Knicks · Phil makes plea to season ticket holders in video and letter... (page 1)

In a letter and video message sent out on Monday, Jackson tried to reassure the team's fan base, saying he has a "clear plan" in place for this 2015 offseason.

"While I know this has been a challenging season for our team on the court, I can also tell you that everyone in the organization is working tirelessly to get our Knicks back to a place where we are once again competing at the highest level," Jackson said in a video message obtained by ESPN New York that doubled as a pitch to season ticket holders to renew for the 2015-16 season.

In the letter, Jackson talked about the roster moves he's made to clear up cap space for free agency. The Knicks are expected to have at least $25 million in cap space this summer.

"We have made key roster moves to free up significant cap space that will provide us greater flexibility to acquire talent in this summer's free agency," Jackson said. "And for the first time in many years, we expect to have a top pick in the NBA Draft this June. These are key steps to building a roster of players that have both the talent and character to win in New York and who, alongside Carmelo Anthony, will become a team that can become a consistent winner."

Jackson briefly acknowledged the failures of this season in the video and letter.

The Knicks enter play Wednesday with a 14-60 record -- the worst in the NBA. This is the first time in New York's 69-year franchise history that the team has lost 60 games.

"Despite the disappointing 2014-15 season, we are steadfast in our resolve to do what is necessary to deliver on our ultimate goal of bringing a championship back to New York," Jackson said.

Jackson signed a five-year contract reportedly worth $60 million dollars to take over as Knicks president a little more than 12 months ago.

He inherited a team that won 37 games in 2013-14 and entered this season hoping to make the playoffs.

But the Knicks suffered through losing streaks of 10 and 16 games in the first half of the season as Jackson's signature trade for Jose Calderon proved to be a dud in Year One. He blew up the roster in a January trade that sent J.R. Smith and Iman Shumpert to Cleveland for two second-round picks and two trade exceptions.

Now, Jackson hopes to land a top pick in June's draft. If the Knicks finish with the worst record in the NBA, they will pick no lower than fourth in the draft.

In his message to persuade season-ticket holders to renew, Jackson focused on the months ahead rather than dissecting the missteps of the 2014-15 team.

"We have a clear plan and expect our efforts to take really take shape as we enter the 2015 draft and free agency in the months ahead," Jackson said in the video. "I ask that you remain optimistic and hope you will join us on our continued journey as we build a team that once again reflects the spirit of being a New York Knick."

VCoug wrote:If I hear one more time about how Phil cleared cap space I'm going to scream. All that space already existed. And, if he hadn't made the Tyson trade we probably could have had more space.

With all those expiring contracts Phil had a lot of options to bring in different players and chase the 8th seed in a terrible East, and this is what the Knicks did year after year with guys like Gallinari, Channing Frye and Jordan Hill to show for the losing seasons.

We could draft the next Greg Oden, sign the next Lance Stevenson and bla bla bla.. success is not a sure thing.

But

If we draft a franchise cornerstone and are able to add quality in FA then Phil's history with the Knicks starts as the first GM with the stones to suck it up and rip it apart.

If things were status quo in Knick land, and Phil wasnt here we would be 4 games out of the 8th seed pretending we have a shot with no cap space for next year and we already traded draft position with OKC and gave them our 2018 unprotected pick for Reggie Jackson... You know this is true.

gunsnewing wrote:I don't think rushing to get the "disruptive" TYSON Chandler out of the lockerroom did anything for this current lockerroom

VCoug wrote:If I hear one more time about how Phil cleared cap space I'm going to scream. All that space already existed. And, if he hadn't made the Tyson trade we probably could have had more space.

is he saying he had no plan last season, because he came in saying he had a clear plan, and if the plan was to tank, why did he add calderones contract if the plan was to create cap space. Then he traded JR who makes a tad bit less than calderone, but has way more value than him.

Phil just admit that you have little to no clue, and everything you do is a plan B and C

fishmike wrote:

gunsnewing wrote:I don't think rushing to get the "disruptive" TYSON Chandler out of the lockerroom did anything for this current lockerroom

it didnt. Now show me a single poster here last year who said we need to keep Tyson or that Tyson would have a bounce back year and be a great player again. Can you show me that? Did you predict that?

Tyson is playing the way he is playing because he is in winning situation with respectable and successful organization.
He will suck and sulk on the Knicks and will demand a trade.
Was the trade itself good or bad is irrelevant.
This in-between patching is always a crap-shot.
Was not working this time.
Every ruk, GM ruk including will make a lot of mistakes to gain experience.
Sather suck 5 years badly with Rangers before becoming a good GM.
Same goes to Fisher.
There is no quick fix for this Knicks.
If they will be 50% team in 3 years I will be pleasantly surprised.

fishmike wrote:

gunsnewing wrote:I don't think rushing to get the "disruptive" TYSON Chandler out of the lockerroom did anything for this current lockerroom

it didnt. Now show me a single poster here last year who said we need to keep Tyson or that Tyson would have a bounce back year and be a great player again. Can you show me that? Did you predict that?

we needed to get rid of him and get good value for him. Keeping him until the end of last season was stupid.

mreinman wrote:If phil came out with a letter explaining the Melo contract then I am all ears.

This should be Dolan explaining... But he is busy with splits and acquisitions.
Who cares about some bunch of losers on the court and in the stands of renovated Garden?

arkrud wrote:

mreinman wrote:If phil came out with a letter explaining the Melo contract then I am all ears.

