Valor wrote:Really showcases just how inept the Knicks franchise are. Where is the logic in firing him after the draft? He just picked a guy who fits his ideal team concept. If they really wanted to go another direction why not fire him before the draft, get someone else, and then draft accordingly? Obviously he hasn't done a good job so far outside of drafting Porzingis, but firing him now is moronic.
They didn't fire him, they got him to agree to a buyout when it became clear he was going to continue to mess with the franchise in his standard Phil Power Play methods. Firing him would have meant paying him the full amount. It's not like he alone made the draft pick.
Conversations about what was best for the team's future between Jackson and Dolan accelerated this week when the franchise decided it would not buy out embattled forward Carmelo Anthony, sources said.
Jackson, 71, had made it well known that he felt it was best for Anthony and the organization to part ways, both publicly and privately, but Anthony refused to waive his no-trade clause, and the Knicks were determined not to accommodate any request for a buyout. Anthony has two years worth more than $54 million remaining on his deal.
With no end to the stalemate in sight, and free agency beginning on Saturday, Jackson's discussions with Dolan accelerated late Tuesday night and the decision was made to part ways. Some close to Dolan had been pushing him to consider firing Jackson for much of the season, sources told ESPN's Ian Begley.
It had become clear, sources said, that Jackson had no plans to remain beyond the two years left on the five-year contract he initially signed in 2014 that paid him $12 million a year. So with no clear path forward from the toxic situation with Anthony, a constant public relations war over Jackson's preferred triangle offense, and new concerns about the organization's relationship with Latvian phenom and 2015 No. 4 overall pick Kristaps Porzingis, sources said it was clear things had reached a breaking point by the eve of free agency.
Several players and members of the coaching staff had expressed frustration over Jackson's insistence that the club run more of the triangle offense midway through last season, sources told Begley.
During a February radio interview, Dolan said he planned to honor his five-year contract with Jackson "all the way to the end." In April, sources familiar with the situation told ESPN that the Knicks and Jackson quietly picked up their option on the remaining two years of his contract.
Sources told ESPN that Jackson had been upset with Porzingis' actions and was trying to teach him a lesson in professionalism this summer.