- Even though the Knicks hired Leon Rose as team president, speculation over Masai Ujiri’s future will continue to grow unless he signs a new contract with the Raptors, according to Michael Grange of SportsNet Canada. There have been preliminary discussions between Ujiri and the team’s ownership group but nothing has changed regarding the Raptors president’s desire to put off his contract status until this summer, according to Grange. Ujiri’s contract runs out after next season.
The 2:00pm CT trade deadline has now passed, but word of last-minute deals can sometimes trickle in after the buzzer. That won’t be the case for the Raptors and Bucks though, according to ESPN’s Zach Lowe, who reports (via Twitter) that the Eastern Conference’s top two teams didn’t make a move today.
Here are more deadline updates:
- It was a fairly quiet deadline for many of the top Eastern teams. The Celtics didn’t make a trade either, per Adam Himmelsbach of The Boston Globe (Twitter link). And the Pacers also stood pat, tweets ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
- The Heat were active earlier in the day, finalizing a trade to acquire Andre Iguodala. However, the team didn’t expand that deal to include Thunder forward Danilo Gallinari, Barry Jackson of The Miami Herald confirms (via Twitter). As Anthony Chiang of The Miami Herald explains (via Twitter), the Heat’s extension talks with Gallinari were more of a hang-up than the trade talks with the Thunder, given Miami’s desire to keep its cap clear for 2021.
- The Thunder, having held onto Gallinari, didn’t make any deadline deals, tweets Wojnarowski.
- The Jazz stood pat today as well, tweets Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune. So did the Spurs, says Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter).
The Knicks and CAA player agent Leon Rose are nearing a deal that would make him the team’s new head of basketball operations, league sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reported with Ramona Shelburne that Rose had become a top target for the Knicks, confirms that the team plans to hire the veteran agent as its next president (Twitter links). Ian Begley of SNY.tv first reported (via Twitter) that the Knicks had interest in Rose.
As Wojnarowski details (via Twitter), Rose has been one of the NBA’s top agents for years and has a star-studded list of clients that includes Joel Embiid, Chris Paul, Devin Booker, and Karl-Anthony Towns. The Knicks have plenty of experience dealing with Rose, as he also represents Carmelo Anthony.
Rose is expected to assume control of a front office that was previously run by Steve Mills, who was dismissed from his position as president of basketball operations earlier this week.
General manager Scott Perry took over as the top man in New York’s front office on an interim basis following Mills’ ouster, and he appears to be running the show for today’s trade deadline. He and the Knicks have a mutual option for 2020/21, meaning both sides would have to pick up that option for Perry to remain with the team, so we’ll see how that situation plays out. Newsday’s Steve Popper (Twitter link) hears that Perry is not expected to stay on under the new regime.
William Wesley, better known as “World Wide Wes,” is a strong candidate to join the Knicks’ front office under Rose, a source tells Begley (Twitter link). Wes, who is well-connected with players around the NBA, is a CAA consultant and has a strong relationship with Rose, according to Begley.
After firing Mills, the Knicks were immediately linked to Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri, who has long been considered New York’s dream candidate. However, given how quickly New York moved forward on its front office search, it seems as if Ujiri wasn’t a serious option, despite rumblings that he might have interest in the job.
Begley had reported this morning (via Twitter) that there was “serious pessimism” surrounding the Knicks’ pursuit of Ujiri, in part due to the compensation that would have been required to get him out of his Raptors contract. With the Knicks moving in another direction, fans in Toronto can rest easy.
Before deciding on Rose, the Knicks were said to be considering a handful of other player agents as they look to emulate a model that has succeeded for the Warriors and Lakers, who hired former agents Bob Myers and Rob Pelinka, respectively.
Austin Brown and Roger Montgomery were among the agents reportedly receiving consideration from the Knicks, along with B.J. Armstrong, as Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News reported this morning (via Twitter).
Once Rose is officially hired by the Knicks, one of his first tasks this spring will be making a decision on the team’s head coach. Mike Miller has held that position on an interim basis since replacing David Fizdale earlier in the season.
The Knicks continue to pursue Warriors point guard D’Angelo Russell with the trade deadline 24 hours away, according to Newsday’s Steve Popper and Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter links).
Reports earlier in the week had revealed the Knicks’ interest in Russell. However, those stories were published prior to Steve Mills‘ ouster from the front office, so it wasn’t clear if the remaining group – led by interim head of basketball operations Scott Perry – would continue to go after the fifth-year guard.
