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James Dolan’s decision to bring Isiah Thomas back to Madison Square Garden does not sit well with Dolan’s highest paid basketball executive: Phil Jackson.
Jackson, according to a team source, has expressed concern over Thomas’ presence at the Garden, further fueling speculation over Jackson’s future with the Knicks and whether Thomas could be in line to eventually replace Jackson as Knicks president.
“He’s not happy about it but what can he do about it,” said one Garden official, who requested anonymity. “This is just the start of it.”
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The New York Liberty open training camp on Sunday at the team’s training facility in Westchester that they share with the Knicks and Rangers. Thomas, who last week was appointed president and given a small ownership stake in the team, is expected to be in attendance.
The WNBA Board of Governors has yet to approve Thomas’ ownership and a person familiar with the process believes it will be rejected. It will be interesting to see how Dolan will respond if the Board of Governors rejects his attempt to make Thomas a minority owner. However, Thomas will likely remain as team president, a title that has caused uproar among fans, WNBA coaches and women’s advocate groups in the wake of Thomas’ role in a high profile sexual harassment case in 2007.
“This is a decision, at least to me, comes out of left field,” Connecticut Sun coach Anne Donovan, a former Liberty assistant, told the Hartford Courant. “Bring him back to MSG? OK. But how do you pin (Thomas) to the women’s pro team?”
Dolan has made it clear that he values Thomas as a friend and basketball mind and the timing of Thomas’ hiring happens to coincide with the Knicks facing the most important off-season of the last 25 years. Jackson has little experience when it comes to running the draft and free agency and the feeling is that Dolan will again use Thomas as a consultant.
“He’s an excellent judge of talent and I’m confident that he will put all of his energy and experience into making the Liberty a perennially competitive and successful team,” Dolan said in a statement last week.
Thomas has insisted that he will not have a role with the Knicks, yet league executives, who have a history with the Hall of Fame point guard, are convinced that Thomas accepted the job with the Liberty as an entry level position to eventually return to the Knicks.
Jackson, who did not return email messages, is entering the second year of a five-year contract that includes an option after this season. Jackson turns 70 in September and the odds of him lasting until the final year of his contract seem remote.
In Jackson’s first full season as Knicks president, the team finished a franchise worst 17-65. They will have a high draft choice and salary cap space to pursue free agents. The NBA Draft Lottery is Tuesday in Manhattan and it has already been announced that Jackson will not sit on the dais for the ceremony. Instead it will be Knicks general manager Steve Mills.
How much influence, if any, Thomas has this offseason is a mystery. He wasn’t employed by the club in 2010 when then-team president Donnie Walsh was forced to read a prepared statement in which he credited Thomas for helping the Knicks sign free agent Amar’e Stoudemire. Dolan also sent Thomas to Ohio in a last-ditch effort to convince LeBron James to sign with the Knicks.
The Daily News reported last month that Jackson is targeting Detroit free agent forward Greg Monroe but those plans could be altered by Thomas’ presence. Monroe is represented by David Falk, the agent for Michael Jordan who has had a three decade-old feud with Thomas.
When Thomas first joined the Knicks, he traded Falk’s client Keith Van Horn within seven weeks. Falk then warned another client, Dikembe Mutombo, not to be surprised if Thomas traded him.
The NBA Draft could be a defining moment for the Jackson regime. If the Knicks have either the first or second pick, Jackson would be position to draft either Duke’s Jahlil Okafor or Kentucky’s Karl-Anthony Towns. However, if the Knicks finish with the third, fourth or fifth choice there is no telling which way Jackson may go.
There was a report on Friday that Jackson may consider trading down to draft Wisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky. That’s the type of move that Jackson may have to run past Dolan first. Dolan could then ask his advisor, Thomas, for his thoughts.
And that’s precisely what Jackson didn’t sign up for.
