Times are very rough right now when it comes to the state of the New York Knicks, but the team's general manager Scott Perry remains optimistic about the franchise's future. Following the devastating ACL tear suffered by Knicks star power forward Kristaps Porzingis during the second quarter of Tuesday night's 103-89 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, Perry is confident that once Porzingis is able to return some time during the 2018-19 season, the Knicks will be able to attract free agents in the summer of 2019 when the team has a ton of cap space and another first-round draft choice to work with.

According to an article written on Saturday afternoon by Marc Berman of the New York Post, Perry says that the Knicks have a plan in place to continue building around the 22-year-old Porzingis.

“It wasn’t going to be an overnight turnaround,” Perry said on Friday during a press conference with the media. “We’re going to continue to add talent. We’re going to continue to make moves that are very prudent not only from a talent perspective but managing the salary cap. We have a plan in place to get there.”

After Perry acknowledged that the Knicks have a fan base that is “enduring a lot of tough years,” he maintained that the team must stick to their plan and not let such unfortunate injuries derail the team's goal.

“But I’m excited and invigorated as ever that we’re going to be able to get where we want to get,’’ Perry added. “Got to just stay the course. … It’s not going to deter us from what we’re trying to accomplish since we got here.”

Before the star power forward suffered his heartbreaking injury earlier this week, Porzingis was scheduled to go to the 2018 NBA All-Star Game and averaged 22.7 points, 6.6 rebounds and 2.4 blocked shots per game in 48 starts this season.