While today’s reports confirm that the Knicks remain interested in Russell, Charania hears that New York’s proposed package haven’t been enough to close the gap and meet Golden State’s asking price.
As we noted last night when we checked in on the Timberwolves’ pursuit of Russell, the Warriors were said to be seeking at least one of Minnesota’s own unprotected first-round picks — preferably in 2021, which is expected to be a strong draft than 2020. The Wolves were reportedly dangling Brooklyn’s lottery-protected 2020 first-round selection and their own protected ’20 first-rounder as part of their offer.
Presumably, the Warriors will be seeking at least one unprotected Knicks first-rounder in talks with New York. However, there’s no consensus within the Knicks’ front office on the team’s willingness to give up first-rounders to land D-Lo, tweets Ian Begley of SNY.tv.
Here’s more on the Knicks:
- Newsday’s Steve Popper (Twitter link) is hearing that Marcus Morris will be moved before the deadline. Marc Stein of The New York Times conveys a similar sentiment, tweeting that the Knicks know they can trade Morris and now it’s just a matter of where.
- In addition to touching base about Kyle Kuzma, the Knicks and Lakers have also discussed Allonzo Trier and Alex Caruso, according to Ian Begley of SNY.tv. Those talks took place before Mills’ ouster and didn’t advance, sources tell Begley.
- According to Marc Berman of The New York Post, Knicks owner James Dolan would like to move fairly quickly on the team’s front office search, possibly so there’s a new president in place for a head coaching search in the spring.
- An in-season search would reduce the likelihood of the Knicks landing Raptors president Masai Ujiri, Berman notes. However, a source suggests to Berman that might be okay with Dolan, who values loyalty and may not want to push Ujiri to break his contract in Toronto. Dolan may also been wary of Ujiri using the Knicks for leverage in extension talks with the Raptors, the source tells Berman.
- Within a separate SNY.tv article examining possible front office targets for the Knicks, Begley writes that R.C. Buford (Spurs) and Kevin Pritchard (Pacers) aren’t realistic options. Both executives are on long-term deals and Buford has a CEO title in San Antonio.
- Recently hired by the Knicks as a brand consultant, Steve Stoute is a “prominent voice” within the organization right now, according to Popper (Twitter link), who says Stoute is involved in the front office search.
As Sixers general manager Elton Brand weighs possible trade scenarios this week, the final pre-deadline look he got at his roster came on Monday, when Philadelphia was run off the court by Miami in a 137-106 blowout. The Heat’s dominant win extended the 76ers’ losing streak to three games and drew some criticism from All-Star guard Ben Simmons.
“We were soft,” Simmons said of the Sixers, per ESPN’s Cameron Wolfe. “… The physicality side of things, we gotta step that up. That comes with experience, also just comes with personality. Don’t get bullied.”
While Simmons’ comments likely won’t have any direct impact on what Brand does at the deadline, Wolfe points out that the former No. 1 pick also called the Sixers “soft” last January. The club’s deal for Tobias Harris came a few weeks later.
This time around, the Sixers aren’t as well-equipped to make a blockbuster trade, so a move around the edges – possibly for a shooter – is more realistic. For the most part, it’ll be up to the current group to get out of its latest slump, which has dropped Philadelphia’s road record to 9-18 for the season.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- It sounds like Raptors center Marc Gasol, who is dealing with a hamstring injury, will likely be sidelined through the All-Star break, tweets Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. Gasol’s hamstring isn’t viewed as a serious issue, but the club wants to be cautious.
- There are several reasons why the Raptors are unlikely to make a major trade at this season’s deadline, including the way their roster is constructed and their intrigue with the pieces they already have, writes Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca.
- The Nets also look like a long shot to make a splash on the trade market this week, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Everything that Lewis is hearing from team and league sources points toward Brooklyn doing something relatively minor if the team makes a move at all. Rodions Kurucs, Dzanan Musa, Theo Pinson, and Wilson Chandler are among the Nets’ trade candidates, in Lewis’ view.
- The Celtics‘ trade deadline plans could be affected to some extent by what they expect Gordon Hayward to do with his $34MM player option this summer, says Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald. Boston has a few different paths this offseason depending on whether Hayward opts in, leaves in free agency, or signs a new long-term deal with the C’s. As Bulpett relays, the veteran forward isn’t ready to make a decision on that option. “I haven’t thought about it at all,” Hayward said.
