The New York Knicks fired president of basketball operations Steve Mills on Tuesday, and they have wasted no time finding a replacement.
The Knicks are finalizing a deal with Leon Rose, according to multiple reports. Rose is currently a player agent who works for CAA. New York is also expected to bring in William Wesley, who is a consultant for CAA and has a close relationship with a number of NBA players.
Knicks have begun finalizing plans to bring Rose and William Wesley into potential basketball ops. structure, sources say. https://t.co/YxO3xVtDnL
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 6, 2020
There were reports as soon as Mills was fired that Knicks owner James Dolan could look to structure his front office the same way the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers have, and hiring Rose and Wesley accomplishes that. Rose’s clients have included Joel Embiid, Karl-Anthony Towns, Carmelo Anthony and Chris Paul.
The Knicks were also linked to Toronto Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri, but he is under contract through next season. New York probably would have had to give up draft picks to hire Ujiri before his contract expired, and that is something Dolan didn’t want to do.
