When asked how quickly the Knicks would be able to improve as a franchise, Carmelo Anthony said he believes that the impetus for change begins off of the court, and not with the players, Ian Begley of ESPNNewYork.com writes. “The fate is in the front office now,” Anthony said. “As players, the only thing we can do is go out and try to compete on a nightly basis and try to get wins and try to get better. But I think the onus is on the front office, and they’ve got a task ahead of them to start building for now and for the future.”
Here’s more out of the Atlantic Division:
- Knicks team president Phil Jackson says that he won’t be using the All-Star weekend in New York City to recruit potential free agents, Mitch Abramason of The New York Daily News writes. “That can’t be what I do here,” Jackson said. “I’ve got to be even-handed and friendly and this isn’t a recruiting tool.” NBA tampering rules would also prevent Jackson from trying to entice players to join the Knicks this offseason, Abramson notes.
- The moves that the Nets have made since Mikhail Prokhorov took over as owner have done more to raise the value of the franchise than to bring the team closer to raising a championship banner, Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News writes.
- Jackson says that despite the Knicks‘ considerable struggles this season, he remains confident the franchise is on the right course, Neil Best of Newsday writes. “Things are working out just the way we want them to,” Jackson said. “They may not have gone splendidly in the first month, but you know, whatever. We’re forward. We’re forward thinking.”
- A. Sherrod Blakely of CSNNE.com doesn’t think that the Celtics should make an attempt to trade for Utah’s disgruntled center, Enes Kanter. The big man doesn’t appear to be a player who could significantly improve Boston’s frontcourt situation enough for Danny Ainge, the Celtics’ president of basketball operations, to try and get a deal deal done with Utah, Blakely notes.