott Perry are antsy over the team’s 1-6 start, they have not conveyed that to coach David Fizdale. The common refrain is this newly constructed roster with 10 new faces is going to take some time to mesh. The Knicks are tied with New Orleans for the NBA’s worst start.
“They’ve been incredibly supportive,” Fizdale said after Wednesday’s morning shootaround at Detroit Country Day before the Knicks faced the Pistons. “We talk every day. The beauty of what’s happening inside our building is everyone is connected. They all see the work that we’re putting in.”
Fizdale was a good soldier during last season’s 17-win tank-a-thon, but how hard this team plays in the next few weeks is worth watching. One name to consider if the season really starts to careen: Mark Jackson. The ex-Warriors coach (and ex-Knick) was a favorite of GM Scott Perry during the interview process in 2018, and Jackson has made no secret about his desire to coach again. Fizdale won’t be expected to perform miracles with this group but New York can’t let the season slip away quickly.
