Phil Jackson regrets not trading for Jae Crowder
Since hiring Phil Jackson to be the team’s president in 2014, the New York Knicks haven’t exactly righted the ship.
Jackson changed up the coaching staff, by hiring former Laker Derek Fisher as head coach, and the roster, by way of trades and draft picks. The team has a 49-115 record since hiring Jackson, and in an interview with Charley Rosen of Today’s Fast Break, the Hall of Fame coach admitted he has one major regret about his tenure in New York so far.
Jackson says his “biggest mistake” involved a trade with the Dallas Mavericks, in which he sent away center Tyson Chandler in exchange for guard Jose Calderon and others. A the time, a second-round pick changing hands seemed inconsequential, but Jackson revealed that he had another option:
“I was given the option of taking that pick or else taking Jae Crowder. I liked Crowder but I thought he wouldn’t get much of a chance to play behind Carmelo, so I took the pick which turned out to be Cleanthony Early.”
Early has played in 56 games and averaged 4.3 points per game so far in his NBA career, while Crowder flourished after landing in Boston, averaging 10.7 a game over a season and a half and emerging as a candidate for the Most Improved Player award last season.
While Jackson holds out hope that Early “still has the potential to be a valuable player,” he added, “Even so, I should have taken Crowder.”
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