SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Knicks GM Scott Perry, the former Kings executive, is attending the team’s four-game Western swing, though he took a detour Thursday to Tucson, Ariz., to catch Stanford at Arizona.Perry and his flock of new personnel men are ready to dance as conference tournaments commence and the NCAA Tournament beckons. This will be the first Knicks draft run by Perry, who wasn’t hired by president Steve Mills until mid-July.
Arizona boasts the potential No. 1 pick in the draft in some circles in big man Deandre Ayton but also features two potential second-round shooting guards, sophomore Rawle Alkins and Allonzo Trier, the latter of whom was recently ruled ineligible and then reinstated because of a banned substance. The Knicks’ largest need in the draft is a legitimate small forward.
Not on the Knicks’ road trip is Mills, who stayed behind to take in the first Big Ten Tournament at the Garden, as well as the upcoming Big East extravaganza. The Knicks had about four personnel men watching the Big Ten Tournament.
The Knicks’ front office ultimately will see both Bridges’ play their home arena — Miles of Michigan State and Mikal of Villanova. Both are small forwards who are projected to fall into the Knicks’ possible range.
With 19 games to go entering Sunday’s match against the Kings, the Knicks (24-39) would be seeded ninth in the May 15 lottery that will move this season from New York to Chicago.
As the Knicks, who own the Bulls’ second-round pick, gear up for the 2018 draft, they will be without former top college scout Mark Hughes, who left to be a top executive with Atlanta, and longtime college scout Mark Warkentien, who has been de-emphasized and listed officially as a consultant.
In addition, Clarence Gaines, who had more influence on the draft than anyone during the Phil Jackson era, is now just one of the college scouts.
Over the summer, Perry hired Gerald Madkins, the assistant GM in charge of coordinating their college scouting, and Fred Cofield, largely a college scout. Director of player personnel Harold Ellis, brought over from Orlando, is focused mostly on pro personnel, but will jump on board for March Madness.
On Sunday, Perry is returning to the capital city in which he spent just three months on the job as Sacramento’s assistant GM to Vlade Divac. The Knicks gave Sacramento cash and a 2019 second-rounder to break the Kings contract.
Though Perry worked for Orlando last season, he ran Sacramento’s 2017 draft. He was hired by Sacramento in late April after being bounced by the Magic.
Perry selected Kentucky point guard De’Aaron Fox at 5. Though Fox has had his ups and downs (averaging 11.6 points, 4.3 assists, shooting 41.4 percent), it’s too early to brand him a bad-value pick.
On Saturday, rookie-of-the-year favorite Donovan Mitchell came to Sacramento’s new downtown arena and torched the Kings for 27 points and five assists in a Jazz victory. Perry passed on the Westchester-bred combo guard, but so did 12 other teams, including Jackson’s Knicks.
In the second round, Perry added another point guard for the Kings in Frank Mason III, the Kansas senior who has shown some promise but missed six weeks with plantar fasciitis. Perry’s free-agent signings in Sacramento haven’t boosted the Kings, who entered the Knicks game at 19-44.
Perry inked point guard George Hill to be Fox’s mentor, and Divac shipped him recently to Cleveland. Perry also added veterans Zach Randolph and Vince Carter, neither of whom is playing as the Kings, like the Knicks, move into full-blown developmental mode.
Perry’s draft history in Orlando is mixed. His pick of Victor Oladipo in 2013 proved golden, but he traded him before the current Pacer blossomed into an All-Star. In the Kristaps Porzingis draft of 2015, Orlando took at 5 swingman Mario Hezonja, who was headed toward bust status. But he’s risen this season and is an unrestricted free agent because new Orlando brass didn’t pick up his fourth-year option.
The Kings, according to the Sacramento Bee, will have interest in Hezonja this summer, and Perry also could as the Knicks work without cap space.
