His reasoning is some combination of the following…
5) Phil’s planting this story just to get other GMs to talk to him. Think about it: why would a team contact the Knicks if Kristaps Porzingis wasn’t available? Honestly, they’re the island of misfit toys — by letting the world know that KP is on the block, Phil actually gets to have conversations about trades. If KP was as untouchable as Knicks fans would like him to be, league execs would screen Phil Jackson’s calls like they were coming from a mysterious number in Ukraine.