Will new Knicks president Leon Rose be given the autonomy he needs?  

In the fourth quarter of the Knicks’ 105-103 comeback victory over the Magic on Thursday night, Taj Gibson threw down a dunk that got the crowd on its feet — even in the front row, where Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan joined the rest of the fans standing and cheering.

It was a far cry from the most recent game at the Garden on Jan. 29, when fans chanted “Sell the team!”

Before the Knicks could take the home floor again, president Steve Mills had been removed from his post, a new president was found in prominent player agent Leon Rose from Creative Artists Agency, and the trade of star Marcus Morris had pushed the team a few more steps forward along the path to rebuilding.

The vitriol of the crowd during that Jan. 29 game was so loud that it seemed to set in motion much of the chaos that followed. Without a media conference to explain the moves, Dolan said in a statement, “I am not selling, but I am determined to find the right leader for the Knicks who will ensure the long-term success of the team, just as we did with the hiring of Rangers President John Davidson.”

And maybe Rose, who has yet to be officially announced as he works through the paperwork with the league of removing himself as an agent and transitioning to an executive, will be that person, but the moves had a hint of the past moves in the executive suites.

In March 2014, Phil Jackson suddenly was named team president, and the news came out on the same night that fans were planning a protest outside the Garden. By the time word got out that the 11-time champion was coming to run the show, the protest was reduced to a handful of fans circling on 7th Avenue.

Mills, who originally worked for the Knicks from 2003-09, already had come back to the organization in September 2013 as vice president, just as training camp was starting. The previous season, the Knicks (54-28) had enjoyed their most successful campaign since 1996-97, and they haven’t come close to that since. Mills rose to president after the Knicks parted ways with Jackson in June 2017.

Based on speaking with other executives as well as agents who have dealt with and competed against Rose, he is almost universally well-respected for his basketball acumen and his dedication to his clients. But it was pointed out by one executive that “it is a very different job to represent a team rather than your player. Now they’re all your players, they’re all your coaches, all your executives — and all your mistakes.”

Despite the esteem for Rose, the belief is that he will need — just as other executives needed and didn’t get in New York — the ability to call all the shots. Even Jackson, who arrived with a promise from ownership that he would have full autonomy, was not given free rein to make all of the hires and fires he wanted upon his arrival, which led to Steve Kerr passing on the chance to coach the Knicks in favor of the Golden State Warriors. He has been a fixture in NBA Finals while the Knicks have shuffled through five coaches.

"Let me say this: First of all, I haven't talked to Leon, so I don't know if it's done, if he's doing it,” University of Kentucky coach John Calipari, a long-time friend of Rose and William “World Wide Wes” Wesley (who reportedly is coming aboard with Rose) and client of CAA, said in his weekly conference call. “I have no idea. But let me tell you about him: I've known him for 25 years — dear friend. In a rough-and-tumble business, really, that business he was in was a sport, too, like body-to-body contact, it is. And I've never heard anyone in 25 years say anything bad about Leon Rose. He's a gatherer, he's a culture-builder. I'd help him in any way I could, being a resource. You want to call and ask me about college players, my own players, I'm here. It just wouldn't be to coach."

It was thought that if the Knicks went for one of the established executives who already have led teams to great success, such as Toronto’s Masai Ujiri or Oklahoma City’s Sam Presti, they would require a free hand to make changes from top to bottom. One executive believes that Rose, already with long ties to the Knicks, will bring in his own general manager and a front office staff around him, but that those entrenched with the franchise will remain.

The most head-shaking decision to some was the part of the statement that said Mills will stay on. He will be nominated for the board of a sports division of the impending spinoff of the Madison Square Garden properties.

Scott Perry, who remains as general manager and helped orchestrate the Morris deal at the trade deadline, is believed to be on the way out. One person close to the situation speculated that Perry could be gone soon or by season’s end at best. All of the executives brought on board by Perry are on three-year deals that expire at season’s end.

Rose has great connections among players and has dealt with executives of every franchise on far friendlier terms than Jackson did. That is a start and might help the team move past the memory of last summer’s free-agent failures. That’s when the team went into the market with $70 million in salary-cap space, plus the allure of a major market featuring the Garden, and could not even get a meeting with the top targets.

Rose will help with that, as will Wesley.  Steve Stoute, who arrived as a branding and marketing adviser, has taken on a larger role, according to a source. He helped the front-office makeover and is expected to help create a new image of the Knicks for players around the league.

For now, as CAA client Julius Randle said, “Nothing’s official, so I can’t say nothing.”

That means there is a lot of work to do. But for the Knicks, there is nowhere to go but up.

By Steve Popper

steve.popper@newsday.com@StevePopper

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.