LAS VEGAS – Carmelo Anthony is a franchise player in name only. Phil Jackson revealed on Monday that he hasn’t spoken with the Knicks superstar since the start of free agency and added that he isn’t concerned if Anthony is upset over the direction of the club.
“Well, you know, we’re a team sport,” Jackson said. “When we’re putting a team together that’s our first priority; how do we make a team that works together? That’s the important aspect. How this all comes together is still a mystery for us. We’ve got five months to kinda get into it here.
“Obviously Carmelo is a guy that is a premier player, we understand that. But it’s a team game. And it has to fit together.”
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It is common for teams to keep their high-profile players up to date on free agents signings and trades. But the year after signing Anthony to a five-year, $124 million contract, Jackson kept Anthony out of the loop as the team was adding free agents Robin Lopez, Derrick Williams, Arron Afflalo and Kyle O’Quinn, who was acquired in a sign-and-trade.
According to a source close to Anthony, the 31-year-old All-Star is skeptical about the Knicks’ slow rebuilding plan, especially after believing Jackson would add a high-profile free agent. Last summer, Anthony repeatedly said he “believes in Phil” and indicated that Jackson would make the necessary moves to make the Knicks a contender.
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But after winning just 17 games last season, the Knicks failed to even get a meeting with LaMarcus Aldridge and didn’t sign DeAndre Jordan or Greg Monroe. Jackson felt that signing Aldridge or Jordan was a longshot and suggested that Monroe made the right choice to sign with Milwaukee even though Monroe was the first free agent the Knicks visited on July 1. When asked how he responds to the criticism that he failed to sign a star, Jackson took a shot at previous Knicks regimes saying: “I don’t look at basketball that way. I mean, that’s what we’ve done over the years in New York. That’s not what I’m doing. We’re going after solid players that will step into vacuums and play ball, and if we have a system that we play basketball together, that will all work out.”
The Knicks are not viewed as a preferred destination for top-tier free agents but Jackson says the Knicks can change that perception by doing one thing: winning.
“We need to win … be a competitive team,” he said. “I think we showed agents and players around the league a serious nature of what we’re trying to get accomplished. People who know basketball will recognize that and we’ll get people who want to come here.”
Jackson said his plan this July was to add character guys who will make the Knicks better defensively and in the locker room.
“We made a defensive attempt in free agency to really kind of solidify our team and really give ourselves a basis in which we can work from,” Jackson said. “I think everything went according to how we thought it would go. There’s some longshots out there that we took. But the reality was we wanted what we got.”
Jackson’s first lottery pick, Kristaps Porzingis, continues to play well and could make a contribution this season. Porzingis scored nine points in 19 minutes in the Knicks’ 76-66 win over the Lakers on Monday. However, the Knicks still lack a second proven scorer with Anthony coming off major knee surgery. When asked if Anthony’s importance to the team has ever been greater, Jackson countered with: “I don’t know if that’s how I would even state that.
“With him in mind, a lot of how we directed what we did is the way it plays out in anticipating with a guy like Derrick Williams that he can play a forward spot or the wing spot, guys that can swing back between three and four, have the speed to cover and do that kind of thing,” Jackson added. “His scoring is still going to be very important for us. We really said we wanted to play defense and this is what we’re attempting to do with our free agency and this is what makes a difference in how teams win, by defensively taking a stance.”
Jackson would not predict a playoff berth for the Knicks but said the team can make a jump like the Bucks did last season, going from 15 to 41 wins.
“Yes we can. But how far can we jump?” he said. “I don’t know if we win 30 more games. That would be an awful massive jump for any team. So we’ll just go with what we have and not anticipate anything else.”