5 replacements for Phil Jackson as New York Knicks president

Phil Jackson and the New York Knicks will mercifully part ways on Wednesday, so here are five candidates to become the team’s new president.

It seemed like only a matter of time, but a report surfaced late Tuesday night pointing to the New York Knicks letting Phil Jackson go as team president. Owner James Dolan came off his draft week concert tour to apparently fully realize Jackson is failing as an executive, and a disagreement on buying-out Carmelo Anthony may have been the final straw.

Jackson’s public criticism of Anthony, and more recently Kristaps Porzingis, surely played a role in his looming departure. He’s also clearly behind the times, with a stubborn refusal to go away from the triangle offense that made him famous as Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers’ head coach.

After an option for the final two years of his contract was picked up in April, Jackson will walk away with the $24 million he was due to make. But Dolan has never been afraid to pay for his own mistakes hiring basketball executives, and simply being able to move on might be worth it.

The timing of Jackson’s departure is not ideal, from a certain perspective, with free agency set to start this weekend. But here are five candidates to be the next Knicks president.

5. Isiah Thomas

Thomas failed epically as an executive and head coach of the Knicks from 2003-2008. Before that, a tongue-in-cheek argument can be made that he ran the CBA into the ground as the NBA went a different direction for a developmental league.

Thomas re-surfaced as team president of New York Liberty, the WNBA team under Dolan’s ownership umbrella, in 2015. He also serves as a studio commentator for Turner Sports.

Thomas’ inclusion here is not all that serious. But he’s been working under Dolan again, and nothing can be ruled out. These are the Knicks after all…