At the time, some rival executives speculated that Perry could be a one year ‘placeholder’ and that Rose would look for a long-term GM in the 2021 offseason.
But the Knicks won 41 games and earned the No. 4 seed in the Eastern Conference, exceeding all public expectations.
Along the way, Perry established himself as an integral part of a front office that included Rose, executive vice president William Wesley and vice president Brock Aller.
After a successful 2020-21 regular season, the Knicks clearly feel that the organization can continue to grow with Perry playing a pivotal role.
One league source said Perry, one of the few senior Knick executives with front office experience, worked well with Rose and Wesley.
New York enters the 2021 offseason with significant cap space and five first-round picks over the next three drafts. So the club has an opportunity to upgrade the roster via trade, the draft or free agency.
That flexibility is in large part a product of Perry and then-team president Mills’ decision-making.
Under Mills and Perry, the Knicks didn’t sign any contracts that clogged their cap space. They also didn’t trade any of their first-round picks.
So Mills and Perry left Rose and his group with strong assets.
But it hasn’t all been perfect for Perry in New York.
To date, it seems like Perry and Mills missed on their 2018 lottery pick (Kevin Knox).
Mills and Perry also took a home run swing in 2019 when they traded Kristaps Porzingis. The deal left them with enough cap space to sign two max free agents. But the home run swing turned out to be a miss because the Knicks didn’t land their top free agent targets.
The club started slowly the following season, losing four of its first 18 games. The slow start resulted in head coach David Fizdale and Mills losing their jobs.
Julius Randle, the Knicks’ biggest signing in 2019, struggled for much of his first season in New York. The Knicks finished the 2019-20 season at 21-45.
And the expectations were modest at the start of the 2020-21 season.
One Las Vegas sports book pegged the Knicks’ over/under win total at 21.5.
Thanks to Randle, Tom Thibodeau and many others, the Knicks outperformed those expectations by a wide margin.
Randle bounced back from a rough first season in New York; he earned an All-Star bid and second-team All NBA honors this season.
Now, Randle is on one of the most team-friendly deals in the NBA. He is eligible for an extension this offseason.
So both Randle and Perry will be with the Knicks for at least the next few seasons.
That’s a development few would have predicted in the winter of 2019. It’s a testament to their resiliency and the results they produced in 2020-21.
Perry’s initial agreement with the Knicks was first reported by The Athletic.
Movement within the Knicks?
With Perry under contract, it’s worth noting that multiple Western Conference teams have expressed interest in other members of Rose’s front office. The contracts of several members of the organization expire at the end of the month. Once the contracts expire, those members of the basketball operations department will be free to sign with other teams. So Rose and his group have several personnel decisions to make over the next few days.
