Knicks sign general manager Scott Perry to multiyear contract extension
Knicks GM Scott Perry helped build team that went 41-31 and earned a No. 4 seed. Credit: James Escher
After a surprising and successful season, the Knicks rewarded general manager Scott Perry with a multiyear extension.
Perry was one of the few holdovers from the prior regime when Leon Rose took over as team president last year, remaining in place on a one-year extension to help Rose, who he had a long history with from Rose’s time as an agent. The extension provided an opportunity for the two to work together and Perry helped guide the team to a 41-31 record and a No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference — success that was built mostly on pieces that Perry had helped assemble.
According to a league source, Rose and Knicks executive vice president William Wesley were happy with Perry, forming a cohesive group and producing results. Perry signed Julius Randle in the summer of 2019 to a three-year deal, as well as Bobby Portis, who flourished this season in Milwaukee, as well as drafting Mitchell Robinson in the second round in 2018.
With Rose and Wesley operating in a front office for the first time, Perry provided a stable face for the Knicks. The team drafted Obi Toppin and Immanuel Quickley in 2020 and brought on some pieces that helped — trading for Derrick Rose and adding Alec Burks.
Before Rose arrived Perry spent three seasons alongside Steve Mills. The Knicks were 67-163 in that time, but Perry did balance the books for the Knicks, reining in the salary cap and building up a stockpile of draft picks after a long stretch of bad deals left the team with a bloated cap and too many draft picks sent away.
Green hired by Pelicans. The New Orleans Pelicans have hired Phoenix Suns assistant Willie Green as their new coach. Green, a former NBA player who turns 40 on July 28, is a first-time head coach after serving as an NBA assistant coach the past five years — first with Golden State and then with Phoenix, which lost to Milwaukee in the NBA Finals on Tuesday. -- AP
Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
