Scott Perry Warns Knicks About Trading for ‘Disgruntled Superstar’

Getty Knicks general manager Scott Perry.

Former New York Knicks general manager Scott Perry warned the team about trading for the next disgruntled superstar.

A strategy that could backfire and set the team back after painstakingly pulling themselves out of the NBA rut.

“If a guy’s disgruntled somewhere else, what makes you think he won’t be disgruntled when he comes to you? I’m just saying,” Perry said on the Hoops Genius podcast.

Perry’s warning came before the ramblings of Zion Williamson’s discontent with his current role in New Orleans and the trade rumors of Zach LaVine and the Chicago Bulls open to parting ways amid a poor start.

“Me, personally, you have to proceed with real caution,” Perry said.

For these disgruntled stars, “the grass isn’t always greener on the other side of the fence,” Perry added.

The Next Disgruntled Star?

The Knicks have been constantly linked to the next star who becomes available. Yet, Leon Rose’s front office, which Perry was a part of until last June, has been defined by patience and prudence.

The Knicks are monitoring Williamson’s situation in New Orleans as they checked in last offseason, according to retired New York Post Knicks beat reporter Marc Berman.

Cracks in the relationship between Williamson and the Pelicans have constantly been fodder for the rumor mill. But the cracks appeared to have widened following the Pelicans’ fifth straight loss on November 12.

“Like I said last year, we had a team meeting,” Williamson told reporters, “and it was brought up, some things I could do better. Especially with like buying into the program. And right now, it’s tough right now but like I said right now I’m taking a little backseat right now. I’m trusting the process.”

“I’m trying my best to buy in right now.”

The Pelicans rebounded with a 131-110 rout of the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA In-Season Tournament last Tuesday, November 14, but ramblings do not just die down just like that.

The Knicks are also linked to reigning MVP Joel Embiid, who could be one early playoff exit from asking out of Philadelphia.

The 76ers’ great start was halted by back-to-back losses. A 117-107 loss to a Boston team without Jaylen Brown and Kristaps Porzingis Wednesday night prompted Embiid to call the Celtics “the best NBA team in the league.”

Knicks Are One Player Away

The Knicks have won four of their last five, including Wednesday’s gusty 116-114 win in Atlanta, to get back on track after a 2-4 start.

Perry views the Knicks as just “one player away” from true title contention.

But who could that be?

Perry hopes it’s not the next disgruntled superstar.

“When you look at these disgruntled stars, how many of them have left a situation where everything was catered around them and to them and go to a new situation with the same thing? That’s rarely happened. When they go to the new team, it’s not quite the same for them,” Perry said.

His experience with the Orlando Magic when Dwight Howard bolted for the Los Angeles Lakers has made Perry skeptical of the strategy of getting the next disgruntled star.

“When I first got to Orlando, he was the Orlando Magic,” Perry said. “Ever since he’s been gone from there, what’s his career looked like? He’s been searching for what he had in Orlando the entire time.”