New York Knicks Rumors: Is Phil Jackson Damaging Carmelo Anthony's Trade Value?
New York Knicks president Phil Jackson is at it again.
He already drew the ire of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) last month when he openly suggested that Carmelo Anthony was better off playing elsewhere, but that couldn't stop him from speaking his mind again.
"We'd like him to have success," Jackson said at the draft combine, according to ESPN. "The opportunity is narrowing. We'd just like him to have success somewhere," Jackson added.
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Well, it sounds like Jackson's just trying to persuade Anthony to waive his no-trade clause so he can chase a championship with a contender, but expect National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) executive director Michele Roberts to issue another statement criticizing him in the coming days.
It's true that Anthony's no saint either and he does have a reputation as a "coach-killer," but a number of pundits and league executives believe Jackson made several mistakes while handling the situation.
"Phil made a statement basically that Carmelo's a losing type of player. Well, if he's a loser for the Knicks, he's going to be a winner someplace else? That obviously didn't help," one Eastern Conference executive told the New York Post.
"Most owners would just roast you if you said something like that," he continued. "I don't think people are going to break the bank and give New York what they initially want," he added.
"He essentially said, 'I want to dump this guy,'" another league executive said when the New York Post asked him if Jackson damaged Anthony's trade value with his statements.
Jackson's one of the greatest coaches in the history of the league, but he's far from perfect as a team executive. He could have sorted out the situation privately. But now that the entire basketball world knows that they want to get rid of Anthony.
The Knicks can still move Anthony if he agrees to waive his no-trade clause, but it will be hard to get equal value in return for him.
