Report: Rose Interested In Brand For Knicks GM Vacancy

Related

New Knicks president Leon Rose reportedly has been eyeing 76ers general manager Elton Brand for the same role with New York.

The Daily News’ Stefan Bondy was the first to report on Rose’s interest in Brand, citing a league source. However, Brand, 41, is under contract with Philadelphia for one more season. Rose was waiting to see if the 76ers would dismiss Brand after the season, the source said.

Brand was named the Sixers’ GM just before the start of the 2018-19 season in the fallout from the Bryan Colangelo Twitter scandal. In Brand's first year as general manager, the team went 51-31 and lost to the eventual champion Raptors in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals on Kawhi Leonard’s buzz-beater.

Brand traded for Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris during that first season. After losing Butler in free agency, trading for Josh Richardson and signing Al Horford last summer, the 76ers were 39-26 and in sixth place in the Eastern Conference when this season was suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak. 

Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

The first overall pick in the 1999 draft out of Duke, Brand, a Peekskill native, was a two-time All-Star big man who played for the Bulls, Clippers, Sixers, Mavericks and Hawks over a 17-year NBA career. He was named the 1999-2000 Rookie of the Year.

Scott Perry is currently the Knicks’ general manager, but he was hired by Steve Mills, who was fired as team president in February.

The Daily News also reported that Rose received permission to interview Cavaliers capologist Brock Aller for a front-office role with the Knicks before the league shutdown.