With owner James Dolan looking at making various agents as potential presidential candidates, don’t sleep on Kevin Durant’s man, Rich Kleiman, according to NBA sources.
Kleiman, a native New Yorker, has always desired to run the Knicks. Kleiman was a force in having Durant at least consider the Knicks last year. The scuttlebutt was Durant would join the Knicks and Kleiman would take on a prominent front-office role. That possibility slammed shut when Durant chose the Nets, along with Kyrie Irving.
If Kleiman were to run the Knicks, sources close to him said he’d likely hire former St. John’s star Mark Jackson as head coach. Kleiman has a long relationship with Jackson and, sources said, he believed that Jackson should have been the hire in 2018 when David Fizdale got the gig.
The Knicks fired Steve Mills as team president on Tuesday.
Kleiman is technically Durant’s manager and they are very close friends. They have formed a media and investment business, Thirty Five Ventures, based in New York.
ESPN reported Dolan has looked at the Warriors model in which they hired former agent Bob Myers, who used to work for SFX Sports. The Lakers also tabbed Rob Pelinka, a longtime agent of Kobe Bryant and others.
SNY stated Dolan has had internal talks about CAA’s Austin Brown, who represents on-the-block D’Angelo Russell.
Dolan has long wanted to bring over Toronto’s Masai Ujiri, but he’s under contract through next season and the Knicks would need to pay major compensation. Dolan balked at compensation in 2017 when interested in Ujiri. ESPN reported it stands as a barrier this time, too. The Post has reported the NBA would prefer Ujiri in New York rather than Toronto.
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