The New York Knicks are going the player-agent route, reportedly hiring CAA’s Leon Rose to become team president.
The New York Knicks are closing in on hiring powerful player agent Leon Rose of Creative Artists Agency to take over as team president, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Rose has worked with high-profile clients like Carmelo Anthony, Joel Embiid, Devin Booker, and Karl-Anthony Towns, among others.
Rose was one of the architects behind the LeBron James-era Miami Heat. At the time, Rose was James’ agent while a CAA colleague represented Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium is also reporting that William Wesley, a consultant for CAA, will be joining Rose. Wesley was known as “the most powerful man in sports” at one time for his extensive connections to players, owners, coaches, agents, and everyone in between.
The details of the agreement are still unclear, but the Knicks are following in the footsteps of the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Lakers. Both Western Conference teams have gone the route of hiring a player agent to oversee basketball operations. This strategy has obviously proved successful for those organizations, but there’s no guarantee for success in New York.
There are legitimate questions with Rose taking control. Obviously, he has extensive and meaningful connections to high-level players and power brokers around the league. With that said, how will he handle running an organization’s day-to-day basketball operations?
Also, the news of Rose’s hiring comes on the day of an important trade deadline for New York. General manager Scott Perry took over after the Knicks reassigned Steve Mills.
