Phil Jackson is proving his worth as an NBA Executive

Phil Jackson

The Jackson journey

After winning two championships as a player in the 1970’s with the New York Knicks and a combined eleven championships as the Head Coach of the Chicago Bulls in the 1990’s and the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2000’s, many would believe that Phil Jackson has done all that is there to achieve, but with his performance in his most recent role the time has come to hold that thought.

The Knicks appointed Jackson as their President of Basketball Operations in March towards the end of a disappointing 2013-14 campaign and four months hence it would not be hard to say that he has done a splendid job so far.

From the beginning of the millennium, the franchise has struggled to regain its past glory making it to the Playoffs only five times in the 14 years and it was only recently in the 2012-13 season that the team won its first Atlantic Division title after 19 years.

Despite making a huge effort and bringing superstar Carmelo Anthony to Madison Square Garden in 2011 via a trade with the Denver Nuggets, the Knicks have not looked like a lethal contender in any of the following seasons which begged the question whether Jackson could rescue the team from a state of utter disaster?

The Zen Master did more than just save the franchise, he made the team take its first step towards becoming a long-term title contender, but it took a lot of moves to make the single step. He replaced the thought of dysfunction and disaster with the hope of a championship. Here is what Jackson has done right since he took office and how it affected the future of the franchise:

Appointing new Coaching staff

Derek Fisher

Blaming Jackson for unfairly firing Mike Woodson and his coaching staff at the end of the season would be harsh because he was simply looking for a Head Coach he could trust. Let us keep in mind that neither the team nor did he have the time to familiarize with Woodson and his coaching techniques. Although there was a debate early on about whether Jackson should enforce the Triangle offense with the Knicks, it was never going to leave people scratching their heads if he did do so.

Whether appointing Derek Fisher as the team’s Head Coach was about implementing the triangle or not, he made one thing certain that there would be no miscommunication between the Coaching staff and the front office simply because of the relationship that he and Fisher share.

Along with Fisher who won all of his five rings with the Lakers while he was the Head Coach, Jackson also hired his former assistant Kurt Rambis who is not only familiar with triangle offense, but is also a skilled defensive coach as well.

Re-signed Carmelo Anthony against all odds

Carmelo Anthony

Heading into this summer the reason many believed the Knicks could not become long-term contenders was because neither did they have draft picks to use in trades or to draft future talent. They also don’t have the required cap space to sign a player to a max deal to play alongside Anthony. To make matters worse, Anthony did not believe the team had a bright future.

Yet he was impressed when Jackson had taken a position of strength in the front office, and the fact that Jackson had a vision for the franchise with or without him impressed Anthony. Since Jackson had made it into the management it was not only the extra money the Knicks were offering that Melo had to consider.

At the beginning of Free Agency when Melo opted out of his contract and became a free agent the Knicks were never in contention. It was Anthony who left the bright lights of Los Angeles and the perfect fit of Windy City to finish what he had started at the Garden.

Furthermore, while working out in Los Angeles, Anthony was given a solid, good and strong endorsement of Derek Fisher by close friend and USA National Basketball teammate Kevin Durant, who had played three years with Fisher as teammates for Oklahoma City Thunder.

Important trades

Jose Calderon

A day before Draft night, Jackson’s Knicks were involved in a trade that saw Tyson Chandler makes his return to the Mavericks along with Raymond Felton as part of a six-man trade which involves a couple of picks in this year’s Draft as well. With the Mavericks receiving two of the Knicks starters in return, Jose Calderon, Samuel Dalembert, Wayne Ellington and Shane Larkin will head to the Big Apple along with the 34th and 51st picks in Thursday’s draft.

Although both teams stood to gain from the trade, Jackson made it a point to not miss out on receiving Dallas’ two draft picks, something the Knicks did not have the luxury of prior to this trade. Now you would wonder how players that are drafted 34th and 51st overall in the Draft could help the Knicks. Ideally it wouldn’t but given the depth of the 2014 Draft the trade proved to be a masterstroke as the team also drafted Indiana Pacers’ 57th overall Draft pick for cash.

Both trades not only addressed the point guard weakness, but also cap space issues, team chemistry and the lack of draft picks. The Rookies and the new coaching staff having been showing good positive signs with their 3-0 start to the Las Vegas NBA Summer League.