This should be Dolan explaining... But he is busy with splits and acquisitions.
Who cares about some bunch of losers on the court and in the stands of renovated Garden?

No.

Phil has the power now and is the mouth of the franchise.

If this was Dolan's decision then wtf do we need Phil for?

mreinman wrote:

arkrud wrote:

mreinman wrote:If phil came out with a letter explaining the Melo contract then I am all ears.

This should be Dolan explaining... But he is busy with splits and acquisitions.
Who cares about some bunch of losers on the court and in the stands of renovated Garden?

No.

Phil has the power now and is the mouth of the franchise.

If this was Dolan's decision then wtf do we need Phil for?

To deal with Dolan decisions.
The owner is the boss no matter how you slice it.
And sometimes to show the owner that he is moron takes a long time and the right person.
It happened with Dolan and hockey so it can be done with Dolan and basketball..
Is Phil the right man for THIS job is to be seen.
(see my signature for more explanation)

gunsnewing wrote:I don't think rushing to get the "disruptive" TYSON Chandler out of the lockerroom did anything for this current lockerroom

If you look back a year ago there is plenty more:
http://www.ultimateknicks.com/forum/topi...
http://www.ultimateknicks.com/forum/topi...

Briggs is another who kills the Tyson trade but last year he was pining to dump Tyson for the first chance at a pick in the bottom of the first round.

The trade didnt work out, but as you can see from the above nobody, NOBODY was saying Tyson needs a better environment. Tyson will bounce back, Tyson will get healthy, bla bla bla. Sorry folks.. you all wanted him dumped. Meanwhile this time last year Calderon was the starting PG on a 50 win team in the West shooting 45% from 3 and was a very good floor general for that team. You guys can pretend you were kicking and screaming but you werent. This was not a bad trade at face value. God forbid Early or Thanisis pop and Tyson is an afterthought.

Im sure when we jettison Calderon and he's back to shooting 45% from 3 and playing really well for some other team there will be a new list of excuses.

knicks1248 wrote:

VCoug wrote:If I hear one more time about how Phil cleared cap space I'm going to scream. All that space already existed. And, if he hadn't made the Tyson trade we probably could have had more space.

is he saying he had no plan last season, because he came in saying he had a clear plan, and if the plan was to tank, why did he add calderones contract if the plan was to create cap space. Then he traded JR who makes a tad bit less than calderone, but has way more value than him.

Phil just admit that you have little to no clue, and everything you do is a plan B and C

I don't think JR had value around the league. Reports at the time say Shumpert was included to move JR's contract.

fishmike wrote:

gunsnewing wrote:I don't think rushing to get the "disruptive" TYSON Chandler out of the lockerroom did anything for this current lockerroom

No but you wanted it to happen also. In fact you started a thread on that...
http://www.ultimateknicks.com/forum/topi...

If you look back a year ago there is plenty more:
http://www.ultimateknicks.com/forum/topi...
http://www.ultimateknicks.com/forum/topi...

Briggs is another who kills the Tyson trade but last year he was pining to dump Tyson for the first chance at a pick in the bottom of the first round.

The trade didnt work out, but as you can see from the above nobody, NOBODY was saying Tyson needs a better environment. Tyson will bounce back, Tyson will get healthy, bla bla bla. Sorry folks.. you all wanted him dumped. Meanwhile this time last year Calderon was the starting PG on a 50 win team in the West shooting 45% from 3 and was a very good floor general for that team. You guys can pretend you were kicking and screaming but you werent. This was not a bad trade at face value. God forbid Early or Thanisis pop and Tyson is an afterthought.

Im sure when we jettison Calderon and he's back to shooting 45% from 3 and playing really well for some other team there will be a new list of excuses.

We are never short of excuses here. I like the trade and still think Calderon will be back shooting 40% from three. This is a lost season and a lot of this was planned.

Was looking at old Pippen highlights of his beginning years. Thanasis definitely has a lot of Pippen type game. Given time and health Early will produce better numbers than what he is showing same with Larkin.

I was just not a Tyson guy he is a raw talent, I mean so many years in the NBA and still no offensive game asides from put backs and dunks.

mreinman wrote:

fishmike wrote:

gunsnewing wrote:I don't think rushing to get the "disruptive" TYSON Chandler out of the lockerroom did anything for this current lockerroom

it didnt. Now show me a single poster here last year who said we need to keep Tyson or that Tyson would have a bounce back year and be a great player again. Can you show me that? Did you predict that?

we needed to get rid of him and get good value for him. Keeping him until the end of last season was stupid.

Yes Phil should have traded him before he even became the gm- brilliant critique!

mreinman wrote:If phil came out with a letter explaining the Melo contract then I am all ears.

Dear fans,

This is the nba and players get overpaid. All stars get max contracts. I'm sorry you find this hard to understand.

Kind regards,

Phil

smackeddog wrote:

mreinman wrote:If phil came out with a letter explaining the Melo contract then I am all ears.

Dear fans,

This is the nba and players get overpaid. All stars get max contracts. I'm sorry you find this hard to understand.

Kind regards,

Phil

Dear Fans,

Bosh got 119 over 5...Gordon Haywood is making 16 mil per...Klay Thompson is 17 mil per...It's the landscape, deal with it...

Signed,
Big Chief Triangle