A common gripe from Knicks fans this season has been that New York’s point guards have been, for lack of a better word, trash. Jose Calderon is a turnstile on defense, Jerian Grant is a rookie and Langston Galloway is limited. Carmelo Anthony has hoped for Rajon Rondo, but from the sound of Phil Jackson’s latest comments, he won’t be coming to the Knicks. Jackson told reporters on Friday that the Knicks aren’t going to go out of their way to land a star point guard.
More details, from Ian Begley of ESPN.com:
New York Knicks president Phil Jackson said he won’t be obsessed with finding a star point guard, in part because the triangle offense hasn’t required one.
“Chasing a point guard, where it becomes just an obsession, isn’t necessary. It’s not necessary. We can play the game without that,” Jackson said Friday at Staples Center.
Jackson pointed to the success that the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers had running the triangle; neither franchise relied on a ball-dominant point guard during his tenures as coach.
“We went to a two-guard format, and I think we were successful at it,” he said. “I think we caught a lot of people in the league by surprise because of the way we played. So it works, and we know it works.”
The Knicks will have at least $18 million to spend in free agency this summer. If Jackson’s statements Friday hold true, it seems unlikely they will chase an elite free-agent point guard such as Mike Conley or Rajon Rondo. (It’s worth noting that Rondo said last month that he’s unlikely to consider the Knicks in free agency because of the triangle.)
Jackson noted that the Knicks will try to develop their guards from within. He mentioned Tony Wroten, whom they expect to sign in the coming days, as one player who could add depth at the position.
“Our process is going on [and] it’s a little underground, a little beneath the surface, but this is one of our desires, that we have to have a penetrator and we have to have somebody that can handle those roles,” he said.
