8:37am: The Knicks have officially parted ways with Jackson, according to an announcement from the team. The club’s statement describes it as a mutual decision.
“After careful thought and consideration, we mutually agreed that the Knicks will be going in a different direction,” Dolan said. “Phil Jackson is one of the most celebrated and successful individuals in the history of the NBA. His legacy in the game of basketball is unmatched. We wish him the best and thank him for his service to the Knicks as both a player and an executive.”
Former Raptors executive Tim Leiweke will assist the Knicks as an advisor during their search for a new head of basketball operations, per Marc Stein of ESPN.com (Twitter link).
7:54am: Dolan and the Knicks are targeting Raptors president of basketball operations Masai Ujiri for their top front office job, according to ESPN’s new NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). Ujiri signed a multiyear extension with Toronto last September that tacked multiple years onto his contract beyond 2017/18, so if he’s interested in heading to New York, the Raptors would likely require compensation for their division rivals to let him out of his deal.
Ujiri, of course, has been on the other end of multiple notable Knicks trades, including the Anthony deal with Denver and an Andrea Bargnani swap with Toronto.
7:40am: The Knicks are expected to formally announce on Wednesday that they’re parting ways with president of basketball operations Phil Jackson, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPN.com. The news comes on the heels of a report late on Tuesday night that Knicks owner James Dolan was weighing Jackson’s future with the franchise.
According to Shelburne, conversations about Jackson’s future “accelerated” in recent days after the organization decided that it wouldn’t buy out Carmelo Anthony. Jackson has been vocal for most of the year about his desire to move on from Anthony, but with Carmelo unwilling to waive his no-trade clause and the Knicks not open to accommodating a buyout, the two sides were at a stalemate.
[RELATED: Knicks resisting engaging in buyout talks with Carmelo Anthony]
Since Anthony seemingly wasn’t going anywhere, and it had become clear that Jackson didn’t intend to remain with the Knicks beyond the two years left on his contract, it made more and more sense for the two sides to go their separate ways, as Shelburne details.
While the public feud with Anthony was a key factor in Jackson’s departure, he made several other questionable moves during his tenure as Knicks president, including signing Joakim Noah to a $72MM+ contract last summer and seriously considering trading Kristaps Porzingis after the young Latvian skipped his exit meeting at the end of the 2016/17 season.
The decision on Jackson’s future represents an about-face for Dolan. Despite the fact that some people close to him had been urging him to move on from Jackson for some time, per ESPN, the Knicks owner exercised his side of Jackson’s option earlier this year, locking him in for the final two years of his contract. Assuming the two sides didn’t reach some sort of buyout agreement, the Knicks will remain on the hook for a reported $24MM for Jackson’s final two years.
With Jackson no longer in the picture in New York, it’s possible that Anthony will become more open to a trade, having outlasted the team president and “won” the feud. However, it seems more likely that GM Steve Mills, who will run the show in the interim, will put less pressure on Anthony to waive his no-trade clause, allowing him to remain with the Knicks. I would expect that the team no longer intends to run the triangle offense going forward either.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Thank god
Hello yeah! It’s about Damn time! Phil Jackson has been a cancer to the Knicks and practically destroyed any chance of the team accomplishing anything productive for the next 2 years. Now that he’s gone, Jeff Hornaceck can finally coach his way and the Knicks can work as a team, not as slaves to a dying system that stopped working long ago. For once, thank you James Dolan. Thank you for making the right decision and saving your Franchise, our Franchise, from years of devastation. KP for Life Man!!
Hell yeah! The Knicks are saved!
Should’ve parted ways before the draft.
One of the best news for today…
Adios Phil and Kurt…Anyone call David Griffin yet?
Smartest move they could of made should of done it after the Noah signing
Now re-signing Rose makes all the sense in the world because he can play his style of basketball and so can Porzingis and Melo.
I’m predicting
1. Carmelo- 23 ppg
2. Porzingis- 23ppg
3. Rose- 20 ppg
Smart
And if Noah is healthy he won’t be complete garbage either. Courtney lee doesn’t suck, so that’s another 20-25 PPG between them, and if they can find a way to add a couple bench pieces they’d be in great shape. If the Rockets are still shopping Beverly he’d be a good add to the rotation.
