If you told a Knicks fan back in March 2014, on the day Jackson took over, that the team would win 17 games in 2014-15 and their big offseason acquisitions would be Lopez and Afflalo, you’d probably be sent to Bellevue.
But here we are.
The Knicks are now clearly rebuilding and Jackson seems to be taking a long-term approach to it. Nothing wrong with that.
You have to wonder, though, how all of this fits with the career arc of
Carmelo Anthony. Anthony, who signed a five-year, $124 million deal with Jackson and the Knicks last summer, viewed the 2015 offseason and the 2015-16 season as a big opportunity for both he and the Zen Master.
“This next season, for me and for the organization and for Phil, this is where we earn our money,” Anthony said back in April.
What we do know is that the elite free agents in the summer of 2015 weren't swayed by the rings on Phil Jackson’s fingers. It turns out that they’d rather have an opportunity to win one themselves.