New York Knicks: David Griffin pulls name from GM search

David Griffin has pulled his name from the search for the next general manager of the New York Knicks. Find out why Griffin lost interest.

Late Saturday night, reports emerged that the New York Knicks would soon enter negotiations with David Griffin. Griffin was a candidate to take over as general manager, which would have thus pushed Steve Mills into the role of team president.

Unfortunately, Griffin’s contract negotiations with the Knicks reached an impasse, thus causing the former Cleveland Cavaliers general manager to walk away from the negotiating table.

Griffin represented a bright future for the Knicks, which appeared to be willing to branch out and explore a modern approach to team-building. Unfortunately, the organization refused to meet Griffin’s demands.

According to Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated, Griffin has officially pulled his name from the Knicks’ search for a new front office executive.

"Ex-Cavs GM David Griffin has pulled his name out of the Knicks’ GM and president search after he couldn’t come to agreement on the right role with the franchise, a source told The Undefeated."

According to Ian Begley of ESPN New York, sources told Adrian Wojnarowski that Griffin’s decision to not take the job was based on the limited authority he was being offered.

Begley followed with a more detailed report, which included the holdup between Griffin and the Knicks’ front office.

"He and the Knicks “just couldn’t make it work,” a source with knowledge of the talks told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. The issue came down to finding a proper role for Griffin while front-office executive Steve Mills continues to work for the team.Sources told ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski that the Knicks and Griffin were at odds over Griffin not having full authority on basketball decisions and over Griffin’s preference to bring in his own staff. No formal contract offer was made."

The details of what exactly led to Griffin’s decision appear to be a reflection of James Dolan’s commitment to giving Mills an opportunity to prove himself.

It’s worth noting that Mills was hired as the Knicks’ general manager in September of 2013—almost a year before Phil Jackson was hired as team president. Thus, Dolan appears inclined to grant Mills the opportunity to fill the role without direct authority dictating the direction of his vision.

That vision recently resulted in the lucrative signing of Tim Hardaway Jr. and the re-signing of Ron Baker.

Griffin hoped to take the job as general manager and hire his own staff to work with him. New York turned down that request, however, and instead maintained a stance that Mills would remain in a position of power.

In turn, the Knicks missed out on the opportunity to bring Griffin to New York as the team’s next general manager.

Moreover, Dolan essentially declined the opportunity to bring Griffin and the staff that he won an NBA championship with to New York.

Griffin and the staff he would’ve attempted to bring to The Mecca helped Cleveland reach three consecutive NBA Finals. The Cavaliers admittedly had LeBron James, but Griffin made a number of key moves to complement the four-time MVP.

That includes the trade of Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins for Kevin Love, and the chances taken on former Knicks guards Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith.

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The search for the next general manager of the New York Knicks continues.