Phil Jackson‘s veiled criticisms of Carmelo Anthony have raised eyebrows around the NBA, and player agents have taken notice of the Knicks president’s behavior. Multiple “prominent agents” have told Ian Begley of ESPN.com that Jackson’s handling of the Anthony situation would turn off their own clients – and others – to the idea of joining the franchise in free agency.
According to Begley, several people in the Knicks’ front office think that the team would be best off trading Anthony in order to focus on building around players like Kristaps Porzingis and Willy Hernangomez. While that may be true, Anthony has a no-trade clause and has expressed a strong preference to remain in New York.
Rather than accepting that stance and exploring other ways to improve the club’s outlook, Jackson appears to be prodding Anthony in an effort to encourage him to waive that no-trade clause. The merits of that approach are debatable — Jackson has been known to use the media in the past to manipulate certain situations and motivate players. However, those tactics looked savvier when he was presiding over championship rosters and getting quantitative results. Based on Begley’s conversations with agents, it seems as though players around the league are unimpressed with Jackson’s actions this season.
With or without Anthony, the Knicks will likely head into the offseason armed with a good deal of cap room and some holes to fill on their roster. If the team is willing to make Joakim Noah-esque contract offers to certain free agents, perhaps Jackson’s behavior won’t be a factor, but the Knicks president may want to reevaluate his motivation tactics as the summer nears.
I think Phil Jackson’s behavior has been disgusting, and I wouldn’t sign there in a billion years if I were an NBA player.
Phil is a clown. He is purposely trying soo hard to make Melo a scapegoat, and as you said, it’s totally disgusting. He’s trying really hard to take attention away from how terrible of an executive that he is, and hiding from the media, while Carmelo Anthony has to face criticisms on a nightly basis, b/c he doesnt have the ability to avoid the media, as a player. And he also has to hear it from the crowd, whos perceptions are what they are b/c they buy into Phil’s garbage. Meanwhile, Phil has successfully lowered Melo’s trade value by openly criticizing him. Melo has handled this extremely professionally, and I don’t think he needs to be so professional about it. I personally wish he’d call Phil out. That’s probably not going to happen though, so hopefully others continue to do it for him…
It’s a joke that this dude refuses to let the coach that was hired, coach the team. There is no way Hornacek wants to play this way. It makes no sense, and it’s hurting the development of Porzongis, in my opinion. But Phil is living 20 years in the past, and refuses to evolve with the game. Dude is so smug, has such a massive ego, that he wants to ignore everyone else, essentially saying he is smarter than everyone else in the industry, and also trying to coach the team without coaching the team, which by the way, emasculates Hornacek. What a joke. I feel so bad for Carmelo Anthony. Ya, he is getting paid, but he is being massively disrespected, and it’s just sad. I hope Dolan would wake up and get rid of Phil, and just eat that money, but he himself needs Phil to be his scapegoat. That’s a dysfunctional organization as there is
Phil Jackson is a boy. He’s looking to get fired so he can get the money. Because if he quits then he won’t get paid
I wouldn’t call it veiled criticism. It’s open criticism at this point.
Yeah. In the case of yesterday’s tweet, I think he’d have plausible deniability if he wanted to come out and say it got misinterpreted. But the fact that he’s made no effort to do so speaks volumes, and certainly there was some open criticism earlier this season.
Phil Jackson is an idiot, just trade Melo and tell him you want him gone simple as that.
It’s not as simple as that. Melo has a no trade clause and no team has made a real offer for him
Not to mention the 15% bump in his salary if he is traded.
And not to mention who in the world has that large of a salary to take on you could trade. Melo makes more than Trump.
Bull everyone knows that money is the only thing that matters to the young nba player of today
K so in that case, what makes you think that someone like Gordon Heyward would leave Utah, and $80 million more, to sign with this joke of an organization?
Endorsements in a bigger city , less likely taxes
There are much bigger names getting much bigger endorsements than any player on the NYC roster than most of the NBA in decades. If you still can’t understand this concept please us all what endorsements can you pick up in MYC than anywhere else in the world?
Media market size ,,,, hmmm let’s see the state of Utah vs NYC .
People are giving Jackson too much credit. This a-clown behavior isn’t part of some master design to get fired and still paid. There’s a mutual opt out at the end of this season. This is just who Jackson is, and who he’s always been, and always will be. He’s a drama queen. These passive-aggressive mind/media games are a big part of how he interacts with the world. For all his outward arrogance, he’s never been secure enough to just do what he believes is best below the radar and let the results speak for themselves. As such he’s really not GM material, regardless of his knowledge of the game.
The only good news is that, this time any way, Melo is the target. Melo is a drama queen himself. He doesn’t deserve any better.
The overriding bad news, though, is that Knick fans are (again) collateral damage. We did nothing to deserve either, and now appear to be stuck with both.
Giving the huge contract to Crapmelo will be his downfall. Phil needs a superstar. His success is tied to having one – MJ and Kobe. Crappymelo is not close to being in the same galaxy as those two players. If Phil can trade for LeBron, he has a chance. If not, well, enjoy retirement.
Melo came to ny via trade. If he was less greedy, would have come as a free agent the Knicks would have had their assets and building blocks to be an elite team in the east. That trade will set the Knicks back another five years after melo leaves ny.
Melo as a player sets back any team he is a part of – IF the team tries to make him the focus. If he was a 6th man he may do great.
Did you seriously just say they can trade for the greatest player in the world
Ever heard of sarcasm?
No he said LeBron