Jackson Expects Anthony to Accept Less for Good of Knicks
GREENBURGH, N.Y. - Phil Jackson's first postseason news conference began with the declarative statement that 'there is no news.' But Jackson, the Knicks' new $60 million team president, has been a longtime newsmaker, an N.B.A. lightning rod. He almost cannot help it.
And so, without further delay, Jackson proceeded to leave little doubt that Steve Kerr is his leading candidate to replace Mike Woodson as the Knicks' head coach next season, saying, 'We meet very similar space about coaching in a lot of ways.'
To that he added a wrinkle of a team-building strategy that could mushroom into a bombshell: He will, in all likelihood, not offer Carmelo Anthony a maximum free-agent contract to re-sign with the Knicks for the next five years, should Anthony, as expected, opt out of the remaining year of his current deal.
'Yeah, sure,' he said to a question about whether he expected Anthony to take less money than the roughly $130 million he could make, thus providing the Knicks greater flexibility under the salary cap.
During the season, which ended last week with the Knicks out of the playoffs for the first time in four years, or since they acquired Anthony from Denver, Anthony said that he would be amenable to earning less to help upgrade the roster.
In a 24-minute discussion with reporters at the team's practice facility, Jackson said: 'You've got to have people making sacrifices, financially, so we hope Carmelo is true to his word and will understand what it's going to take. And we'll present that to him at that time.'
In making that case, Jackson cited Tim Duncan in San Antonio, who is being paid roughly half of what a full maximum salary could be. Duncan, of course, is 37, nearing the end of his long career, while Anthony, almost 30, is in his physical prime.
Jackson also mentioned LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, all of the Miami Heat, who took less than the full maximum salary to form a core that has won consecutive N.B.A. titles.
'So I think the precedent's been set,' Jackson said. 'The way things are structured now, financially speaking, it's really hard to have one or two top stars, or max players, and put together a team with enough talent.'
True to form, Jackson did not duck a speculative question about whether a departure by Anthony would be disastrous for the Knicks, given how many assets, including this season's lottery draft pick, they gave up for him.
'I'm all about moving forward,' he said, pointedly. 'Just deal with what is and move forward. If it's in the cards, man, are we fortunate. If it's not in the cards, man, are we fortunate. We're going forward, anyway.'
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