Getty Julius Randle of the New York Knicks links arms with his teammates for the national anthem before the game against the Charlotte Hornets.
Though their 2022-23 campaign has been over for nearly three weeks now, the New York Knicks still find themselves making headlines. From trade rumblings to free agency chatter, despite tip-off to the NBA Finals being mere days away, this organization has managed to remain a major attention grabber.
On Tuesday, May 30, they managed to catch the eyes of fans and media pundits again after Newsday’s Steve Popper reported that the Knicks and general manager Scott Perry are set to part ways at the official conclusion of the NBA season.
He provided some insight into the situation via his personal Twitter page.
“Newsday has learned that the Knicks and general manager Scott Perry will part ways. Perry’s contract is up shortly and he will not return. Extended 2 years ago by the current front office he helped smooth the transition but won’t be kept on in the crowded group of decision makers,” Popper tweeted.
Perry has been an NBA executive since 2000 and has held front-office positions with the Detroit Pistons, Seattle Supersonics, Orlando Magic, Sacramento Kings and most recently with the Leon Rose-run Knicks.
Popper Pours Cold Water on Bob Myers-to-Knicks Chatter
The report that the Knicks and Perry will be parting ways this summer comes just hours after ESPN NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski broke the news that key Golden State Warriors executive Bob Myers would be stepping down from his position as president of basketball operations.
BREAKING: Golden State’s Bob Myers – a two-time executive of the year and architect of four NBA championships — is stepping down as the franchise’s president and general manager, he told ESPN on Tuesday. “It’s just time,” Myers said.
Naturally, considering the timing coupled with his illustrious track record of being known as the “architect” of the Dubs’ dynasty, Knicks fans have already pondered on the idea of Myers making his way over to the Big Apple to fill the vacancy coming to the club’s front office.
However, Popper quickly poured cold water on such a hypothetical by issuing a tweet doubting that such a scenario will wind up taking place.
“I don’t want to be the one to spoil dreams, but no, this is not bringing Bob Myers to the Knicks,” Popper tweeted.
Hopes of seeing Myers joining on with another franchise to serve as a lead executive are likely nothing more than a pipedream at this point, as he would say in his press conference Tuesday afternoon that “maybe it’ll be good for me to sit still” for the time being.
RJ Barrett Would Be ‘a Piece’ in a Big Trade for Knicks
After a surprise 47-35 finish to the regular season and nabbing their first playoff series win in a decade, the expectation is that the Knicks will look to build off their successes from 2022-23 by bolstering the talent pool on their roster this offseason in an attempt to better their odds of contending come next year.
While there are several different routes New York’s decision-makers could embark on to accomplish such a feat, perhaps the most exciting would be by means of the trade route and, should they look to make a big splash, an anonymous Eastern Conference GM told Heavy Sports NBA insider Sean Deveney that RJ Barrett may be used as an outbound asset.
“[Barrett] will be a piece if they make a major deal,” the east exec told Deveney. “They’re not going to just trade RJ as the main component of a trade, but if they want to get [Damian] Lillard or KAT (Karl-Anthony Towns) or even OG Anunoby or (Pascal) Siakam, it is probably going to mean including him. But if it is not a player like that, then they will keep RJ and maybe try to move him next summer if he does not take that step forward.”
After having signed a four-year, $107 million rookie extension with the Knicks last summer, Barrett went on to have a rather underwhelming campaign, posting 19.6 points, 5.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists while shooting an inefficient 43.4% from the floor and a career-worst 31.0% from deep.