As Phil Jackson gave his end of the year “Zen Address” to the media today, he spoke about the high possibility of the Knicks trading away their first round draft choice if they fell to the 5th pick. He also added how the Knicks are not likely to contend for a championship next year, but hopes to earn a playoff birth. (Sigh)
While Phil Jackson gave much insight on his thought process, such as his disappointment in not winning executive of the year –even though the award winner has not been announced.
Jackson spoke on how he plans on convincing free-agents to play for the 17-65 Knicks:
“The market value is going to be really interesting,’’ Jackson said. “There’s going to be a zillion guys being chased, and it’s not just us trying to do this. It only takes one individual team that says we want this guy. The prevailing attitude is guys get overpaid in this situation. You have do that in free agency to get a player. We know we have a limited amount and have to do some judicious shopping.’’
When asked on his thoughts of trading the pick Jackson said:
“We’ll consider everything. I want to be quite blunt, depending on the lottery, everything starts May 19 when the picks come in – everything germinates from there. Do you move a pick 1-2-3-4? That’s questionable. Do you move a 5 pick if that’s the alternative end result and use it as a chip? Maybe.’’
Going in to the draft, many people expect for Dukes Jahlil Okafor, or Kentucky’s Karl Anthony-Towns, to go in the top-two picks. Jackson says he prefers a defensive big man, so the Knicks guy may be Anthony-Towns, who many analysts consider to be the better defender between the two. But who knows what the enigmatic President of the Knicks will do with the pick?
