Knicks' Jackson: Rebuilding 'best way to go,' suggests more moves to come
It's not like Phil Jackson walked into a very good situation when he took over the New York Knicks as president late last season. Still, he was willing to take the bulk of the blame for the team's woeful start to the season.
Jackson spoke with assembled media on Saturday to discuss Monday's three-team trade that saw the Knicks jettison J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert, clearing cap space for next summer in the process. The trade, not surprisingly, was made with an eye toward building something moving forward rather than improving this year's team.
Part of that has to do with the culture the team is trying to build, one that Smith and Shumpert may not have fit.
Phil: Trades weren't to "end our efforts to the season, but to change our efforts for the season." Said the team's energy wasn't right.
— Chris Herring (@HerringWSJ) January 10, 2015
Phil: "We didn't adjust as quickly as we'd hoped to." Suggests there was negativity toward triangle offense. "It stilted our acceptability."
— Chris Herring (@HerringWSJ) January 10, 2015
Changing this season's efforts admits failure this year to a degree, and Jackson was sure to try to place those failings on his own shoulders rather than anyone else's, including head coach Derek Fisher.
Phil Jackson offers a "mea culpa" to the fans for the #Knicks poor season. Says fans shouldnt blame Fisher for the awful record.
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) January 10, 2015
Looking forward, Jackson indicated that the team expects to be players in the free agent market, and agents have already been reaching out despite the 5-34 record. Still, he believes the team needs to build the right way rather than just making one big splash, and strongly suggested more moves are coming.
"This is the best way to go about the business," Jackson said. "To begin, to restart, to do it the right way ... No one should be surprised with what we do from here on out. We're gonna be active, open and selective."
The media session wasn't particularly illuminating about the team's plans from here on out, but Jackson deserves credit for trying to shift the heat from his charges to himself. Despite the team's claims of having an eye on a playoff spot before the season, this was always going to be a multi-year project, something Jackson now seems willing to admit.
Phil Jackson says he thought prior to year the #Knicks were up to the challenge of making the playoffs in the East. "Obviously we were not"
— Ian Begley (@IanBegley) January 10, 2015
It won't be a fun second-half for Knicks fans, especially if Carmelo Anthony shuts things down, but they're finally taking the right steps - or at least saying the right things about those steps - toward rebuilding properly.