Report: Knicks retain GM Scott Perry on one-year deal

The New York Knicks and general manager Scott Perry have agreed to a one-year deal, per The Athletic’s Shams Charania. We don’t have the details of the deal but it seems the Knicks are putting faith in Perry at least for another season. This year has been widely a failure, but the expectations for the team weren’t all that high after whiffing in free agency this past offseason. The Knicks recently brought in new team president Leon Rose, a super agent who has relationships with some of the most talented players in the NBA. Rose is clearly comfortable moving forward with Perry in the short term.

So what does Perry do next? Well, once we get the schedule for the rest of the season cleared up, he has a lot of work ahead of him. If the season ended today, the Knicks would finished 25th overall in the NBA standings. That would peg them as the 6th-best odds to win the draft lottery with a record of 21-45. Once the Knicks find out where they’re drafting, they can start to look at who to select.

After the draft, well, the Knicks have to figure out this roster. New York has a bunch of players signed at least through next season, but not beyond that. This is mostly so the team has cap flexibility heading into the Summer of 2021, when Giannis Antetokounmpo becomes a free agent. Not only is Giannis a free agent in 2021, but Anthony Davis would be as well. There are also a handful of stars on player options, with the ability to opt out (Paul George, Chris Paul, etc.).

The only Knicks players under contract past 2021 are Julius Randle, RJ Barrett, Mitchell Robinson, Kevin Knox and ... Ignas Brazdeikis. So yeah, the Knicks will have a ton of cap space to play around with in 2021. Whether Perry is involved in those decisions is still to be seen. Rose could go another year in the dumps with the franchise before turning things around big time with a few high draft picks and a couple max contract slots.