Phil Jackson acknowledges Knicks are not title contenders
It’s not often that you hear an executive speak so honestly about his team, but it seems Phil Jackson at least has a realistic understanding of his New York Knicks franchise.
Jackson on Friday reiterated that the Knicks would like to move Carmelo Anthony to another team where the scorer can compete. While making his comments, the Knicks president acknowledged that his Knicks aren’t really a title contender.
“He has a no trade contract. I think I expressed what I felt. I can’t express it any better,” Jackson said of Anthony, via ESPN’s Nick Friedell. “I thought it was well-said, even though a lot of you didn’t feel quite that way. But we’d like him to have success, the opportunity is narrowing. We’d just like him to have success somewhere. We’re not going to be there. Hopefully we’ll be maybe a playoff team next year. It would be tough to consider us a possible champion.”
Even saying that the Knicks would “hopefully” and “maybe” be a playoff team shows Jackson understands how far away his team is. They made some bold moves last offseason such as trading for Derrick Rose and signing Joakim Noah that didn’t pan out. Now it’s up to them to rebuild and make Kristaps Porzingis more confident in the franchise.
