New York Knicks president Leon Rose has been on the job now with one of the NBA’s prized franchises for a little more than a year-and-a-half. Already, the New York media vultures appear to be circling.
After a step forward last year when the Knicks surged to the No. 4 seed in the East and an impressive 41-31 record, the Knicks have had a bumbling start to this season, just 9-8 heading into Tuesday’s matchup against the Lakers. The Knicks had a fast, 5-1 start, but have gone 4-7 since.
Two of the city’s biggest dailies are putting the blame squarely on Rose, the former CAA agent who is in his first go-round running an NBA team.
In the New York Post, veteran columnist Ian O’Connor was blunt: “Actually, the Knicks do have an AD, just under the title of team president. His name is Leon Rose. And if the Knicks don’t right themselves over the long haul, you can go ahead and blame him.”
And at the Daily News, another Knicks beat vet, Stefan Bondy, wrote, “The bloom is off the Leon Rose. After his first season on the job triggered nothing but goodwill and virtual congratulatory backslaps, the team president’s 2021 moves have left questions about his use of copious assets to upgrade a roster that finished fourth in the East just six months ago.”
Did Rose & the Knicks Botch Free Agency?
As Bondy referenced, the primary complaint with Rose was his approach to free agency last summer, when he gave Julius Randle a contract extension worth $107 million and added Evan Fournier (four years, $78 million, final season at a team option) and Kemba Walker (two years, $18 million). The Knicks also gave new contracts, for three years each, to Derrick Rose ($43 million), Alec Burks ($30 million) and Nerlens Noel ($32 million).
It’s what the Knicks chose not to do that put the focus on the little-seen Rose this week, which is that he failed to pursue and sign either of the two players who are fueling a resurgence in Chicago, Bulls point guard Lonzo Ball and wing DeMar DeRozan.
Neither would have come cheap. DeRozan signed for $85 million over three years and Ball got $85 million over four years. But either would have been a significant upgrade over Walker and Fournier, and the Knicks did have the money to pursue both.
But Rose did not press to sign either Ball or DeRozan. The Knicks also failed to bring back a favorite of coach Tom Thibodeau, Reggie Bullock, who signed with Dallas for two years and $20 million, with a non-guaranteed third year.
“The offseason question of whether the additions could take the Knicks to the conference finals has quickly transitioned to whether they should be removed from the lineup,” Bondy wrote.
Tough Stretch Ahead for Knicks
Of course, it is early in the season, only 17 games in. The Knicks have time to turn things around and the struggles of the starting lineup have been offset by the excellent play of the bench—which leaves open the hope that some tinkering with the rotation could lead the Knicks back to consistency.
But New York is heading into a tough stretch, in which seven of their next nine opponents are .500 or better. It’s possible that things will get worse for the Knicks before they get better. And if they continue to get worse, well, expect the guy in charge to hear about it.
“If the Knicks continue to compromise their playoff aspirations in a muscled-up conference, well, Leon Rose is the one who changed the identity of this team,” O’Connor wrote. “And he’s the one who will deserve most of the blame.”
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