In an attempt to turn things around for the Knicks, owner James Dolan has hired Phil Jackson as the new president of basketball operations. Jackson signed on with the Knick last Friday and was formally introduced in a press conference at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. He is signed to a 5-year $60 million contract (that's $12 million a year if you didn't feel like doing the math).
Jackson played for the New York Knicks for 10 seasons (1967-68 - 1977-78) and was part of the Knicks only two championship runs in 1970 and 1973.
Phil Jackson's role will be the final decision maker on every basketball move the Knicks make. During his press conference he said that he plans to deliver a "winning team" to New York by using his vision of the game along with Steve Mills abilities as general manager. This will be a new role for the most winningest coach in NBA history (Win/Loss % - .704) and it appears that he is ready to face the challenge head-on.
As for how Phil will handle his new role as an executive instead of a coach, I believe he has a good shot at turning things around in New York, only slightly though. It's going to be a tough job and with the poor management the Knicks already have, they will need to make some more changes to not only their roster, but their front office as well.
The Knicks are hoping that bringing Phil Jackson around will have a Pat Riley affect and the big names in free agency will want to work with the legend.
The move could work but if it fails all the blame will be on Phil and that is something I believe Dolan would be fine with. That may have also played a pivotal role in why the Knicks wanted to make the Jackson deal go thru. Considering all the heat Dolan has been receiving recently from Knick fans it was probably no hard decision to get Phil Jackson to New York City for whatever amount of money the hall of famer wanted.
Phil Jackson has also said that New York's All Star Carmelo Anthony, who will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, is the New York Knicks future and he believes Anthony, as elite as a basketball player he already is, still has another level that he can get to.
If there's anybody out there who knows how to tap the greatness out of a player it is Phil Jackson.
Jackson still won't be coaching but with him being around Anthony it should make for an opportunity to still bring out a championship level from the superstar, but as far as coaching the Knicks goes that is still Mike Woodson's job for now. Phil Jackson was asked about Woodson's future with the Knicks and responded by saying that he will be evaluating that at the end of the season.
Those may be scary words for Woodson who is currently on the last string of hope for making the final 8th seed of the eastern conference behind the Atlanta Hawks. The Knicks are only a year removed from winning the Atlantic division and may have one of the most surprising free falls of recent NBA memory. Even if the Knicks are somehow able to sneak into the 8th seed the Knicks would still need a series win over Indiana or Miami to keep Woodson's job.
It won't be until this summer that the first impact of the Phil Jackson era will be seen, starting with the draft where the Knicks only have one draft pick and that's in the second round. The following offseason before the 2015-16 season is going to be the real test. The Knicks will be dealing with the expiring contracts of a few bigger contracts (Stoudemire, Chandler, Bargnani) and will be able to make a real free agent splash. The names in that years free agent class include LeBron James, Kevin Love, Rajon Rondo, and LaMarcus Aldridge.
This is just the first step into trying to get the New York Knicks back at the top of the food chain but their is still a lot of work to be done. The next moves to be made should be reevaluating the entire front office because whoever decided to bring in the players they did and sign them to the contracts they're on needs to be gone, IMMEADIATELY!
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