From Marc Berman:
Knicks GM Scott Perry not only will run the upcoming draft but will be back next season, a source confirmed.
The source said Perry’s option will be picked up for next season by president Leon Rose. The Post reported last week that Perry, despite the hire of VP of strategy Brock Aller, would run the NBA Draft. At that point, there was no guarantee he’d be back next season despite leanings that way.
Perry’s current staff that includes personnel director Harold Ellis, assistant GM Gerald Madkins, scout Fred Cofield and capologist Michael Arcieri aren’t guaranteed to return as Rose continues evaluations. Their contracts run until August and there could be changes.
“Scott is a well-respected basketball executive who I have known for more than 20 years, and I look forward to continuing to work closely with him as we look to build a winning team in New York,” Rose said in a statement.
Perry isn’t a lame duck as much as Rose will see how it goes and make decisions on whether to extend his deal next season. The coronavirus pandemic – with New York as epicenter – has played some role in keeping more of status quo.
“The shutdown may have helped everyone — at least temporarily,’’ one NBA source connected to the Knicks told The Post last week.
As noted in the article, the Coronavirus crisis seems to have played a major factor in Rose deciding to just stand pat for a year, as this isn’t exactly an ideal time to do a big search for a new GM and since Perry was already under contract for one more year, it made sense to just tread water a little bit more. I wouldn’t be signing any long term leases in New York if I were Perry, though, as I bet this upcoming season will be his last, but hey, good for him for hanging in there. As I said in the previous post, once the list of possible new GMs went from “Wow, a bunch of these guys would be great! Especially that guy from Denver!” to “Oh, that great guy from Denver was hired by the Bulls while we did nothing!” to “Wait, Allan freakin’ Houston?” then Scott Perry suddenly seemed a lot more appealing as a hire.
I know it is very Knicksy to say, “I am happy that we stuck with a proven mediocrity for a year instead of hiring a walking dumpster fire, which we will do next season instead,” but, well, it is true. I am fairly pleased with this move, all things considered.
And hey, KnickfaninNJ should be pumped, right? That’s something!