Leon Rose has definitely helped trend the Knicks in a positive direction since taking over as the Head of Basketball Operations in the spring of 2020. He hired world-renowned basketball coach Tom Thibodeau as the leader on the sidelines and brought in Obi Toppin with the eighth pick in the draft.
Still, their silence over this offseason period has been pretty defining.
As one of the few teams with cap space, one would think the Knicks would be able to land at least one big-name player, whether by trade or free agency. It only gets worse when you consider the reports that they were actually pursuing some big-name players before those plans ultimately fell through.
When Rose came aboard, The Post has learned, he talked internally about his grandiose plans of trading for point guard Chris Paul, his former CAA client, to hasten the rebuild.
Then Rose planned to sign ex-Knick Carmelo Anthony, Paul’s buddy. Anthony also is a former Rose client who rejuvenated his career in Portland.
So Rose went into free agency looking to bolster the moribund point-guard position but lost out on his top targets that included Fred VanVleet, who never gave the Knicks a passing glance while re-signing with Toronto.
Rose wound up bringing back starting point guard Elfrid Payton, also a CAA client.
Essentially, Rose was aiming for CP3 and Carmelo Anthony to bolster their scoring, depth, and experience. The two would have rejuvenated interest in the organization and might have put up a fight for the final playoff seeds in the East.
Unfortunately for the Knicks, neither Melo nor Paul joined, and neither did Hayward, VanVleet, Ibaka, or any other major free agent this offseason. This has been a recurring theme for them for some time.
And while the Knicks do have plenty to look forward to in terms of young talent and culture-building, it says a lot that they struck out yet again, even with a new President, a new coach, and a new “direction” having been charted for the franchise. When does it end?
