New York Notes: Knicks, Holiday, Nets

Justin Holiday said last month that he’d love to find a way to play on the same team as his brother Jrue Holiday next season, and both players are eligible for free agency this summer, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility. According to Marc Berman of The New York Post, the Knicks may be an ideal landing spot for the duo, since Justin is the sort of effective two-way player the club wants to retain, and New York will also be in the market for a point guard like Jrue if Derrick Rose doesn’t return.

With the Holiday brothers not competing in the playoffs, Justin Holiday tells The Post that they plan to “take some time off” and eventually will talk about their plans for the future. Given how dysfunctional the Knicks have been this season, it remains to be seen whether the elder Holiday will make an enthusiastic pitch to younger brother Jrue on behalf of the franchise.

Here’s more from out of New York on the Knicks and Nets:

• Phil Jackson the coach is undermining Phil Jackson the team president, in the view of George Willis of The New York Post. As Willis details, Jackson’s comments on Friday made it sounds as if he intends to micromanage the club more in 2017/18, which probably doesn’t thrill Jeff Hornacek and likely won’t address the problems that ail the Knicks.
• While 2016/17 was a disaster, there are ways for Jackson to fix the Knicks‘ roster, or at least take steps toward patching the holes, Berman writes in a piece for The New York Post. Berman examines potential defensive-minded free agent targets for the Knicks, as well as draft options for the club.
• The Nets will use the draft, the trade market, and free agency to attempt to upgrade their roster this season, but head coach Kenny Atkinson and the team will also do all they can to find ways to improve the players already on the roster, per Brian Lewis of The New York Post. “We’re obsessed with that as a staff, one through 15: How can we get those guys better?” Atkinson said. “I’m sure I have a wish list that’s Utopian, but where we are we have to keep taking a lot of pride in developing the players we have. … To me, that’s your wish list: Get these guys better that are on your roster.”