Jackson Says Knicks Are In A Hurry, Could Consider Trading 2015 1st Round Pick
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- To say the first season under Phil Jackson has not gone well for the Knicks is a gigantic understatement. They are simply terrible and don't appear to be on the road to recovery any time soon.
Jackson didn't pull any punches when he spoke to reporters on Thursday, just hours before the Knicks defeated the Lakers in Los Angeles, calling the 2014-15 season a "project gone awry."
Under normal conditions a team as bad as the 13-51 Knicks would be looking forward to a potential franchise-changing lottery pick. New York had a one-game lead over Philadelphia in the race for the league's worst record -- and the best odds to win the draft lottery -- heading into Friday night's action.
And while Duke's Jahlil Okafor, Kentucky's Karl-Anthony Towns and Ohio State's D'Angelo Russell, players the Knicks would figure to target in the draft, would be a nice way to move into the future, Jackson doesn't sound like someone necessarily high on a long rebuilding project.
At 69 years old and signed to a five-year contract as team president, Jackson wants to win as soon as possible, which is why he's not against perhaps trading the team's first round pick this year to get some immediate help.
"What we're trying to do is we're trying to look at what advancement can be gained in the short term, how quickly we can recover and get back in the hunt and chasing what we consider the right way to go and that's get a championship," Jackson said. "We know what the first-round pick is going to mean for us. But we also know that we're going to build on our team on free agents."
It appears Jackson's idea is to put stars around Carmelo Anthony as soon as possible. The Knicks weren't in a position to do that last offseason and Anthony was shut down for the season after just 40 games due to a knee injury. Jackson has basically gutted the roster in an attempt to get far enough under the salary cap that he can make a real impact over the next few free agency periods.
"Like a third of the league is going to be free agents next year. That's where our priority stands. Although I think you get movers or franchise players from a draft," Jackson said.
The Knicks, who have lost five of their last six, continue their road trip this weekend against Golden State and Phoenix, before returning home Tuesday to play San Antonio.
