Knicks' brass lauds 'successful free-agency period'

The circus has returned to Madison Square Garden.

New York Knicks president Steve Mills faced Gotham media in person Monday for the first time since the team struck out on several major free-agent targets this summer.

"(MSG chairman James Dolan) knew we were going to have a successful free-agency period and we feel like we did that," Mills said, according to the Daily News' Stefan Bondy. "He was on board with what we were doing, and one of the rosters that he saw well in advance of free agency looks like what we're going to put out on the floor this year."

Mills' words ran counter to an almost apologetic statement he released June 30.

"While we understand that some Knicks fans could be disappointed with tonight's news, we continue to be upbeat and confident in our plans to rebuild the Knicks to compete for championships in the future," Mills said at the time, hours after the Knicks failed to land one or both of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.

To add insult to injury, both players signed with the crosstown Nets.

In the spring, Dolan echoed various media reports in suggesting that the Knicks would make a big splash with the cap room they cleared in the Kristaps Porzingis trade.

"New York is the Mecca of basketball," Dolan said in March. "And I can tell you - from what we've heard, we're going to have a very successful offseason when it comes to free agents."

With Durant, Irving, Kawhi Leonard, and other players off the market, the Knicks turned their attention to signing four big men - Julius Randle, Bobby Portis, Marcus Morris, and Taj Gibson - with intriguing young center Mitchell Robinson already on the roster.

"I don't want to undersell the talent that we gathered," general manager Scott Perry said. "These guys are very good basketball players, accomplished basketball players. They saw this as an opportunity really to grow themselves and contribute to a place that had a chance to win one day."