Following Steve Mills‘ ouster from the Knicks‘ basketball operations department, rumors linking New York to Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri have resurfaced. Ujiri has long been viewed as the Knicks’ dream candidate, and while that interest hasn’t gone anywhere in the past, Marc Stein of The New York Times suggests there’s a chance this time could be different.
According to Stein, two “long-time Ujiri watchers” whom he trusts have been saying since December that they think the Raptors’ president intends to maneuver his way to New York. Both of those sources even said Ujiri may try to bring along Toronto general manager Bobby Webster, per Stein. One source told Stein that Ujiri’s relationship with Raptors chairman Larry Tannenbaum is strong enough that the defending champions would likely approve the move if Ujiri wants it badly enough.
Still, Stein cautions that there are caveats. Even if Ujiri wants to make the move to New York, his contract runs through 2020/21, so the Knicks and Raptors would have to agree on draft compensation. Toronto’s asking price would be even more significant if Ujiri wants to bring Webster along, since the young GM looks like Ujiri’s obvious replacement in the Raptors’ front office.
Stein also points out that there’s a belief around the NBA that commissioner Adam Silver and the league office want Ujiri running the Knicks. If team owner James Dolan is sensitive to the idea that the franchise needs Ujiri – who fleeced the Knicks in a pair of trades with Denver and Toronto – as its savior, he may be turned off by the league pushing the idea. For what it’s worth, NBA spokesman Mike Bass told Stein (Twitter link) that the notion of the league pushing Ujiri to “rescue” the Knicks is “100% false.”
In his own look at the Ujiri situation, Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca writes that even though the Raptors’ president is under contract through 2021, his future will likely be determined in the coming months.
“If something is going to happen with Masai and the Knicks it will happen quick, probably a few days after (this) season is over,” a source told Grange.
Interestingly, Grange suggests that Ujiri’s contract may include an out for the coming summer, though he cautions that it’s not clear whether that’s a formal out or “more of a gentleman’s agreement.” Even if Ujiri can’t formally become a “free agent,” the Raptors are unlikely to force him to stay if he wants to run the Knicks, Grange notes.
While Stein and Grange both lay out the case for a Knicks/Ujiri marriage being plausible, they also both believe it’s possible Dolan has already gotten over his apparent infatuation with the Raptors’ president. We heard on Tuesday that New York may be targeting an NBA agent to run its front office, like the Warriors (Bob Myers) and Lakers (Rob Pelinka) have done. Grange’s source seemed to think Dolan might be more intrigued by that path.
Veteran agent Austin Brown and Kevin Durant‘s manager Rich Kleiman were among the possible candidates mentioned on Tuesday. Sources tell Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link) that Roger Montgomery is another agent receiving internal consideration from the Knicks for their front office position.
The Knicks and Lakers have had exploratory discussions about a possible Kyle Kuzma trade, league sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
Charania follows up by tweeting that several contending teams are expressing interest in Marcus Morris. He doesn’t explicitly state that the Lakers are among those teams, but it seems safe to connect those dots.
While Morris could be a nice fit for the Lakers, it would be a challenge for the club to build a trade package for him with Kuzma as a centerpiece. Los Angeles would need to send out at least $10MM in salary and Kuzma makes just under $2MM. With Kentavious Caldwell-Pope unlikely to waive his no-trade clause to accept a trade to New York, that means the Lakers would have to package three or four players to get up to $10MM.
The Knicks added several veteran power forwards during the 2019 offseason, signing Morris, Julius Randle, Bobby Portis, and Taj Gibson in free agency. However, there’s no guarantee that any of those players will be with the franchise for the long term. Only Randle has a fully guaranteed salary for next season, and the man that signed off on all those deals – former president Steve Mills – was dismissed today by the team. It’s possible new interim head of basketball operations Scott Perry envisions a young player like Kuzma as a more logical long-term investment at the four.
Let’s round up a few more Knicks-related items…
- While it remains to be seen what sort of compensation the Raptors would want for Masai Ujiri, sources tell Ian Begley of SNY.tv that a team in a similar situation last year asked for two first-round picks when another club inquired about a top executive under contract. That exec was considered to be a tier below Ujiri, according to Begley, who suggests that any Knicks’ discussions for the Raptors’ president of basketball operations would probably have to start with a baseline of two first-rounders.
