HOW LEON ROSE CHANGED EVERYTHING
New York Knicks President Leon Rose stayed true to his persona on Monday night at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. While his coaches and players celebrated on-court during the Eastern Conference Championship ceremony, he stayed up in the stands with his family and his long-time aide William “World Wide Wes” Wesley.
Since Rose arrived in 2020, he has preferred to stay in the background, letting his coaches and players have the spotlight, and at times taking the heat. However, the fact that he doesn’t enjoy mixing it up with the media like a Brian Cashman or Bill Parcells, does not tarnish his role in making the Knicks the toast of the Big Apple.
I’ll admit, when he passed over Tyrese Haliburton to draft Obi Toppin in his first draft, I was borrowing the phrase “same ‘ol” to apply to Knicks’ latest GM. That’s the type of cynicism that two decades of bad decisions and bad basketball gave Knicks fans.
After all, we went through lean years watching Scott Layden try to learn on the job. Then we dealt with the swashbuckling Isiah Thomas provide us with more lawsuits than playoff victories. Donnie Walsh came in with big plans, but after missing out on LeBron James, he was forced by ownership to empty the cupboard for Carmelo Anthony. Glen Grunwald gave us some brief hope — before having the rug pulled out from under him to usher in the Phil Jackson-Steve Mills-Scott Perry triangle era.
By the time Rose arrived at Madison Square Garden, many Knicks fans had given up hope that the team would ever turn around under James Dolan’s ownership. But little did we know that Dolan’s attention was shifting to his development of the Sphere in Las Vegas.
The moment it clicked for me that Rose, Wesley, and company were really in charge was when they decided to let local favorite Donovan Mitchell go from the Utah Jazz to the Cleveland Cavaliers. They toyed with acquiring him, but decided to hold their assets.
Were they concerned Mitchell wouldn’t fit with Jalen Brunson? Possibly. Or did they hold the line on overpaying like the organization had done many times in the past (see the Anthony, Eddy Curry, and Stephon Marbury trades). Regardless, the fact that Dolan didn’t force Rose to make a deal that vocal Knicks fans begged for, gave me hope that things were finally changing at MSG.
Given time and patience, Rose has built a championship caliber team in a very creative way. While most teams build winners by tanking and hitting on lottery picks (like the Boston Celtics and the Oklahoma City Thunder) or trying to do so via free agency (think the KD/Kyrie Brooklyn Nets), Rose has been very creative.
He acquired a future Hall of Fame point guard as an under-the-radar free agent, and then made four deft trades to fill out the starting five. The bench is primarily populated with homegrown draft picks and bargain basement free agents.
Other than signing Jalen Brunson, the two biggest decisions Rose has made involved coaching hires. He got it right with Tom Thibodeau — who created a hard-working, team-first, winning culture. Then, he put pressure on himself when he replaced Thibs with Mike Brown last summer.
That move officially signaled that this turnaround was no longer just a feel-good story. It became “NBA Finals or bust” for everyone involved. That’s why a third straight 50+ win season meant little to the Knicks or their fans heading into the post-season. It’s also why the city was about to meltdown just five weeks ago when the Knicks fell behind — two games to one — to the Atlanta Hawks.
Clearly, now that the Knicks are riding a historic 11-game winning streak into the Finals, the stakes have risen. After being the league’s punchline for two decades, the Knicks have a legitimate chance to win the NBA Championship.
Win or lose, the quiet man behind-the-scenes has earned our respect.
TRADES (5)
- G Josh Hart (2-5-23) — acquired from the Portland Trail Blazers along with the draft rights to Bojan Dubljevic and Daniel Diez, in exchange for Cam Reddish, Ryan Arcidiacono, Svi Mykhailiuk, the draft rights to Ante Tomic, and a protected first-round pick.
- F OG Anunoby (12-30-23) — acquired from the Toronto Raptors with Precious Achiuwa and Malachi Flynn, in exchange for RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, and a 2024 second-round pick.
- F Mikal Bridges (7-6-24) — acquired from the Brooklyn Nets with Keita Bates-Diop, a 2026 second-round pick (#33 overall in this June’s draft), and draft rights to Juan Pablo Vaulet, in exchange for Bojan Bogdanovic, Mamadi Diakite, Shake Milton, unprotected first-round picks in 2025, 2027, 2029, 2031, an unprotected pick swap in 2028, a top-four protected 2025 first-round pick, and a 2025 second-round pick.
- C Karl-Anthony Towns (10-2-24) — acquired from the Minnesota Timberwolves in a three-way trade with the Charlotte Hornets along with the draft rights for James Nnaji, in exchange for Julius Randle, Donte DiVincenzo, Keita Bates-Diop, Charlie Brown, DaQuan Jeffries, Duane Washington Jr, a future first-round pick, and two future second-round picks.
- G Jose Alvarado (2-5-26) — acquired from the New Orleans Pelicans along with the draft rights to Latavious Williams in exchange for Dalen Terry and two future second-round draft picks.
DRAFT PICKS (7)
- C Mitchell Robinson (#36, 2018)
- G Miles McBride (#36, 2021)
- F Pacome Dadiet (#25, 2024)
- G Tyler Kolek (#34, 2024)
- G/F Kevin McCullar Jr (#56, 2024)
- C Ariel Hukporti (#58, 2024)
- F Mohamed Diawara (#51, 2025)
FREE AGENT SIGNINGS (6)
- G Jalen Brunson (signed 7-12-22)
- G Jordan Clarkson (signed 7-7-25)
- G/F Landry Shamet (signed 9-11-25)
- F/C Trey Jemison III (signed 9-16-25)
- F Dillon Jones (signed 1-20-26)
- F Jeremy Sochan (signed 2-13-26)