The New York Knicks have fired president of basketball operations Steve Mills, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania.

Charania adds that general manager Scott Perry will take over on an interim basis, while ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reports Perry is expected to remain in his GM role for the foreseeable future.

Wojnarowski adds that Knicks owner Jim Dolan is targeting Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri to ultimately oversee New York's operations. 

Wojnarowski adds that Ujiri has long been Dolan's dream candidate to run the Knicks, but two things complicate that possibility. One, he's under contract with the Raptors through the 2020-21 season and two, New York is reportedly reluctant to give up draft pick compensation to Toronto in a potential deal for Ujiri's services.

Marc Stein of the New York Times reports the Knicks believe they have a "real shot" at luring Ujiri away from Toronto.

In addition to Ujiri, Dolan is considering a front office model that is working with Golden State (Bob Myers) and the Los Angeles Lakers (Rob Pelinka) based around hiring a top basketball executive out of the player agent ranks.

"Steve and I have come to the decision that it would be best for him to leave his role as president of the New York Knicks," Dolan said in a news release. "We thank Steve for his many years of service to our organization and look forward to continuing our relationship with him as part of our board."

"It has been a great honour to represent the Knicks," Mills said in the same release. "I will always be grateful to Jim for giving me the chance to represent this franchise and I'm disppointed we were unable to achieve success for New York. I would like to thank the staff and the players for their hard work during my tenure. I will always be a Knicks fan."

Mills has been a constant with the Knicks over the years, having been with the Madison Square Garden Company starting in 2003. While he left in 2009, Mills returned to the organization in 2013 as executive vice-president and general manager. In addition to a series of off-court blunders that included having beloved former Knick Charles Oakley dragged out of Madison Square Garden by security and publicly feuding with stars Carmelo Anthony and Kristaps Porzingis before trading them, the Knicks have not made the playoffs since 2013 and are currently on pace for their seventh losing season in a row. Last season's record of 17-65 matched their worst in franchise history.

Mills and Perry came under fire last summer for failing to bring high-profile free agents to New York despite trading Porzingis to the Dallas Mavericks months earlier to open a second max contract slot. In the months leading up to free agency, the Knicks were tied to a number of superstars including Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and Kemba Walker, but instead struck deals with Julius Randle, Bobby Portis, Taj Gibson and Marcus Morris, among others, in free agency. 

Head coach David Fizdale was fired by the team after starting the season 4-18, making it six coaches in seven years for the franchise once Mike Miller took over on an interim basis. 

New York enters play Tuesday at 15-36, 13th in the Eastern Conference.