NBA Rumors: Phil Jackson hints at more Knicks changes coming soon

By Jack Crosby | Jun 27, 2014

Mar 18, 2014; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks new president of basketball operations Phil Jackson (middle) poses for a photo with former Knicks players Walt Frazier and Dick Barnett at a press conference at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: William Perlman/THE STAR-LEDGER via USA TODAY Sports /

For the first time since he took over as president of the New York Knicks, Phil Jackson made his presence felt as the new boss in town. To start things off, he dealt Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton to the Dallas Mavericks for Jose Calderon, Shane Larkin, Samuel Dalembert, Wayne Ellington and two selections in Thursday night’s NBA Draft.

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That move was made to “change the chemistry,” as Jackson put it.

Then, during the Draft on Thursday, he made one of the biggest splashes of the second round when he selected the explosive Cleanthony Early after many teams had confusingly decided against taking him.

Again, this was the first time that the shockwaves of the Jackson era were felt in New York City, and if Knicks fans liked that, then they can get very excited because the Zen Master is nowhere near done, apparently.

“Well, we want to send a message to all of our players that we are on the move and we are making changes and we are making changes to move forward in the direction that we want to go,” Jackson said. “We want to be more aggressive defensively, we want to have a certain sense of offensive alacrity, getting up and down the court and challenging defenses to get back and protect the basket.”

What these changes will entail, we’ll have to wait to find out. However, you have to imagine that some will entail attempting to bring Carmelo Anthony back to make a run at a title.