GREENBURGH, N.Y. (AP) — Phil Jackson thinks Carmelo Anthony and the Knicks
might be better off going their separate ways.
“We have not been able to win with him on the court at this time and I think the
direction with our team is that he is a player that would be better off
somewhere else and using his talent somewhere he can win or chase that
championship,” Jackson said Friday.
Jackson stopped short of saying he wanted to trade his All-Star forward, but
certainly seems eager to explore a deal that would help the Knicks get younger
and more athletic.
“Right now we need players that are really active, can play every single play,
defensively and offensively,” Jackson said. “That’s really important for us.”
Jackson spoke to the local media Friday for the first time since September. The
Knicks finished 31-51 in their fourth straight season out of the playoffs.
He met with Anthony a day earlier, a meeting he said was cordial. The
32-year-old veteran wants to play for a winning team, and Jackson explained that
it may be time for Anthony to go looking for one elsewhere because the Knicks
can’t provide one.
“We just talked about how we could make things the best possible things for both
of us,” Jackson said, “(find) a place where he could go to be competitive and to
be back in the hunt, and something that would benefit us moving forward as a
young, developing team.”
The team’s president of basketball operations says he believes there’s been
progress, but signaled he will start another rebuilding of the team, a year
after acquiring a number of veterans he hoped would join Anthony in becoming a
playoff squad.
