New York Knicks: How Should the Zen Master Use His Powers?

By Owen Sanborn | Mar 7, 2015

Mar 3, 2015; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks president Phil Jackson watches during the second quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /

Everyone has an opinion on how New York Knicks President Phil Jackson should go about reconstructing the roster this upcoming summer. George Karl has weighed in on the issue from the perspective as Carmelo Anthony‘s former coach. Our friends at Bleacher Report have supplied the blueprint for success for Jackson.

Now, as an impartial third party, I am going to take a stab at how Jackson should approach the ever important summer of 2015. With loads of cap space, a potential top three pick in a draft with some studs at the top, and a hungry fan base, expectations will be high for a quick turnaround in the Big Apple.

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As they should be, because this is what Jackson was brought to the Knicks to do. Not live it up drinking Sangria in the Los Angeles sunshine.

The first order of business for the Knicks to secure a guard with competent playmaking skills. Langston Galloway is a fun story, but he is unlikely to crack a starting lineup for the typical NBA team. Goran Dragic would be a nice solution because of his ability to penetrate the lane and find open shooters as well as cut off the ball during a potential Melo post up.

D’Angelo Russell has been all the rage and the Zen Master is already on the record admitting his admiration for him as a prospect. Russell appears to be the real deal, but if the Knicks strike lottery luck and find themselves in the top two, they will undoubtably take one of the two freakish big men otherwise known as Jahil Okafor and Karl-Anthony Towns.

Rajon Rondo could be a nice fit with his facilitating attributes and he is the prime candidate for the free agent that will get overpaid by New York because they are desperate to make any kind of splash this summer (cough cough, Amar’e Stoudemire).

However, Rondo hasn’t been the same player since he tore his ACL in 2012 and is seemingly self destructing in Dallas with each passing day. For all of these reasons, I think he would make the perfect Knick. Here’s to Rondo’s future four-year/$80 million deal; brace yourselves, Knicks fans!

Next on the docket for Jackson is to evaluate the enigma that is the restricted free agent market. Bill Simmons of Grantland has proclaimed that some of these players (such as Draymond Green and Jimmy Butler) will become “market max players” meaning that they will get overpaid this summer because of how the market will be dictated.

The salary cap is due to balloon (could be as high as $90 million in 2016) in the upcoming years thanks to the league’s new TV deal, allowing front offices to throw more money at players that would otherwise not garner a max deal.

Personally, I prefer Butler to Green as a player. He has a better offensive skill set and has the stamina of a mad man. He would be given the duty of guarding the opposing team’s best perimeter player and give Melo even more reason to focus primarily on scoring. Butler just feels like the kind of player New York would rally around.

Having said that, there has to be growing concern about his future durability having been run into the ground from current coach Tom Thibodeau. I believe he is still worth the risk and he should be easier to lure away from cap-strapped Chicago with a max offer sheet.

Green is in an ideal situation in Golden State and I find it hard to believe that they would not match any offer thrown his way. Besides, he is more interested in going back to Detroit anyways.

So there you have it, I just gave the Knicks Rajon Rondo, Jimmy Butler and Towns/Okafor. If only things were this easy.

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