- Within that same story, Begley identifies several other veteran executives who could make sense as targets for the Knicks, including Pelicans GM Trajan Langdon. Sources tell Begley that Langdon has fans within the organization.
- Kevin Durant‘s manager Rich Kleiman could be a candidate for the Knicks’ front office opening, according to Marc Berman of The New York Post. A longtime fan of the team, Kleiman has previously expressed interest in running the Knicks. Sources tell Berman that Kleiman would likely want to hire Mark Jackson as New York’s head coach if he were in position to do so.
After becoming the first team to fire a head coach during the 2019/20 season, the Knicks are now the first team to part ways with a head of basketball operations this year as well, having announced this afternoon that Steve Mills has been removed from his position as club president.
As general manager Scott Perry takes over the front office on an interim basis, the Knicks will have just over 48 hours to consider how significantly they want to shake up their roster at this winter’s trade deadline.
Here’s the latest on the franchise, including an update on the front office situation:
- While Masai Ujiri has long been considered New York’s “dream candidate,” the Knicks’ reluctance to give up draft compensation for the Raptors‘ president of basketball operations may complicate the their pursuit of him, sources tell ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link). Ujiri’s contract in Toronto runs through 2020/21, so if he wants to leave before it expires, the Raptors would have leverage to request a sizable return.
- Knicks owner James Dolan has already had conversations with one possible candidate to replace Mills, according to Wojnarowski, who suggests (via Twitter) that New York’s search for a new president may move too quickly to wait on a drawn-out courtship of Ujiri.
- Following up on a report that the Hornets and Knicks have discussed Julius Randle, Ian Begley of SNY.tv suggests that Terry Rozier, Malik Monk, and Dennis Smith Jr. are among the names that have come up in talks between the two teams. New York pursued Rozier during 2019’s free agent period, but doesn’t have strong interest in him now, according to Begley (via Twitter). It’s worth noting that Begley’s report surfaced before the team parted ways with Mills.
- Marc Berman of The New York Post, who previously noted that Mills and Perry disagreed on some deadline-related issues, suggests that one debate in the front office was over whether to trade Marcus Morris or keep him and try to re-sign him in the summer. It’s not clear which side of the debate the two executives were on.
- Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic makes a case for why the Knicks should seriously consider pushing for a D’Angelo Russell trade, assuming the price isn’t exorbitant.
12:11pm: The Knicks have officially announced Mills’ dismissal, phrasing it in their press release as the team president “leaving his position.” Mills will be nominated to the board of Dolan’s standalone sports company once it spins off from MSG’s entertainment business, according to the announcement.
“Steve and I have come to the decision that it would be best for him to leave his role as president of the New York Knicks,” Dolan said in a statement. “We thank Steve for his many years of service to our organization and look forward to continuing our relationship with him as part of our board.”
10:59am: The Knicks are parting ways with team president Steve Mills, according to reports from Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN and Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter links). General manager Scott Perry has taken over as the club’s head of basketball operations on an interim basis, Charania adds (via Twitter).
Mills, a former MSG executive, was named the Knicks’ general manager in 2013 and worked under Phil Jackson during Jackson’s tenure as team president, starting in 2014. Following Jackson’s dismissal in 2017, Mills was elevated to the president role, with Perry coming aboard as New York’s new GM.
The Knicks haven’t earned a playoff spot or won more than 37 games in a season since Mills arrived in 2013. Although he was given the green light to lead the team’s latest rebuild, his job security began to waver in 2019 after the team traded up-and-coming star Kristaps Porzingis to Dallas in a cap-clearing trade, then failed to land any star players with that cap room in free agency.
Mills was still given the chance to start the season with the team and had the autonomy to fire head coach David Fizdale in the fall, but New York remains lottery-bound under interim coach Mike Miller. Curiously, the 15-36 Knicks ultimately decided to part with Mills just 51 hours before the trade deadline, leaving Perry to run the show this week. The two executives hadn’t been seeing eye-to-eye on certain issues going forward, tweets Marc Berman of The New York Post.
According to Wojnarowski (via Twitter), Perry is expected to remain in his GM role for the foreseeable future. However, Knicks owner James Dolan will interview candidates for the president position, with Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri at the top of the club’s wish list, per Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link). Charania suggests (via Twitter) that the team’s interview process has already begun.
