10 worst NBA front offices
By John Buhler
New York Knicks. 3. player. 27. . East. Atlantic
If there was a dysfunctional professional franchise hall of fame for the four major American sports leagues, the inaugural class would be as follows: The Cleveland Browns of the NFL, the Toronto Maple Leafs of the NHL, the Miami Marlins of the MLB, and the New York Knicks of the NBA.
In this millennium, the Knicks have rarely got it right. James Dolan’s hands-on approach to NBA ownership has been to the Knicks’ disadvantage at fielding a competitive basketball team. The Isiah Thomas general manager experiment was a disaster and so was the Antonio McDyess trade with the Denver Nuggets, but the Phil Jackson era has been as odd as it has been interesting.
Jackson is a champion, winning two titles as a rotational big man for the Knicks’ best teams in franchise history in the early 1970s and 11 as head coach of the Chicago Bulls and the Los Angeles Lakers. However, his trip into the Knicks front office hasn’t been as promising as his playing or coaching career.
In his 70s, Jackson doesn’t seem fully invested in turning the Knicks around. He took a vacation when the Knicks should have been figuring out their next head coach. Derek Fisher running The Triangle was a terrible idea from the start. Kurt Rambis treaded water running the same Triangle after Fisher’s firing mid-season. New York could have had Tom Thibodeau or Frank Vogel.
New Knicks head coach Jeff Hornacek has been given free reign to run his unique offensive strategy, but how soon will Jackson threaten the Triangle on him if the “reloaded” Knicks don’t start winning? Hornacek had said shortly after being hired that he wants to run the offense through stretch five Kristaps Porzingis, a progressive and innovative approach that might get the Knicks out of their quagmire.
The problem is that rebuilding isn’t an option in New York, as Madison Square Garden must always be packed, running a Las Vegas style show of NBA has-beens. How is Porzingis going to grow as a young star if Carmelo Anthony and Derrick Rose aren’t going to give him the basketball?
On paper, the 2016-17 Knicks should contend for an Eastern Conference Playoffs berth, but their is always a threat of dysfunctional behavior coming from all directions (players, coaches, front office) within this basketball organization. At least the Knicks will be interesting and therefore watchable this winter.
Next: 2. New Orleans Pelicans.