Thread by @_leeescobedo

Another late night Knicks thought….

Do Knicks fans really know who Leon Rose is?

I don't just mean the Knicks president who built this Finals contender.

But the history behind his rise as an amateur hooper, then lawyer, turned NBA agent?

The CAA super agent had a front row seat to almost every catastrophic Knicks decision for 25 years. He was the guy getting paid on the other side of every deal.

Then he took over the Knicks and did the exact opposite of all everything he saw for 20 years

Buckle up 🧵

Leon Rose grew up in Cherry Hill, NJ. A 5'10" point guard, not the quickest or most talented, but his basketball coach made him godfather to his son.

That's the type of dude Leon is.

Then he went to Temple Law, worked as a Camden County prosecutor, and became a litigator. Never stopped loving basketball.

In 1995, he took his first-ever NBA client: Rick Brunson, an undrafted Temple guard. Leon was so locked in he'd show up at 6 a.m. to rebound for Brunson's workouts and yell at him to line up on his shot.

Rick went undrafted. But Leon got him in the league anyway. and never let go of that relationship.

Remember that part.

From there, the client list grew: Allen Iverson. Chris Paul. Carmelo. LeBron. Dwyane Wade. Chris Bosh. KAT. Embiid. Devin Booker.

Forbes had him at #2 among all sports agents in 2019. around $40M in commissions that year alone. Over $1B in contracts negotiated over his career.

He repped the whole Banana Boat crew at the same time: LeBron, Wade, Melo, CP3.

Here's Dwyane Wade on Leon:

"Not at all surprised he's succeeding. You see how much money he helps people get?"

"Leon is behind the scenes. I don't think people even know how Leon looks."

That last line is important. Because what he was doing the whole time? I guess nobody was paying close enough attention.

Ok, so here's where it gets Knicks-y.

2005. Eddy Curry is Leon Rose's client. Isiah Thomas is running the Knicks and gave up Antonio Davis, Michael Sweetney, and the picks that became LaMarcus Aldridge at #2 overall and Joakim Noah at #9 to get him out of Chicago.

Curry averaged 11 points over three seasons in New York and faded out of the league. The Knicks gave away two franchise-level players for a center who couldn't stay in shape.

Leon's client got a bag. The Knicks got got.

2006 draft. Isiah Thomas had two first-round picks and used them on Renaldo Balkman at 20 and Mardy Collins at 29.

Did you know both of them were Leon Rose's clients?

Available at pick 21 was Rajon Rondo, who went on to play for Boston and won a championship in 2008. Kyle Lowry went 24. Paul Millsap at 47.

Balkman averaged 4 points a game in New York. Collins never became a rotation player. Both were out of the league within a few years. Isiah compared Balkman to Dennis Rodman on draft night. Spike Lee sarcastically called him a "sleeper!"

The Garden both their bum asses. You know Leon was smiling.

Now here's what really hurts: 2010 free agency.

Leon Rose had been LeBron's agent since 2005. Bill Simmons has said the Knicks were LeBron's first choice going into that summer. His exact words: "It was basically the Knicks' to lose. and they just couldn't stay out of their own way."

Dolan's pitch to LeBron? A 10-minute video featuring Tony and Carmela Soprano, Donald Trump, Harvey Weinstein, and Robert De Niro.

The meeting was called a disaster. LeBron didn't give them a second meeting.

Leon Rose was in the room. He was LeBron's agent. He watched Dolan play a Sopranos fan film instead of presenting any kind of basketball plan.

Then he turned around and worked with fellow CAA agent Henry Thomas, who repped Wade and Bosh, to build the Miami superteam. Rose helped bring LeBron, Wade, and Bosh together on the Heat. They won back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013.

2011: The Carmelo trade.

Donnie Walsh had the right idea: be patient, let Melo hit free agency in the summer, and sign him without giving up the young core. Dolan panicked about the Nets making a move, overruled Walsh, and forced the midseason deal.