I still think they need to scrap this team and build around Porzingis. Phil being in the front office did nothing, other than perhaps attempting to run the triangle, to affect the play of the product on the floor. Bringing back Rose and keeping Melo won’t make them a .500 team. Also, you have two ball dominant ISO players in Melo and Rose. That’s not going to help Porzingis develop.
But the knicks still are gonna suck.
Yes. That’s the point. If we’re going to suck then let’s suck enough to get a high pick for a year or two.
Ahahha yeah no… rose won’t average 20 that’s a stretch. 16-18 maybe
The Knicks are a joke.
Will the Knicks use something other than the triangle now?
I think they should use the rhombus.
The rhombus would be an improvement, but the Knicks more help than that. They need the hexagon offense (aka 6 players at a time.)
The fact your name is Polymath makes that even funnier
Lol
Well done.
Finally!!!
Smartest move they could make.
There’s a way to make Melo, Kristaps, and Frank work. It’s not the Triangle.
“The Knicks are saved.” Seriously? Any Knicks fans who believe this are incredibly delusional and shallow thinkers. The Knicks were poorly run organization long before Jackson came there, and nothing changes with him gone.
You do have a point.. it might not be a quick resolution for the Knicks…but the outcome of this decision will help clear out the Knicks locker room… without worrying about “master Zen” cryptic messages… come on .. excellent coach.. but terrible executive. By a lot
The best thing about Dolan is that he’s not a meddling owner. If anything, he’s an absentee owner. Phil had complete autonomy to do what he wanted to do for the most part. If Dolan can just hire the right people then the Knicks would be fine. Dolan doesn’t involve himself with trades, etc. Phil as just a bad hire. No game plan.
I didn’t think they’d part way with him until after this season. Smart move though. He was terrible at running this team. Just because you’re a great coach doesn’t mean you can run an entire team. I still wish the guy nothing but the best and I hope the Knicks can start the process of getting back on their feet. They need to somehow get rid of Noah and his contract and talk Melo into waving his no trade clause or just work out a buyout.
If Dolan was smart he could have traded Phil for a first or 2nd round draft pick. At least get something for him
THEIR IS AH GOD!!!!!!
The problem wasn’t just with Jackson, it’s with the owner. The man is an idiot. Phil said and did some stupid stuff the last few seasons, yes but it’s been 15 years of stupid hirings by Dolan!
About time. Now all they have to do is fire Melo, Noah and all the other awful contracts they have…. Wait…. what?…. it isn’t that easy?….. The Knicks should have thought about the future before giving aging/injury prone players monster contracts that are so bad they are impossible to dump unless paired with their only good player Porzingus which would be an even worse choice. The Knicks are becoming the 76ers(I would say they are becoming the Nets, but the Nets are still their awful selves right now) but they are going to have to “trust the process” for the next half decade at least. And at least the “process” that they need to “trust” is not Phil Jackson’s “process”
How do you “fire” a player? Think before you type.
i mean Dolan has billionssss at his disposal, but even a person that rich doesnt just throw away all that money by buying players out.
Well that’s the point of firing Phil. He was the one who signed those players to those bad deals and lacked a long term plan. Know why? He didn’t care. He knew he wasn’t going to be there for the full term of the contract.
ur correct.. he doesn’t know way he’s doing… that’s y he keeps them hire sum 1 that does… to get the burden of his shoulders… he needs Griffith rite about now
Should have let him go prior to the draft.
How much input did he actually have on the KNICKS’ draft choices ?
Could that be a major reason for Dolan letting him go ???
This is a start for the knicks , but also James Dolan is to blame as well for letting this go on for as long as it did . And they still have some bad contracts on the books , and what will melo want now ? Its still a start but there is a ways to go yet
They should go after Jeff Petrie for the job
I feel joyus. Feel like a song and dance is required lol. Now its time to find a defensive minded assistant coach and a player development coach.
Excellent News!!!
No more force fed Triangle…
Top Free Agents and Coaches will want to come to the Garden again.
loooool
Congratulations to the New York Knicks fanbase, and to all NBA fans everywhere. As a fan of the league, this is a glorious moment. It’s finally over. Phil Jackson, GTFO clown
Ujiri, RC Buford, or Hinkie…in that order….i will settle for the process.
Phil had not done a good job for sure and he deserved the criticism coming his way. BUT to be fair the team had not drafted -what appears to be- a top prospect since Ewing!!! At least he left something behind to build around. What did all the previous GMs do combined? Answer is 0! I am now curious to see if Melo i ever gonna be held accountable for his under performing self