Knicks: Phil Jackson on New York and Free Agency
By William Lee
The Phil Files Part 5: Phil Jackson reacts to the criticisms of Kobe Bryant & Jerry Krause. http://t.co/W8F6eZMMPE pic.twitter.com/ewZEtMRZ9x
— ESPN New York (@ESPNNewYork) July 27, 2015
In part five of Charley Rosen’s The Phil Files on ESPN, Phil Jackson shared his thoughts on New York and their free agency situation.
In our previous discussions, you’ve targeted several free agents you’d be interested in when the season ends. What’s your current thinking about that whole process?
Jackson: “It’s tricky. The question is who to offer the big money to? A guy who’s an established player or someone who has sky-high potential? Also, there are, and always have been, really good players who are not winners — guys like Joe Barry Carroll, Glenn Robinson and many more whom I don’t care to name. And then there’s someone like Marc Gasol, who’s certainly a winner and would have to be paid somewhere around $18 million, a number that would severely limit what we could offer other players. We’d wind up with starters only getting about $5 million. So there are endless ramifications to the salary cap situation, and rules within rules. Most of the details are not new to me since I’ve been dealing with them for about 10 years. However, some tweaks were made in the system when I was out of the NBA in 2011.”
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So it sounds like Jackson did not want to spend all his cap space on only one player? Even though that one player is the best center in the NBA? Not that Marc Gasol was even taking any meetings with any teams other than the Memphis Grizzlies…
Just the thinking behind the mindset seems off… While it was nice for the Knicks to sign good role players in Arron Afflalo and Robin Lopez, the Knicks should not be holding onto cap space so preciously. The era of cap space being ever so valuable is over, with the cap spiking next year…there will be too many teams with cap space. There is just no need to hoard cap space anymore… which is a good lead in to Rosen’s next question.
Some people say that you’ll have trouble recruiting free agents to New York and some say the opposite. Your view?
Jackson: “One problem is the state and the city tax here. There are places like Texas and Florida that have none of these taxes. Even so, New York is still a big draw. Nothing can duplicate the lifestyle here. When it’s time to talk to free agents that we’d like to sign, I’ll talk about the benefits of living in the city, and about exactly how each player would fit into our game plan. What their roles would be in the triangle. There’s no question in my mind that sooner rather than later, the Knicks will be winners. And nothing that happens in any professional sport can match winning in New York.”
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Again the thinking behind this mindset just seems off…if you have to persuade free agents with the “lifestyle” of New York City… I feel you already lost the battle. Players do not need to be in big markets anymore to be marketed properly. Kevin Durant is in Oklahoma City and that has not hindered him in any way.
We also already saw how the promotion of a city’s “lifestyle” played out this summer with LaMarcus Aldridge. Aldridge was not impressed with the Lakers’ presentation being more focused on its city than on basketball. The winning basketball players the Knicks covert will also be too wise for such tactics. So pushing New York’s lifestyle should not be the main bulletin point to attract free agents.
Selling the ability to win should be the main bulletin point to attract free agents. Drafting Kristaps Porzingis and Jerian Grant and signing Afflalo, Lopez during free agency was a good start. The core players surrounding Carmelo Anthony are starting to shape up, allowing Jackson and company the ability to sell the next big fish free agent that he can be the missing piece to the puzzle. The ability to sell this pitch makes the upcoming season all that more important. The Knicks must show the ability to be at least competitive in the weak Eastern Conference this upcoming season.
The lack of competitiveness came into play for the Knicks this summer when Greg Monroe decided to sign with the Milwaukee Bucks, proving that a winning environment is more important than any “lifestyle” the city of New York has to offer.
New York has one season to prove to free agents that the Knicks are indeed that winning environment.