According to sources, who are talking to people much more important than I, Phil Jackson will be the new face of the New York Knicks front office by the end of this week. This has been debated all over the major sport networks for days since it was brought to everyone’s attention that Phil was even entertaining the idea. Is it a good move for the Knicks? For Phil? For Melo? There are a countless number of questions that still need to be answered.
Let’s dive in shall we!
First of all, I need to get this off my chest before we get started: The Knicks stink. Ok, we can now proceed. What are the Knicks getting out of this? They are getting one of the highest profile individuals in basketball to run things. Let’s call that a win. But, what is Phil Jackson getting out of this? I thought he was just using the Knicks to get the Lakers attention, and maybe he still is. Maybe he is simply mad at the Lakers who seemed to be Phil’s homecoming queen girlfriend that dumped him, so now he’s going to date her troubled sister to get back at her. This is a ridiculous analogy but the Knicks are CERTAINLY troubled, at least for next year.
If Phil can get Carmelo Anthony to return to the Knicks, they will basically have the same players as the current roster. If Melo goes elsewhere? Due to the salary cap rules, they will not be able to sign someone to replace him, so they will be even more of a train wreck. But, even if Melo decides to leave in the offseason and they are terrible next year, they will have a lot more cap space in 2015 and someone in the front office that free agents will likely respect. This could make New York an attractive landing spot for free agents. So it’s still, seemingly, a win for the Knicks right?
On the surface, it seems like a pretty decent idea for the team. So let’s go under the surface a little more, just for fun. Some people seem to be wondering if Phil Jackson even wants Carmelo Anthony, who is still coveted by the ownership in New York. Phil also wants full control of basketball operations, forcing ownership to fade to the background. Phil is reportedly not going to live in New York and it is currently still unknown how much time he will even spend in the city. Let’s stop there for now. What we know is that it is unclear whether Phil wants to keep the franchises best player, he wants to make all of the decisions, and he may or may not be making them from Montana, Alaska, or whatever secluded place of Zen he spends his time. Can you even take a call whilst meditating? What if he’s meditating at the trade deadline? Anyways, there’s also been the question of who will coach the team and what offense they will run. Will he force a coach to run the triangle? Will the fans be outside the arena with picket signs calling for Phil to coach the team after they lose a few games? What if ownership tries to step in? Will Phil quit? How committed will he be in the first place? I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
Bottom Line: The Knicks are terrible. Phil Jackson may or may not be terrible in a front office role. But, his name is certainly the opposite of terrible, and the opposite of terrible is great which could be great enough to attract some great players in 2015 which could make the team less terrible. Less terrible is always better than more terrible. Therefore, the move is worth a shot for the Knicks, and maybe not terrible for Phil either. We will all find out together. To be continued…
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
