Grayson Allen Deal Seals Executive of the Year Case for New York Knicks' Leon Rose

Grayson Allen's expensive new deal should is another feather in Leon Rose's New York Knicks cap.

Dec 15, 2023; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Grayson Allen (8) drives on New York Knicks / Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

There are late bloomers and then there is what Leon Rose has done with the New York Knicks.

Upon landing the honor of being named the Knicks' de facto top decisionmaker in 2020, Rose's hire brought about an optimism tainted by understandable tepidness: sure, Rose's time at the helm of Creative Artists Agency was a unique spin on things, supposedly a gamechanger in terms of player negotiations. But the Knicks have dealt with false prophets before (i.e. Phil Jackson, Donnie Walsh) and it's safe to say that the casual fan has thought the same of Rose.

Rose's tenure has seemingly further relegated the idea of New York City as a basketball "destination," as no prior All-Star has made a discernible positive impact on the Knicks' championship fortunes. Some (i.e. Donovan Mitchell) manage to avoid it entirely.

Dec 15, 2023; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Grayson Allen (8) drives on New York Knicks / Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

But, after the Knicks followed a 2021-22 splurge (i.e. Kemba Walker, Derrick Rose) with relatively muted expectations, every Rose move has had its thorns ... and New York has pricked its way toward the top of the Eastern Conference.

The headliner, of course, is the four-year, $104 Jalen Brunson gambit, which could've gone wrong in dozens of different ways but has instead become the bargain of the century. But Rose's more subtle moves should grow a garden of supporters.

For example, it took offseason headliner Donte DiVincenzo one season to re-write the Knicks' record books, hitting a record 283 three-pointers in his maiden voyage. Josh Hart, a double-double personified since winter started becoming spring, played this year on a $10.9 million player option that came over from Portland in last year's trade, where the primary departure was failed reclamation project Cam Reddish.

Knowing Immanuel Quickley will be watching the playoffs from home will be a bittersweet morsel, but Rose brought in OG Anunoby and Precious Achiuwa in exchange for a redemption story the Knicks couldn't afford to write (RJ Barrett) goes down as another undeniable victory. Somehow, Rose managed to gain a first-round pick in the midst of it all, as the Dallas Mavericks' playoff clinch allowed the fruits of the Kristaps Porzingis trade to be fully harvested.

But Monday's first major transaction of the NBA postseason should more or less seal the deal: the Phoenix Suns have reportedly paid Grayson Allen $70 million to stay in the desert ... a.k.a. over $20 million to a similarly-skilled, older, DiVincenzo twin ... one who, for the record doe not own the Knicks' single-season three-point record ... in the midst of a quickly-slamming championship window.

How that doesn't offer Rose a vote then and there is perhaps understandable yet ludicrous all at the same time.

Sure, Rose's moves haven't fully played to fruition ... Alec Burks is out of the rotation while Bojan Bogdanovic continues to search for a groove in relief but even those efforts don't appear to be in vain: the Knicks got one of their free agent misfires (Evan Fournier) off the books and appeared to have been right about further first-round write-offs (Quentin Grimes joining Obi Toppin).

Like the postseason accolade lobbies for Brunson (MVP) and Tom Thibodeau (Coach of the Year) before him, the Knicks' second-place has not only rendered Rose's honor roll undeniable, it'd be downright negligent even to suggest ignoring it.