How Leon Rose Fits Into The New York Knicks Front Office

The New York Knicks are reportedly close to a deal that would name Leon Rose the next President of Basketball Operations of the New York Knicks.

The past 24 hours have been a whirl-wind for the New York Knicks. From firing Steve Mills to hundreds of trade rumors there was never a boring second in the Big Apple. Now agent Leon Rose of Creative Artists Agency is set to become the next President of Basketball Operations for the Knicks.

Rose is an experienced and well-respected agent who represented players such as Lebron James and Carmelo Anthony. He currently represents young stars Karl-Anthony Towns and Devin Booker.

Now the question remains, can Leon Rose save the Knicks?

“His strength is his interconnections with every element of basketball — shoe companies, general managers, players,” one person familiar with Rose’s credentials said according to the New York Post.

So far so good.

The target for this hire was to copy a championship recipe. Woj reported the Knicks were considering hiring a top basketball executive out of the player agent ranks based off the success Bob Myers and Rob Pelinka have had with the Warriors and Lakers. The Knicks were also after Toronto Raptors Masai Ujiri, who are fresh off an NBA Championship, but Dolan’s desire to make a quick hire ruled him out.

I’m excited for what the future can hold with Leon Rose in charge. Karl-Anthony Towns has grown more upset with the Timberwolves everyday. If Minnesota can’t land D’Angelo Russell, the center could try to force his way to New York via trade. I will note I’m being very optimistic but this is still a possibility.

The Knicks may be in the market for a new head coach this off-season and Leon Rose has some pretty big connections as Rose represents Kentucky head coach John Calipari. Once again this is nothing but speculation.

In terms of the next three hours, its unseen if Rose will have any say in terms of trades. The Knicks have been hot commodities at the deadline but no trades have been made. Marcus Morris Sr. and Dennis Smith Jr. names have been thrown around the most but as of 12pm eastern time they remain on New York’s roster.

Leon Rose may have no front-office experience, but his reputation and relationship with players could be just the appeal the Knicks needed to drawl star free agents to New York.