New York Knicks say goodbye to Team President Steve Mills
It has been the day that Knicks fans have been waiting for, and it finally happened. The New York Knicks and their President Steve Mills have parted ways!
Adrian Wojnarowski announced on Twitter that the New York Knicks were expected to cut ties with President Steve Mills.
New York is parting ways with President Steve Mills, league source tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 4, 2020
And sure enough, the Knicks then released their press statement stating that Mills would be stepping down as team president.
The New York Knicks Announce Steve Mills to Leave His Position pic.twitter.com/Bdw37DKuEM
— NY_KnicksPR (@NY_KnicksPR) February 4, 2020
However, it does not seem like he will be completely removed from working with James Dolan. As stated in their press release, Mills will probably be nominated to the Board of a new standalone sports company, once all the approvals are completed. Meaning that Mills will be working for a Madison Square Garden spinoff company that oversees all of the sports franchises owned by the MSG.
Regardless of his soon to be new title, most fans (including myself) probably have the same feeling. As long as Mills is not running the New York Knicks, then there is hope!
Knickerbocker fans were waiting for this moment because Mills has proven for numerous years that he does not know how to construct a contending team.
Mills was hired by the Knicks in 2003 as Cheif Operating Officer and Sports Business President of Madison Square Garden. Mills then left the organization in 2009 to work at Magic Johnson Enterprises. While there, he assisted in establishing the Athletes & Entertainers Wealth Management Group, LLC.
After his stint at Magic Johnson Enterprises, Mills was rehired by the Knicks to be vice president and general manager of the team while Phil Jackson was acting president. Mills was then promoted to president after Jackson was relieved of his duties a day after the 2017 NBA Draft.
From acting vice president to now, Mills’ record with the team is an abysmal 178-365 record. Just a terrible thought that he could last that long with the organization without helping to produce a winning team is astounding.
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But now that Mills is gone, General Manager Scott Perry will be the interim president while the Knicks are on their search for the man to run the franchise. Some potential suitors that have been mentioned are Toronto Raptors President Masai Ujiri, Oklahoma City GM Sam Presti, as well as, player-agents Austin Brown, and Rich Paul.
Many people believe that Masai is the person Dolan is eyeing to save the Knicks franchise from being a continued laughing stock of the NBA. But the difficulty in getting Masai is that he is under contract until 2021 with the Raptors. So it may cost some draft picks to get him immediately.
Regardless, the New York Knicks now seem to be in a downward spiral because they don’t have a president before the trade deadline. However, the bright side is that Mills is gone. He is no longer in charge of making poor free agent signings (ie Tim Hardaway contract), terrible trades (Emmanuel Mudiay), and overall poor roster construction (oh so many power forwards).
Next. 2019-20 Big East Basketball Power Rankings 5.0. dark
So fellow Knicks fans, let us celebrate that Dolan relinquished Mills of his duties. It is something that the Knicks organization truly needed.