New York Knicks: 5 potential free agency targets in 2017

On top of all the drama and hoopla surrounding their offseason, here are five potential free agent targets for the New York Knicks.

The New York Knicks may have saved their summer.

With the news that the Knicks and team president Phil Jackson are parting ways, the franchise may have performed a last-minute salvage job of their offseason.

The toxic culture that had built up over Jackson’s time in charge was not only affecting the Knicks’ roster, but it was making it increasingly difficult to attract prospective players to the Big Apple.

As ESPN’s Zach Lowe recently tweeted:

This stance could possibly change now with Jackson’s dismissal, and the subsequent introduction of current general manager, Steve Mills, to oversee all matters related to free agency.

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While this move certainly erases the doubt surrounding Kristaps Porzingis‘ future, the same can’t be said for their 10-time All-Star, Carmelo Anthony.

Although he has been adamant in wanting to remain with the Knicks in spite of Jackson, Anthony is fully aware that at age 33, he isn’t getting any younger, and that the chance of being in a position to compete for a championship is getting more difficult by the day. But with Melo holding a no-trade clause in his contract, this make it much more difficult for the Knicks to deal him away.

Jackson catapulted the franchise into the headlines recently when he wouldn’t  rule out trading their 21-year-old potential superstar in Porzingis. Seen as the future of the franchise, Knicks fans and the NBA community in general, were both angry and flummoxed that Jackson could see this as a viable option.

Of course this stems back to Porzingis skipping the team’s annual exit interview, primarily due what he saw as the “drama and dysfunction” surrounding the franchise. The prime example of this has been Jackson’s relationship Anthony. The line was basically crossed for Porzingis when Jackson stated at his end-of-season press conference:

"“We have not been able to win with him (Anthony) 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.”"

Clearly, Porzingis saw this as yet another example off the breakdown in the relationship between the Knicks’ front office and its marquee player. Recently, Jackson explained his stance on Porzingis:

"“We’re listening, but we’re not intrigued yet at this level. But as much as we love this guy, we have to do what’s good for our club.”"

Now with Jackson out of the picture, the Knicks can turn their attention to free agency, and find a way to move the franchise forward as quickly as possible. With the triangle offense seemingly out of the picture, head coach Jeff Hornacek and his players should now be able to focus on the far more up-tempo, modern-day pace-and-space style of play.

With this in mind, here are five realistic targets the Knicks should attempt to land this summer.