How can the Knicks replace Scott Perry?

When the Knicks make a change in the front office, the reasons are usually obvious.

It’s often due to poor results or a lack of progress. Sometimes it’s the result of a regime change.

But when GM Scott Perry and the Knicks mutually parted ways earlier this week, the reasoning wasn’t so clear.

The Knicks just finished one of the most successful seasons of the past two decades. They won 47 games in the regular season and beat the Cavs in the first round. In doing so, they surpassed any reasonable preseason expectations.

So the Knicks and Perry didn’t part ways due to poor on-court results. Perry has worked as general manager under Leon Rose for the past three seasons.

So they didn’t make a change because of a new regime.

Neither Perry nor anyone from the Knicks has addressed the situation. So it’s unclear what, specifically, led to the parting of ways. One thing we know is that it was indeed a mutual agreement between the team and Perry.

So where do the Knicks go from here?

I would assume that Gerrson Rosas, a senior basketball advisor and former Timberwolves president, will have an expanded role. Rosas, whose tenure in Minnesota ended due to a toxic environment and in office relationship, has a close relationship with team president Leon Rose and head coach Tom Thibodeau.

It’s possible that other executives such as Brock Aller (Vice President of Basketball, Planning), Frank Zanin (assistant general manager, pro scouting) and Walt Perrin (assistant general manager, college scouting) take on more responsibility.

Maybe the Knicks look externally for a general manager.

One name you can cross off of your list? Former Warriors GM Bob Meyers.

Meyers left Golden State last week after helping the organization win four championships.

He would be a target for any team looking to fill a front-office vacancy.

But I can’t see Meyers taking a job where he isn’t the top basketball executive. In New York, he’d be working under Rose and executive vice president/senior basketball advisor William Wesley. Also, Meyers would command a significant salary. I can’t see Knicks governor James Dolan adding another high-salaried executive. By my estimate, Dolan would be spending well north of $22 million on his top execs if the Knicks added Myers.

It’s not happening.

What about Perry?

Perry has more than two decades of experience as a front office member. I would assume an executive with that level of experience would want to lead an organization.

Given the structure of the Knicks’ front office, that was never going to be an option for Perry in New York.

How should Perry be remembered during his six years as Knicks GM? I’m not one to tell fans how to think, but I don’t see how anyone could argue this point: Perry leaves the Knicks in much better standing than when he first arrived.

Perry was hired in the middle of the 2017 offseason by then team president Steve Mills. At the time, the Knicks and Rockets were discussing a Carmelo Anthony trade that would have sent Ryan Anderson to New York. That transaction would have handcuffed New York financially because Anderson had multiple years left on an $80 million deal.

Once Perry was hired, he halted the Anthony trade talks. Eventually, Anthony was moved to Oklahoma City for players on short contracts (Enes Kanter, Doug McDermott) and a second-round pick that became Mitchell Robinson.

That trade was the first step in Perry spearheading a rapid 18-month clean-up of the Knicks’ books.

The Knicks, you’ll probably remember, dealt Kristaps Porzingis in 2019 with the hope of signing two superstars in the summer of 2019. They failed to land Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving or any other big names on the market.

After Durant and Irving signed with the Nets, New York pivoted to players open to signing short deals with team options. The Knicks’ big signing that summer was Julius Randle. Randle has posted two All-NBA seasons in his past three years with the Knicks.

The other players were signed that summer were on team-friendly contracts. That approach gave the Knicks financial flexibility. Mills and Perry also held steadfast to another principle: not trading first-round picks.

As a result of that approach, Rose & Co. inherited a relatively clean salary cap and a surplus of first-round picks when they took over in 2020.

Of course, Perry’s resume in New York contains both hits and misses. The Knicks missed on their 2018 first-round pick (Kevin Knox). They also dismissed the first coach they hired (David Fizdale) after 1.5 seasons. But Perry’s trade of Marcus Morris Sr. to Los Angeles netted the Knicks a first-round pick that they used to select Immanuel Quickley in the 2020 draft.

You can have a long debate over the merits of each transaction made with Perry as GM. But, to me, there’s no reason to debate that Perry leaves the Knicks in a much better place than they were in when he arrived. The organization gained stability, flexibility and the beginning of a foundation (Randle, Robinson, RJ Barrett) to build from.