Future of Knicks Franchise Hangs in the Balance: Report

Getty James Dolan, Executive Chairman of Madison Square Garden, answers questions during the press conference to introduce Phil Jackson as President of the New York Knicks.

Though they are widely renowned as being one of the NBA’s most storied and valuable franchises, since the turn of the century the New York Knicks have arguably been the league’s biggest laughing stock what with their 17 losing seasons, their bevy of failed “get rich quick” schemes, and their front office turnover rate being reminiscent to that of a Denny’s waitstaff.

And while we’ve seen an infinite amount of changes made within this organization, one thing has remained constant throughout: James Dolan has been the one running the show.

Since taking over as sole owner of the franchise back in 1999, under Dolan’s watch, New York has gone from being a legitimate championship threat to a perennial lottery participant and finds itself sporting a 798-1096 overall record throughout this 25-year tenure, the worst in the league during this time frame.

From creating websites to legitimately protesting outside of Madison Square Garden, Knicks fans have planned and partaken in plenty of schemes with their goal being to force Dolan’s hand into selling the team.

Now, while these efforts have yet to be successful as ownership still remains the same, recent reports suggest that the prayers of this franchise’s faithful followers may soon be answered.

Dolan Will ‘Likely’ Sell Knicks

In an August 15 appearance on CNBC’s “Closing Bell,” analyst Jonathan Boyar told host Scott Wapner that James Dolan is “likely” to sell the Knicks once Madison Square Garden Entertainment finishes construction on a Vegas concert venue at some point next year.

“Madison Square Garden Entertainment is currently about to finish a project in Las Vegas called The Sphere, and we think it’s likely that after that is done, James Dolan, who controls the company, will sell the teams,” Boyar said in reference to both the Knicks and Rangers.

In contrast to these comments, however, an MSG Spokesperson recently reached out to Heavy and combatted this claim by Boyar, stating that they “have no plans to sell either of the teams.”

Jonathan Boyar is president of Boyar’s Intrinsic Value Research and is a principal of Boyar Asset Management, the latter of which has clients who, according to NBA writer Tommy Beer, “collectively own approximately 15% of both MSGN and MSGE as of 2020.”

Knicks Focused On 2022-23

Despite all this major buzz that’s been surfacing, the New York Knicks seem to be focused on continuing to bolster their talent pool heading into the 2022-23 campaign.

Most noteworthy of all, all offseason long it has been reported that Leon Rose and company have been heavily invested in striking a blockbuster deal that would bring Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell to MSG and, though for a while talks stalled out, just recently it was reported that both teams are back at the negotiations table.

Per an August 16 report by The Athletic’s Shams Charania and Tony Jones, the Knicks and Jazz have reignited their trade discussions involving the 3-time All-Star.

“After several weeks of no conversations, the New York Knicks and Utah Jazz recently re-engaged in trade talks centered on Donovan Mitchell, league sources tell The Athletic.

“The Knicks and Jazz had a fresh trade conversation within the past week about potential packages for Mitchell, according to sources,” Charania and Jones said.

Still only 25, Donovan Mitchell has made three consecutive All-Star appearances and boasts career averages of 23.9 points, 4.5 assists, and 4.2 rebounds per game.