New York Knicks president Phil Jackson sat down with the New York Post this week for a lengthy Q&A session. Two things stood out: 1) the maturity of guard J.R. Smith will factor into whether he remains with the team, and 2) superstar Carmelo Anthony would have a somewhat different style of play than he did last season.
Smith's 2013 Sixth Man of the Year award earned him a three-year contract worth $17.9 million, a number he has yet to live up to. In addition to struggling from the field last season, Smith had multiple on- and off-the-court incidents that brought his maturity into question.
Unlike former coach Mike Woodson, Jackson said he wouldn't tolerate Smith's antics.
"I don't know if that's possible or not," Jackson told The Post when asked how he'd get Smith to grow up. "He might be one of those guys that's a little bit like Dennis Rodman that has an outlier kind of side to him. But I'm gonna get to know him as we go along, and we'll find a way to either make him a very useful player on our organization, or whatever."
Smith purportedly has been on the trade block since midway through last season, to no avail. In addition to Smith's meager production last season, his expensive contract and his behavioral issues - from violating the league's drug policy to untying an opponent's shoelaces on the court - make him a hard sell to teams.
Jackson also touched on Anthony, whom he said would be taking less shots and doing more than just playing iso-ball.
"(The triangle offense will) give him opportunity to be a passer, a rebounder, and probably easier spots to score from than he's had before," Jackson said. "... The ball can't stop. The ball has to continually move. It moves, or goes to the hoop on a shot or a drive or something like that."
As for how Anthony feels about that, Jackson said he's on board.
"All we talked about in our negotiation (in free agency) was, 'I'd like not to have to feel like I have to carry the load to score every night,'" said Jackson. "He wants some help."
