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Knicks Rumors: Roger Montgomery Front-Office Candidate After Steve Mills Firing
February 5, 2020
The New York Knicks are rebuilding from the top down following the firing of team president Steve Mills on Tuesday morning.
SNY's Ian Begley reported agent Roger Montgomery "among the group of representatives under internal consideration" to replace Mills.
Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported earlier Tuesday that general manager Scott Perry "has taken over basketball operations" for Mills on an interim basis, while ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski later added Perry is expected to stay as the Knicks GM "for [the] foreseeable future."
The Knicks released a statement on Mills' departure that, in part, confirmed Perry acting as interim president:
Prior to naming Montgomery, Begley reported Creative Artists Agency's Austin Brown as being given internal consideration:
Brown also has Los Angeles Lakers forward Kyle Kuzma on his client list, and Kuzma was reported by Charania as the subject of "exploratory conversations" between the Knicks and Lakers ahead of Thursday's league trade deadline.
Per RealGM, Montgomery's client list includes San Antonio Spurs forward Rudy Gay, Toronto Raptors forward Patrick McCaw, Charlotte Hornets forward P.J. Washington and former Knick Jeremy Lin.
New York's interest in tapping an agent to oversee basketball operations makes sense in terms of wanting to attract top-tier players. The franchise whiffed on top targets Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in free agency last summer and has lost its luster as a preferred destination.
However, owner James Dolan has long been reported to have interest in Raptors president Masai Ujiri.
"Will the Knicks have a shot at landing Ujiri? That's unclear," Begley wrote on Dec. 7 in light of the Knicks firing head coach David Fizdale after a 4-18 start to the season. "But once the Knicks started struggling last month, multiple Madison Square Garden people in positions of influence have been 'obsessed' with—and 'enamored' by—the Raptors executive, per SNY sources."
Wojnarowski doubled down on the Knicks' reported interest Tuesday:
Mills began in the Knicks front office as an executive vice president and general manager in 2013. He then took over as president for Phil Jackson in 2017.
The Knicks own a 15-36 record after finishing with the NBA's worst mark last season at 17-65.