Ian Begley, SNY.tv | Twitter |

Scott Perry will serve as general manager under new Knick president Leon Rose, league sources confirm to SNY.

"Scott is a well-respected basketball executive who I have known for more than 20 years, and I look forward to continuing to work closely with him as we look to build a winning team in New York," Rose said in a statement on the news, which was first reported by Newsday.

Perry has a new one-year deal for 2020-21. He had previously been general manager under former team president Steve Mills.

Mills was removed from his position in February shortly before the NBA trade deadline. Perry was serving as the organization's interim top executive before Rose officially took over in early March.

Rose has a strong relationship with Perry; they worked together on the trade that sent Carmelo Anthony -- then Rose's client -- to Oklahoma City in 2017 shortly after Perry assumed his role with the Knicks. They'd also worked together regularly during Perry's stints in the front offices of other teams.

Rose had been leaning on Perry since taking over as team president.

Some assumed that Rose would hire his own general manager in New York. Perry has a one-year deal, so Rose could still add a new general manager after the 2020-21 season if things don't go well.

But to call Perry a 'lame-duck' GM under Rose is a bit misleading. Rose could have simply let Perry go if he wanted to or kept him and reassigned him to a different role in the organization.

So Rose clearly doesn't see Perry as a lame-duck executive.

Rose's hire of Perry isn't an indication that others that were in the front office under Mills and Perry will remain with the Knicks. Rose is still evaluating the front office and doing due diligence. So the future of execs brought in by Perry is unclear or those who were hired by Mills is unclear.

Rose recently hired Brock Aller, a former Cleveland Cavaliers executive, as his first Knicks front office hire.

Along with Aller and now Perry, Allan Houston -- currently working as a team executive -- is a candidate to remain in the front office under Rose, per sources.

Perry has been with the Knicks since the 2017 offseason. In that time, he's been credited for drafting Mitchell Robinson (No. 36 in the 2018 NBA Draft) and signing Allonzo Trier as an undrafted free agent. It's too early to judge whether Kevin Knox or RJ Barrett were strong draft choices under Perry.

But his selection of Robinson -- and the role Perry played in Sacramento selecting De'Aaron Fox before he joined the Knicks -- are positives on his draft ledger.

Perry, obviously, will now be instrumental in the Knicks' 2020 draft and free agency. New York has two first-round draft picks this season.

The Knicks' free agency performance under Mills and Perry was subpar. Mills and Perry traded Kristaps Porzingis -- after Porzingis requested a trade -- for two future first-round picks, Dennis Smith Jr. and cap space.

New York hoped to land Kevin Durant and another top free agent with the cap space created by the Porzingis trade. The club missed out on those top targets and signed several players to short-term deals.

New York hoped -- in the best-case scenario -- to contend for a playoff spot this season.

Instead, the Knicks got off to a 4-18 start and fired head coach David Fizdale, whom Mills and Perry hired. Mills was then fired a few weeks later.

One thing worth noting when discussing Perry's Knicks tenure: the on-court results have been poor, but New York has salary cap flexibility moving forward because the Knicks didn't commit long-term money to any player in free agency. Perry deserves credit for his role in preserving that cap flexibility.

The Knicks certainly are hoping for better results in the Rose era. He made a significant move on Wednesday by naming Perry as his first GM.

The Perry news was first reported by Newsday.

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