The more things change, the more they stay the same. And in the case of the New York Knicks, who are once again undergoing a regime change under owner James Dolan, they are handing their franchise over to trusted hands who know plenty about running the show in New York. But this time, rather than influencing in the shadows, they will be front and center.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the New York Knicks are closing in on a deal to bring in CAA super agent Leon Rose into the team to be their new President. But there’s another interesting wrinkle, as Shams Charania of The Athletic reports, that Rose will bring along his confidant, William Wesley, otherwise known as “World Wide Wes.”
Knicks have begun finalizing plans to bring Rose and William Wesley into potential basketball ops. structure, sources say. https://t.co/YxO3xVtDnL
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 6, 2020
It wasn’t that long ago that “CAA running the Knicks” was a running bit around the league. However, the Knicks were at least good when CAA stacked their team with clients in the earlier part of the decade, like the 2012-13 season in which they won over 50 games and made it to the second round of the playoffs. The Knicks are also clearly trying to follow the blueprint for success that has been followed by the Golden State Warriors (Bob Myers) and Los Angeles Lakers (Rob Pelinka), as two squads that have thrived with former player agents in the front office.
Wesley, while not technically an agent, has worked for CAA for decades now and developed a very strong relationship with NBA players all over the league, including LeBron James. He’s even been name-checked in songs by Drake and Jay-Z. Wesley and Rose were both strong parts of LeBron’s camp during “The Decision” back in 2010. A few years later, James eventually left to join Klutch Sports after Rich Paul left CAA to start his own agency.
Now that LeBron is in Los Angeles for the foreseeable future, there’s no way the Knicks are going to be able to turn back the clock to 2010 and bring him to New York again. However, it will be interesting to see what his former colleagues do now that they have the chance to bring the Knicks back to relevance.
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