When Phil Jackson was hired as Knicks president in March 2014, he inherited a team 10 months removed from a 54-28 season and watched Mike Woodson’s club finish 16-2 to miss the playoffs by one game, at 37-45.
The $60 million Zen Master then fired the coaching staff and tore up the roster piece by piece. Jackson rebuilt it this summer through the draft (No. 4 Kristaps Porzingis, No. 19 Jerian Grant) and $30 million in cap room. But Jackson failed to land a sidekick star for Carmelo Anthony after posting their worst record in franchise history (17-65).