New York Knicks President Phil Jackson said Friday he has talked to Carmelo Anthony about postponing free agency, and the All-Star forward responded that he'll think about it, according to The Associated Press.
Anthony can opt out of the final year of his contract, which would pay him $23.3 million, and has repeatedly said that was his plan, but Jackson said there are financial benefits to Anthony waiting, for both sides, and told him that during a dinner about a month ago, the AP reported.
"I told him it might be a good idea to hang in here and see what it's like for a year, and go out the next year," Jackson said, according to the AP.
Jackson also told Anthony that Steve Kerr would be coming in to coach, a plan that didn't work out, the AP reported.
"Unfortunately for him, he committed to me the day before the job opened with Golden State. So I had to kind of release him to actually go to this job and say you have to do what's right for yourself," Jackson said, according to the AP. "I understood entirely the process he was going through to have that job open up. That was something he kind of thought would be a good fit for him. So that's good, we're happy for him."
Jackson said he's been doing some interviews, though wouldn't name those candidates, the AP reported.
Jackson did say he is interested in talking to Derek Fisher, who played for him in Los Angeles, after Oklahoma City's season is finished, but ruled out Brian Shaw, his former player and assistant who just completed his first season as Denver's first coach, according to the AP.
"Brian is under contract with Denver," Jackson said, the AP reported. "Denver has everything that we owned for the last few years, so there's nothing else I want to give them."
"We will survive it. That's what I've said and we'll go forward. But this is a guy we recognize his talent and his skill is the kind of skill and talent that gets you through playoff games where things get sticky, grind out and basketball becomes a force game and suddenly you need to have a player who has the capabilities of scoring with someone hanging on them in a situation that's critical," Jackson said, according to the AP.
