New York Knicks: Time for Phil Jackson to Make Power Moves

The New York Knicks want to be a team that is relevant again. Phil Jackson better start making calls as soon as he can.

The New York Knicks are going to finish this season with at least 30 wins, and Knicks fans can be grateful that they at least outdid their franchise-worst 17 wins season.

I don’t think any Knicks fan had that mindset that they’d be able to win a championship just one season after their worst ever performance. Carmelo Anthony was healthy, so we were able to rest easy. The Knicks snagged a lottery pick in Kristaps Porzingis, who has more than proven himself in the NBA. And I’m sure we all know by now what else has happened for this team: multiple second-tier free agents, zero trades and the acquisition of Tony Wroten.

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Phil Jackson was able to make very subtle changes to the Knicks roster from last season, and the team is benefiting to an extent. They’ve only mustered 30 wins so far because of their inability to close out games in clutch situations. However, this team has been in a rebuilding situation for a couple of years now. Adapting to these late-game situations and learning the proper way to move the ball — and shoot it for that matter — is the most important part of these past few seasons.

Anthony has become the leading voice of the team, and youngsters like Porzingis, Lance Thomas, Derrick Williams, and Wroten are going to have to listen to him if the Knicks hope to win. Wroten has upside. Not huge, but upside nonetheless. Jose Calderon expressed his flexibility with coming off the bench for future seasons with New York. That should have been the case in the first place, but I digress.

Calderon is of much more use coming off the bench. His age is catching up to him, but his offensive capability is helpful for a slacking Knicks’ bench. On that note, this leaves a lot of maneuverability for Jackson.

Wroten is a combo-guard, Langston Galloway is a combo-guard — though he’s better suited for the shooting-guard — Jerian Grant has to develop, and Calderon is on his way out of a contract that is way too expensive. Though the guard rotation is pretty saturated, Jackson needs to use all his power to pick up a point-guard that can score, defend and distribute on the floor.

Although I doubt it’s possible, Ish Smith could find his way to New York. He’s had rough patches throughout the season, but he has moments that show he can compete against the toughest point-guards in the league.

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Rounding out the point-guard spot for the Knicks would bolster the Knicks back-court and make Jackson a tad more respectable. However, Jackson also has the struggle of dealing with Arron Afflalo‘s player option. Afflalo has been plagued with injuries all year, and his scoring dynamic is not entirely consistent. He’s been coming off the bench, and that might be the better place for him to play as well. His streaky offense hurts the Knicks at times, but his defense more than makes up for it. If he leaves, then Jackson has one more shooting-guard to worry about — especially since Sasha Vujacic is also questionable to return to the Knicks.

Aside from the guards, Jackson has to focus on some front-court pieces. Kyle O’Quinn was signed to sizable contract, but hasn’t played many minutes for a lot of the second half of the season. Kevin Seraphin is out of a contract after this season. Lou Amundson — even though he was just a roster filler to begin with — is on his way out. The Knicks are going to lose a lot of their front-court in the off-season, and Jackson has to do something about it. The answer: Willy Hernangomez.

He’s expressed interest in joining New York because he was teammates with Kristaps in the Spanish League. Porzingis does not oppose the idea either. Though Hernangomez is young, and would likely be a work in progress, he does offer some potential. His post game is pretty lethal, and the Knicks can’t go wrong with a productive 6’11” big man. He’d be another young addition to the team, but there is still potential for success. Whether or not Jackson is willing to take that risk is up to him.

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In the end, there is a lot of change to come for this Knicks team. Jackson is likely going to have a lot of cap space to operate with, so he’ll need to choose wisely. Bulking up in the front-court is crucial, but priority one comes at the point-guard position. Round that out with the signing of Thibs, and Jackson makes the Knicks much more relevant.