New York’s previous interest in Ujiri went nowhere, and there’s some skepticism that the Raptors’ head of basketball operations would leave a stable situation in Toronto to work for Dolan and the dysfunctional Knicks.
Still, there have been “strong rumblings” since December that the Knicks believe they have a real chance to land Ujiri, according to Marc Stein of The New York Times (Twitter link). Begley conveys a similar sentiment, tweeting that Ujiri has told confidants in the past that he’d be open to considering the Knicks’ job under the right circumstances.
Ujiri’s contract runs through the 2020/21 season, so if the Knicks want to lure him away from Toronto before then, they’d have to send some form of compensation to the Raptors. And their division rivals are probably unlikely to give the Knicks a discount, even if Ujiri decides he wants to leave.
For now, it will be fascinating to see how the Knicks approach the trade deadline. Nearly everyone on the roster has been mentioned in at least one trade rumor, but it’s unclear how Perry’s and Mills’ views on certain players differed.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
A number of players who have been mentioned as trade candidates this season may not be moved – or may not be available at all – at Thursday’s deadline, ESPN’s Zach Lowe writes in an article jam-packed with trade-related rumors and speculation.
For instance, teams who have called the Pelicans asking about J.J. Redick have been “shooed away,” sources tell Lowe. The Wizards have taken a similar approach to clubs inquiring on Davis Bertans, though Lowe notes that could change if Washington is offered something concrete that moves the needle more than a future first-round pick.
As Shams Charania of The Athletic reported last week, teams have been monitoring John Collins in case the Hawks think about trading him, but there’s no indication Atlanta has interest in moving Collins “on any of the general terms being bandied about,” Lowe writes.
The Pistons‘ talks involving Andre Drummond aren’t entirely dormant, but it’s “far from a sure thing” that he’ll be moved, according to Lowe, who suggests that even if Detroit does make a deal, the return will likely be less than the team envisioned.
Meanwhile, the Thunder have been mentioned all season long as a potential seller, given their offseason moves and their veteran trade candidates. But the safest bet is that they stand pat with guys like Danilo Gallinari, Dennis Schroder, and Steven Adams, per Lowe.
As Lowe points out, the Thunder could still have leverage to make deals after the season, when Schroder and Adams will be entering contract years and Gallinari will be a prime sign-and-trade candidate. The Heat are among the teams to inquire on Gallinari this season, sources tell Lowe.
As noted above, Lowe’s latest ESPN piece is filled with many more trade rumors and notes. Here are several of the highlights:
- Lowe confirms a previous report that the Nuggets and Heat are among the teams to express interest in Jrue Holiday. Lowe also names the Raptors as a club that would be an ideal fit for the Pelicans guard, but he has a hard time envisioning a deal involving any of those teams unless they’re willing to part with young players like Michael Porter Jr., Tyler Herro, or OG Anunoby, which seems unlikely.
- The Pacers could probably net a first-round pick for backup guard Aaron Holiday, but haven’t shown any real interest in moving him, says Lowe.
- The chatter about the Trail Blazers making a major win-now move has died down, sources tell Lowe.
- According to Lowe, the Lakers have explored the Kyle Kuzma market and are eyeing several ball-handlers, including Kings swingman Bogdan Bogdanovic, who has also received interest from the Hornets.
- The Sixers don’t intend to include Matisse Thybulle in any deal and seem most likely to “tinker” around the edges of their roster, per Lowe.
- The Grizzlies have asked for a first-round pick from teams inquiring on Jae Crowder, according to Lowe. However, he’d “bet heavily” against any potential trade partner meeting that price.
- Lowe provides updates on both Morris brothers, suggesting that the Knicks “seem hell-bent” on keeping and re-signing Marcus Morris, and citing sources who say the Pistons could probably get a second-round pick for Markieff Morris.
- A lot of teams have asked the Bucks about Sterling Brown, while Pistons youngsters Christian Wood and Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk have also generated interest, according to Lowe, who thinks that Detroit is more likely to engage in talks on Wood than Mykhailiuk. Lowe also hears that a few clubs have “poked around” on Kings big man Harry Giles, and identifies Denzel Valentine (Bulls), Jakob Poeltl (Spurs), Marvin Williams (Hornets), and Malik Monk (Hornets) as other under-the-radar trade candidates to watch.