It cost Wilson Chandler, Raymond Felton, Danilo Gallinari, Timofey Mozgov, a 2014 first-round pick that became Dario Saric, two seconds, and a pick swap. Walsh resigned soon after.

Carmelo himself said about Leon: "he played an integral role in everything. The conversations with Denver and New York… there was a bunch of stuff going on there that he played a role in."

The Knicks paid the full price and then some.

2013: Andrea Bargnani. Another Leon Rose client. Toronto was practically begging someone to take him. The Knicks sent Marcus Camby, Steve Novak, Quentin Richardson, a 2016 first-round pick that became Jakob Poeltl, and two seconds.

All that for a 7-footer who averaged 4.8 rebounds per game for his career and shot 30% from three in his final Toronto seasons. Bargnani missed half his only year in New York, averaged 12 points, and was gone.

Masai Ujiri's first move as Raptors GM was completely fleecing New York. And in the 19 years before Leon took over as president, the Knicks had exactly 3 winning seasons while paying the luxury tax 10 times.

Leon had a front row seat to all of it. collecting commissions every single time.

On March 2, 2020, Leon Rose becomes president of the New York Knicks.

he immediately starts doing the opposite of everything he watched for 25 years. No overpaying for players at their ceiling or burning picks in trades to "win now." Contracts too. No max deals without team control.

He starts stockpiling picks and signing short, team-friendly deals.

As one former GM said, "There's no bullshit with Leon. even in difficult times."

Did you know not one contract Leon gave out exceeded $29M a year? Every deal had team leverage. It helped that his son's the agent for Obi Toppin, Jalen Brunson, and OG Anunoby.

Speaking of Brunson.

His pops, Rick, the guy Leon rebounded for at 6 a.m. back in 1995? Leon hired Rick as a Knicks assistant coach weeks before free agency opened. Jalen had known Thibodeau, who Leon hired to coach the Knicks in 2020, since he was literally a toddler.

Dallas tried to trade Brunson to the Knicks mid-season and demanded picks. Rose's front office said no. Four months later, they cleared cap space on draft night and signed Jalen straight up in free agency.

The Mavs got jack shit in return.

Then came the run of moves that bult this contender.

Josh Hart: Leon sent Cam Reddish and a lottery-protected first to Portland. Hart was averaging 9.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 3.9 assists. People thought Reddish was worth a second-round pick at most. Fleece.

OG Anunoby: Memphis offered Toronto 4 first-round picks. Leon got OG for RJ Barrett, Immanuel Quickley, and zero draft picks. Toronto left money on the table because they wanted out fast. Leon was there with the bag.

Karl-Anthony Towns: Minnesota wanted to shed KAT's $220M contract. Leon sent Randle at peak All-Star value, plus DiVincenzo, plus a Pistons pick, and got a 4x All-Star back. bought low on a max player because he knew the Wolves needed a financial exit from KAT's deal.

The Mikal Bridges trade was the one big swing: 5 first-round picks. But Leon had been quietly banking picks for years, specifically so he could make that move when the time came. Bridges reunited with Brunson, and Hart from their Villanova championship runs. That chemistry shows every single night.

And the whole thing has a common thread running through it. Thibodeau is a CAA client. OG, Brunson, KAT, Hart all CAA. Sam Rose reps Brunson. Rick Brunson coaches under Mike Brown.

Leon built a roster and an ecosystem.

Leon Rose spent 25 years watching James Dolan pay top dollar for his clients.

Curry. Balkman. Collins. Bargnani. Carmelo.

Pick after pick, deal after deal, this franchise got bled dry and Leon was at the table every time.

He was in the room when Dolan tried to lure LeBron to NYC.

He took mental notes on every single mistake. And when Dolan finally called him, he took the job and flipped the script.

Dwyane Wade said it best: "It has a feeling of New York. They've been doing an incredible job of finding the DNA that fans want to root for."

The man studied the film for 25 years. He just happened to be in it. 🔵🟠

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