David Griffin expected to interview with New York Knicks

The New York Knicks are expected to interview former Cleveland Cavaliers general manager David Griffin after the team parted ways this week with Phil Jackson as president of basketball operations.

Griffin, who left the Cavaliers last week in a mutual decision but reportedly over differences with owner Dan Gilbert, is a candidate to join the Knicks' front office, sources told ESPN's Ramona Shelburne.

Griffin was the general manager in Cleveland for three seasons and helped the Cavs to their first title in the 2015-16 season.

The Knicks are assembling a list of candidates and had an initial conversation with Griffin, who is expected to have more talks when the team moves to the next level of the process, according to ESPN.

Griffin's departure in Cleveland coincided with the one-year anniversary of the Cavs' 93-89 victory over the Golden State Warriors in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals. The victory made the Cavaliers the first team to overcome a 3-1 deficit in the finals and was the city's first title since the Browns won the NFL championship in 1964.

Griffin joined the Cavs in 2010 and became full-time general manager in 2014. He was responsible for acquiring Kevin Love after LeBron James returned to the franchise, and was part of the decision to make Tyronn Lue head coach in 2016 after firing David Blatt.

The decisions helped the Cavs' title run behind James, Love and Kyrie Irving. Cleveland has been to three straight NBA Finals but lost to the Warriors earlier this month in five games.

Owner James Dolan announced Wednesday morning "we mutually agreed that the Knicks will be going in a different direction" after parting ways with Jackson following three disappointing seasons.

Jackson was hired after a historic coaching career that included 11 NBA titles, but he struggled to make progress with the Knicks with a three-year record of 80-166 since he took over the role as team president, including a franchise-worst 17-65 in 2014-15.

The Knicks, who lost at least 50 games each year under Jackson, completed a 31-51 season in 2016-17 and missed the playoffs for the fourth straight year.

Knicks general manager Steve Mills will run the day-to-day business of the organization over the short term, Dolan said Wednesday. Mills will lead the team during free agency, but his future remains unclear.

The Knicks are not expected to ask for permission to speak with Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri, sources told ESPN.