Pros & cons of retaining Scott Perry as New York Knicks GM

New York Knicks
May 15, 2018; Chicago, IL, USA; New York Knicks General Manager Scott Perry during the 2018 NBA Draft Lottery at the Palmer House Hilton. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-USA TODAY Sports

Leon Rose has his first GM as team president of the New York Knicks. Rose is retaining Scott Perry on a one-year deal for the 2020-21 season, per SNYs Ian Begley.

We spoke a few days ago about how it might not be the best idea to have Perry still around.  Why would you have someone making decisions for the team if there’s no plan of having that person there in the future.  There was speculation that Perry might not return with the Knicks since the Rose hire but that’s no more.

Bringing Perry back as the Knicks GM, on a one-year deal, has its pros and cons.

Pros

It’s a low risk, high reward.  A one-year deal is much better than a long-term deal.  A one-year ‘prove it’ deal may be just what Perry needs to succeed.

Perry will now be able to do more in the GM role now that Steve Mills is no longer with the team.  He has got the team future building blocks in RJ Barrett and Mitchell Robinson.  You can even put Ignas Brazdeikis in that category since he’s been playing very well in Westchester.  It’s player development that has been the issue.

Perry’s tenure with the Knicks has a bad spin on it, thus far, because of Mills.  Mills was the problem, not Perry.  Perry will be lumped in with the negativity of the Mills’ time with the Knicks.

Cons

If Knicks were truly ‘cleaning house’, Perry should’ve went too.  Sometimes that’s the best solution.  Rose shouldn’t have brought back any person in the front office that was there during the Mills era.  Let Rose pick his GM and start from there.  This could also mean that big changes aren’t coming as quickly as fans think.

However you look at it, Rose made a smart decision on bringing back Perry for one-year.  There also could’ve been no one else he trusted with the GM role at this point.  Perry will have one season to show that he’s capable of helping turn around the New York Knicks.