After missing the playoffs and barely finishing in ninth place in a dismal Eastern Conference, the newly hired general manager, Phil Jackson, was given the task of turning the New York Knicks around. This move brought new hope for Knicks fans, as Phil Jackson has the pedigree as a legendary coach in the NBA. Jackson led the Bulls to all six titles with Michael Jordan, then he earned an additional five titles for the Los Angeles Lakers with Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal. Phil Jackson’s resume as a coach is impressive but his skills as a General Manager have yet to be validated. Phil Jackson’s first move was to fire Mike Woodson’s entire coaching staff and replace them with recently retired player, Derek Fisher. Jackson could have hired an experienced coach for guaranteed results, but he chose a fresh new coach one that he could teach how to play Jackson’s style of basketball.  Fisher played for Jackson in LA when they won back to back titles, hence why Knicks’ fans are optimistic about Fisher’s ability to work with the GM.  

His next major move was trading Raymond Felton and Tyson Chandler for Jose Calderon, Samuel Dalembert, Wayne Ellington, Shane Larkin, and two 2nd round picks from the Dallas Mavericks the day before the 2014 NBA Draft. The Knicks upgraded its roster at the point guard position with Calderon and Larkin but lost a defensive anchor in Tyson Chandler. The Knicks settled for defensive quantity over defensive quality by acquiring Dalembert, and Ellington. The most impressive part about the trade was that Phil Jackson managed to get the Knicks two picks in this very talented draft. Cleanthony Early was projected to be a late first round pick but slipped down to the Knicks with the thirty fourth pick. Then with the fifty first pick, the Knicks selected Thanasis Antetokoumpo, the small forward from Greece. Phil made out on top in the last minute trade with Dallas, as the Knicks gained a plethora of talented players.

The biggest challenge that Jackson faced this offseason was how to deal with Carmelo Anthony’s free agency. Anthony said early last season that he wants to win a championship, even if it meant taking less money elsewhere. Several teams like the Houston Rockets, Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles, Miami Heat and Chicago Bulls were interested in Anthony’s talents and were closer to contending for a title than the Knicks. Yet, Anthony still chose to stay in New York. Jackson got Anthony to believe in his system and to take less than the maximum money available to him so that the Knicks could bring in another star to back him up.

So far, Phil Jackson has showed that he’s not just going to wait for the summer of 2015 to reconstruct the Knicks roster. His moves have helped to improve all aspects of the team; however the Knicks aren’t ready to contend for a title just yet. They’re preparing for the long term by acquiring young pieces and saving money for another big signing. We can expect Phil Jackson to keep making more moves to once again solidify “The Mecca” as the consummate basketball city.