ORLANDO, Fla. — So much for Masai Ujiri.
ESPN reported and The Post confirmed the Knicks are not expected to ask for permission to speak to the Raptors president, who recently signed a contract extension that gives him five years left on his deal. It is believed compensation was the issue.
Hence, former Cavaliers general manager David Griffin, a free agent, is emerging as the top candidate to get hired. The Post has learned Steve Mills will remain with the Knicks regardless of whether he gets the job as president or continues his GM duties after the new hire. As first reported by The Post, Mills is being considered for the top job.
According to ESPN, if Griffin is hired, it likely would be for the general manager job under Mills, who is beloved by owner James Dolan.
Griffin requires no compensation after parting ways with Cleveland as his contract expired days after the Finals. Griffin’s Cavaliers teams played in the past three NBA Finals.
Ujiri would be too costly for Dolan compensation-wise. One league source said Toronto would ask for multiple picks from its division rival, including a first-rounder.
With free agency beginning Saturday at 12:01 a.m., the timing couldn’t be worse for Ujiri to start interviewing.
Dolan has admired Ujiri from afar, and Tim Leiweke, the former Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment executive who is running the Knicks’ presidential search, once hired Ujiri away from Denver to Toronto.
According to an NBA source, the Knicks will make no move on Carmelo Anthony until a new president and GM team is in place to succeed Phil Jackson.
As a result, any interested teams, such as the Rockets, who just acquired Anthony’s buddy Chris Paul, are on hold. Mills is running the front office as the club enters free agency with a murky future.
Mills declined to make himself available at the Knicks’ summer league practice Friday.
Though the Knicks expected this to be a long process, it could wrap up sooner rather than later if the Anthony situation is deemed pressing and Griffin, who got a recommendation from Jerry West, is deemed a perfect fit.
Meanwhile, Kentucky coach John Calipari vehemently denied a report his intermediaries contacted the Knicks to express his interest. Calipari has been interested in a high-profile NBA gig for years and always has the Knicks on his radar.
“NO ONE has contacted the Knicks on my behalf,” Calipari wrote on Twitter on Thursday night.
Calipari continued his protest Friday morning on ESPN radio.
“There may have been a college coach who inquired about it — it wasn’t me. I called my wife and said, ‘Was it you?’” he joked.
“But the reality is I’m coaching at Kentucky, c’mon,” Calipari said. “In my mind, I got the best job in the country. I can’t see there’s something out there that I would want to leave for.”
Also, as The Post has reported and Isiah Thomas has confirmed, the Liberty president is not a candidate.