The New York Knicks have a lot of cap space to play with this summer and Phil Jackson has been on the hunt to find someone willing to take that cash. Of course, the Knicks haven’t made any big splashes this summer leaving Phil with plenty of cap space for next season. One free agent that never met with the Knicks is LaMarcus Aldridge. The joke was that LaMarcus didn’t want to meet with the Knicks due to how bad they are at the whole “playing basketball” business. But Aldridge revealed the real reason why he didn’t meet with the Knicks, even though he met with the Lakers twice and Phoenix amongst other teams.
Via ESPN Radio’s Russillo Show,
Aldridge said on the Russillo Show on ESPN Radio that Phil Jackson and the Knicks wanted him to “strictly” play center. Aldridge didn’t want to solely play center. Thus, Aldridge and the Knicks agreed to cancel their scheduled meeting in free agency, Aldridge said.
“They didn’t want to meet with me,” Aldridge said. “Some people said it was me. But it was both parties agreeing that we shouldn’t meet.”
So Phil Jackson was so dead set on having LaMarcus play center that he didn’t even want to meet with him after Aldridge stated he didn’t want to do that. This was some sort of deal breaker for Phil and the Knicks. You know, when the hottest free agent of the summer has you on a meeting list, you take that meet and work from there. You don’t close doors before even meeting with him. Sorry, but this is a clear indication that Phil Jackson is really lost when it comes to the front office.
H/T: Uproxx
