What Can Phil Jackson Really Do?

By Eugene Joh on March 20, 2014

Photo via http://lakernation.com

For months, Knicks fans have been wondering what Carmelo Anthony wants. Now they’re wondering if Phil Jackson’s got it. There has been a lot of talk about Phil Jackson coming to the New York Knicks as the new President of Basketball Operations over the past week–a lot of talk about whether or not he can change the culture in New York, turn the ship around, or right the wrongs of team owner James Dolan. But Jackson might have something more imminent to worry about: keeping the only legitimate star in New York, in New York.

No, not Pablo Prigione. It’s Melo, who is looking more and more like a free agent every day that draws nearer to July 1. Despite having another year on his contract with the Knicks and the chance to pick up $23.3 million if he decides to stick with his current deal, Melo has plainly stated he wants to shop around for something better.

“I want to be a free agent,” he told the New York Observer in October of last year.

In recent interviews, Anthony’s been everything from bashful to downright cryptic as he talked about his “future plan” and what Phil Jackson might have to do with it.

“As far as knowing what it takes to win, Phil is the best to ever do it,” Anthony said to the New York Post on Monday.

If that’s what Melo wants and thinks Jackson can provide, then there is the possibility that he will stay. If money is what he wants, a new deal with the Knicks can bring him a maximum of $33 million more over the next five years. It all sounds so enticing when combined with the fact that New York is the biggest market in the country and can provide a lifestyle other teams just can’t match up to. 

So why are there even talks at all? Isn’t this fairy tale partnership going to continue along on its magic carpet ride? Melo, like his teammate Amar’e Stoudemire, came to the Knicks with the option of a one-year early termination. The reason we’re not talking about Stoudemire assessing his options, however, is that we know his value is far under the $23.4 million that he’s commanding next year, and New York is the only place he’s making that kind of cash.

So there’s Stoudemire, eating 20 million-plus, along with Tyson Chandler, another under-performer, eating up a little more than $14.5 million next year. Add in an unremarkable Andrea Bargnani sucking up another $12.6 million in cap space, and suddenly a Knicks team with Anthony in it has barely enough cap money to pay for J.R. Smith’s next tattoo. Melo, who will be 30 in May and entering the twilight of his career, has made it clear he wants to win. If this Knicks team isn’t getting it done this year, it’s difficult to say the same group will be able to do it the next year, even with Phil Jackson.

Of course, Stoudemire, Chandler and Bargnani will all become free agents after next season, and barring some sort of superhuman feats of resurgence, released or coming back with far more reasonable asking prices. The potential exists for the signing of a big-name free agent at the end of the 2015, including Kevin Love and Rajon Rondo. But that would mean Melo has to forfeit another bad season on borrowed time, at the cost of better teams courting him.

Houston, with Dwight Howard and James Harden needing one more piece to form a championship team, may be very tantalizing to Anthony, even despite the cap space accommodations that would have to be made, which might include a pay cut. Chicago, on the other hand, offers a comparably big market to New York, along with Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose.

In the end, Phil Jackson doesn’t seem to be that large of a factor when it comes to Melo’s decision. Melo has said on different occasions that it will not affect his choice at all and then turned around to say, “… For the big picture, this is definitely more attractive.” However he feels, there’s no doubt that Melo wants to win, and Jackson gives him 11 more reasons than he did a week ago to stay in New York.

Jackson, however, is not the coach. Whoever the coach will be (which will probably not be Mike Woodson), he won’t be implementing Jackson’s triangle offense or meditating in the locker room with the players before games like Jackson used to. Jackson can certainly put pressure on the coaching staff and players to perform; his stoic demand for excellence has always been a good influence on organizations in the past. How much influence Jackson has on recruiting players and the team’s transactions is yet to be seen, although the front office has firmly stated Jackson will be in charge of all basketball-related decisions.

Ultimately, it’s about taking chances for the aging superstar. Melo is averaging 28 points a game this year, second only to a white-hot Kevin Durant who’s poised to win his fourth scoring title in five years after being edged by Melo last year. Anthony can still play, for any team, but he can only be looked at as a major part of a championship team for so long.

Leaving the Big Apple gives Melo an instant opportunity to win a championship and propel himself into the upper stratosphere of NBA history. In order to do that, however, he must sacrifice a significant sum of money and recognition as the biggest fish in a pretty shallow pool. If the experiment fails, and he doesn’t get a ring, he may have just given up his prime money-making years for some playoff runs and regular-season wins.

If he stays in New York, he would have to do what he can with an unimpressive Knicks team for another year, at a time when every year of his career is becoming increasingly more precarious with age. If Jackson is able to get a big-name free agent (perhaps even LeBron …?) and create a contender, Melo gets his team and his money, and the year wait was probably worth it.

Jackson is poised to make this best-case scenario happen for Melo, and it’s probably how he’s pitching it. Historically, it’s been pretty difficult to bet against Phil Jackson winning a championship. But it has been equally difficult to bet on the Knicks winning one. Only time will tell if Jackson will be able to do the unthinkable and bring a trophy to MSG and whether or not it will involve bringing Anthony back to the Garden to take it.

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