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Phil Jackson: We Don’t Expect a Championship Next Year

By Maxwell Ogden

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The 2014-15 NBA regular season was one that New York Knicks fans would soon like to forget. The summer of 2015, however, will provide New York with an incomparable opportunity to reload.

With $30 million of cap space, a Top 5 draft pick, a major market and a star already on the roster, the sky is the limit. Eventually.

In the short-term, Knicks fans should aim low.

Per Ian Begley of ESPN New York, president of basketball operations Phil Jackson told reporters that the Knicks do not expect to win a championship in 2015-16.

"“I want to see us have a winning record. I want to see us win. And that’s a big jump to go from where we’re at to having a winning record,” Jackson, the team president, said on Tuesday.“We don’t expect to go to a championship next year. That would be like talking crazy,” Jackson said."

That’s not a bad thing.

The Knicks’ trademark has long been overpaying players who either, A) Have a history of injuries or, B) Lack an adequate level of experience in a star-caliber role. Fortunately, Jackson’s vision includes being rational and patient with the budget he’s been given.

Methodically piecing together a championship-caliber team may take some time, but Jackson is willing to endure a grueling process if it provides New York with sustainable success. The question is, what is he willing to sacrifice?

Jackson reiterated that he’d prefer to start the rebuilding process through the 2015 NBA Draft.

"“We’ll consider everything,” Jackson said. “I mean, I want to be quite blunt with you and say, depending upon the lottery — everything starts when the picks come in on the 19th of May. Everything starts to germinate from there. Do you move a pick 1, 2, 3 or 4? Um, that’s questionable. Do you move a pick five if that’s the end result and use it as a chip? Maybe. So there’s a lot of options out there.”"

Jackson referenced Patrick Ewing as an example of what the NBA Draft can provide the Knicks with.

"“The reality is we want to grow a star through this system that’ll be here for 15 years and a career,” said Jackson, who does not plan to sit on the dais for the draft lottery. “We love the fact that 30 years ago Patrick Ewing … was a player with this organization for over 15 years. And that moved the franchise in a way which everybody recognizes. We think there are a couple of players in this draft that might be able to do that. So we’re certainly not going to walk away from a situation like that.”"

If New York can find a player of a similar impact, they’d be in an excellent position.

The Knicks are better off than most teams that didn’t make the playoffs in the sense that they have a star under contract in Carmelo Anthony. They’ll also have roughly $26 million after signing their first-round draft pick and the salary cap is set to rise meteorically in 2016.

There’s a golden opportunity to build a championship-caliber team, but as Jackson tells it, that’ll require time and patience.

Patience isn’t a word in the average New Yorker’s vocabulary.

Next: The New York Knicks will reportedly attempt to trade their Top 5 pick for Kevin Durant

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