LAS VEGAS – They gathered in an empty ballroom, the Knicks brass, president Steve Mills and GM Scott Perry, and head coach David Fizdale to introduce a free-agent signing, and if you knew nothing more there’s a good chance you would shudder. From Amar’e Stoudemire to Jerome James, from Carmelo Anthony to Joakim Noah, New York doesn’t have the greatest track record when it comes to offseason spending. For nearly two decades the Knicks have searched for a silver bullet, eschewing an organic rebuilding approach for cap-gobbling contracts on big-name stars. The result: One playoff series win since 2000, with hundreds of millions senselessly burned.

Yet this was different. The Knicks introduced Mario Hezonja this week. “The big one for us this summer,” Perry said of Hezonja, the fifth pick in the 2015 draft who showed so much promise in his first three seasons Orlando eagerly showed him the door. What Hezonja has is a natural talent — Perry was part of the Magic front office that drafted him — and a willingness to take a one-year deal.

“We are in a talent-acquisition phase,” Perry said.

Added Mills, “Our goal is to put together a group of guys who can build a Knicks team that can be competitive long term.”

It’s strange, really, to see the Knicks exercise patience, like watching a bull refuse to charge when a matador waves a cape in front of it. For years, the Knicks believed free spending in free agency was the only way to build a winner, and they cycled through coaches and front-office execs accordingly.

Fiscal responsibility? That was for small markets that didn’t have the gravitas of New York.

View photos Knicks rookie Kevin Knox has been impressive in summer league. (Getty) More

Times are a-changin’, at least if Mills and Perry are to be believed. The Knicks had some flexibility to lock up players to long-term deals this summer but passed, opting to protect the cap space for next summer, when many high-profile free agents will hit the market. And while summer-league play is far from a measuring stick for NBA success, a pair of Knicks draft picks — Kevin Knox and Mitchell Robinson — have generated considerable buzz in Las Vegas.

“You have to measure summer league a little bit,” Perry said. “The excitement and the disappointment. It is what it is. Do we see some encouraging things from some young guys? Yes. But the guys they are playing against are not the guys they are going to see in the fall. We have got to go through training camp, we have got to come together before we are going to have any idea what this team can do from a wins-and-loss perspective.”

An ex-Pistons executive during Detroit’s heyday in the mid-2000s, Perry wants to mold the Knicks in Detroit’s image. His boss then, Joe Dumars, was the head of a stable organization that mined underappreciated talent — Chauncey Billups, Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace and other cornerstones of the Pistons’ 2004 title team played for multiple teams before they settled in with Detroit — on the road to success.

“What I’ve talked about since coming here is developing a culture that’s sustainable for winning,” Perry told Yahoo Sports. “I was fortunate for a number of years to work in Detroit, which I thought had one of the best cultures in the NBA. I know what that looks like, I know what that feels like. I understand what went into that. It wasn’t about individual agendas, it was about winning championships. Not that we’re going to try and recreate everything that was done there, but it’s a good base of knowledge to bring here and add to the uniqueness of New York. I feel real comfortable that we’re going to be able to do that.”

The Knicks refuse to put any expectations on next season, and that’s a good thing. Kristaps Porzingis will miss the start of the season while continuing to rehab the ACL he tore last season, and the retreads the Knicks have brought in (Hezonja, Emmanuel Mudiay and Trey Burke are all former lottery picks) have much to prove. Knox — who has showcased breathtaking athleticism in summer league — joins an interesting group of young players, but asking them to compete for a playoff spot feels like a stretch.

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