Steve Mills has been the loyal Knicks front office soldier for 18 years and through regime change after regime change in New York. Owner James Dolan likes him. Most recently Mills was the general manager under Phil Jackson — making Mills the guy who had to do the day-to-day dirty work of the front office while Jackson sat on high and pondered deep thoughts and ‘Melo insults (or whatever he did). Mills is the guy in charge of the Knicks through free agency right now.
Now Mills wants his turn in the big chair — he want’s Jackson’s old job as team president, reports Stefan Bondy of the New York Daily News.GM Steve Mills is making a bold power play to run the Knicks, a source told the Daily News.
Mills, a survivor of several regimes because of his closeness with James Dolan, has been trying to convince the owner that he should be elevated to team president. In other words, the Knicks search for their next executive would only be for a GM to serve under Mills, rather than replacements for Jackson and Mills.
Don’t be shocked if Mills swings for the fences on a move in the next few days to impress Dolan.
New York has reached out to recently released Cavaliers GM David Griffin about the job, but talks are preliminary. Griffin is a proven and respected GM around the league, a guy who has already worked with a difficult owner, and seems a good fit. There are rumors that Mills could become team president and Griffin the GM, setting up a potential power struggle.
The Knicks should hire Griffin, give him control, then make sure Dolan stays as far away from basketball operations. But this is the Knicks, you really think it will go down that way?