Before we continue our examination of potential moves the Knicks can make this offseason, news broke late last night (first reported by Newsday) that New York will not extend the contract of General Manager Scott Perry before his deal expires next month.
Perry was initially hired in 2017 and inked a two-year extension in 2021 with current team president Leon Rose.
When Perry first arrived in New York, the franchise was a mess. They had finished 20+ games under .500 in each of the previous three seasons. The organization was still reeling from the Phil Jackson debacle, which was followed by several mistakes from Steve Mills.
Just how bad was it, you ask? Think about this:
The five highest-paid players on the Knicks during the 2017-18 season were:
1. Enes Kanter ($20,566,802)
2. Joakim Noah ($17,765,000)
3. Tim Hardaway Jr.($16,500,000)
4. Courtney Lee ($11,747,890)
5. Lance Thomas ($6,655,325)
Hardaway Jr. and Noah were set to account for more than 35% of the Knicks' total salary cap space through 2020. Mills had used the team's full room expectation to sign Ron Baker to a two-year $8.9 million deal. Ramon Sessions was the Knicks' starting point guard on opening night that season. The Knicks did not have a first-round pick in the 2016 draft after trading it away to Toronto Raptors in exchange for Andrea Bargnani.
The first big move Perry made was trading Carmelo Anthony to Oklahoma City. That kicked started the much-needed house cleaning/cap clearing, and New York used the second-round pick they acquired in that deal to draft Mitchell Robinson 36th overall.
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