Agents and Executives Shocked by Knicks GM Glen Grunwald’s Firing

Carmelo Anthony wasn’t the only person who was taken aback by the New York Knicks’ surprising firing of general manager Glen Grunwald. Agents and execs around the NBA ripped the Knickerbockers for the move. Per the NY Post: “Rick Kaplan, the agent for Marcus Camby, pounded the Knicks for their handling of former general manager Glen Grunwald, stripped of his duties four days before training camp. The Knicks have brought back their former executive, Steve Mills, to be their new president/general manager after Grunwald retooled the club all summer. Kaplan goes way back with Grunwald, to when Camby was in Toronto. ‘Steve is a great guy, but Glen’s firing is absurd,’ Kaplan stated in a text message Friday morning. ‘He did a great job in a challenging environment. Turns out it was a thankless job.’ Several league executives were genuinely shocked at the timing of the move, as was Carmelo Anthony. ‘I was shocked,’ Anthony said at a promotional event. ‘I never heard about it and nobody knew it was coming.’ […] But one NBA GM said Friday: ‘If you’re looking for logic within Dolan’s Knicks, you’re looking in the wrong place.’ Contacted at the NBA offices, David Stern defended the Knicks decision, lauding Mills, who worked with Stern in the 1990s. Stern said his inexperience running a club day-to-day is a non-factor because of his past experience as Garden’s sports president where he also oversaw the WNBA’s Liberty. Dolan is also bringing in Mills to team with assistant GM Allan Houston to oversee a future overhaul that could begin this summer as they prepare for potential cap space in 2015 and make sure they re-sign Carmelo Anthony. ‘Over the years, he has developed an enormous network of friends and colleagues of various teams,’ Stern said. ‘He’s dealt with a lot of players, a lot of agents. He’s a superior administrator who is going to help the team with its team business operations and I don’t mean just business. The Knicks are doing something specific and Steve fits the bill.'”