Carmelo Anthony might not have made the All-NBA teams, but he is essential to the New York Knicks. With Anthony comes other free agents and wins, at least that is what Phil Jackson is hoping. The president of operations knows he has a true test coming up in his tenure with the Knicks. Retaining Anthony is the team's priority and if they do, Jackson is very confident New York returns to its dominating ways.
"I do. I think it has to have kind of a refreshed attitude," Jackson said, via ESPN.com. "I think they call it a beginner mind. Needs a beginner mind to start over again. In the process to bond together, that's what teams do that are successful and come back with 'OK we can do this. We can collectively get ourselves back on the same page, same breath and same idea of selfless behavior, whatever our roles and get out there and play the game that's competitive.' There should be ample opportunity for this team to come back into competition next year."
Becoming contenders will not be easy with or without Anthony. The team's cap space issues re going to make things for difficult on New York to make any moves. Jackson confirms that trades will happen in order to build up the roster. Tyson Chander and Amar'e Stoudemire are expected to be shopped come July 1 given their injury history and inflated salaries.
The Knicks have free agents like Kyle Lowry and Pau Gasol on the brain in order to give the team another shooting threat and a bigger defensive presence. Those moves will not be possible if Chander or Stoudemire remain on the roster. If Anthony opts in to a max contract, the Knicks will have just $20 million in cap space to work with. It will not get them the players they are looking for.
Jackson is hoping Anthony can use his star power to recruit free agents over the next two seasons. Jackson will of course look to be in play for both Kevin Love and Rajon Rondo when they opt out in 2015. Keeping Anthony means getting better players and Jackson knows it.
"I think it really helps," Jackson said. "I haven't been a major recruiter as a basketball coach. I've had players who could recruit by their talent; that's my great fortune. We didn't have to send out Michael Jordan to go out and recruit people. People wanted to play with him. Or Scottie Pippen. We didn't have to do that with Shaq [O'Neal] and Kobe [Bryant] in those situations, and they're willing to do it. As a result, we ended up with [Karl] Malone and Gary Payton on a basketball team at one time."
Jackson will be aggressive with Anthony, but at the right price. Ideally, the guard re-signs at a deal smaller than a max contract. The Knicks can hope.