Knicks general manager Steve Mills said he and team president Phil Jackson could become a “special’’ front-office tag team.
Owner James Dolan, Mills said, wanted to make sure before hiring Jackson he could expect a good working relationship between the Zen Master and the Knicks’ former president.
It’s another indication Mills is here to stay as Jackson’s right-hand man. It’s unclear what Jackson will do with the rest of the front-office staff, which includes assistant GM Allan Houston, director of player personnel Mark Warkentien, and chief pro scouts John Gabriel and Mark Hughes. Jackson has been meeting with the club’s front-office types the past week, ostensibly interviewing them.
Mills, speaking on Spike Lee’s new Sirius-XM radio show, called the Jackson chase “a three-month courting process.’’
Dolan had the initial meeting with Jackson during a Christmas party at the Los Angeles home of music producer Irving Azoff, who manages the Eagles and runs Dolan’s L.A. Forum.
“When Jim asked me to go out and meet with Phil, it was about Phil getting to know me, and me getting to know him, and us talking about basketball,’’ Mills said. “We had a meeting where I went and met with Phil, and then we had another meeting where Jim and I and Phil got together for five or six hours, and then we had a weekend where we went away where we could just get to know each other personally. It was really important for Jim to feel that Phil and I could work together.’’
Mills said he thinks he and Jackson will be a formidable duo. Jackson doesn’t know a lot of agents, general managers or players who haven’t been on his clubs. Mills is connected enough that the NBA Players Association approached him about possibly becoming its executive director.
“I look at our situation in terms of putting us in a position to win,’’ Mills said. “Obviously he has tremendous, tremendous credibility. He’s won 11 championships. He understands how to build a team. I think from my standpoint, the relationships I have around the league with players and agents, as we start to think through strategically where we want to go from a free agent standpoint, we’re going to be able to understand what players are available and want to come and play in New York.
“There are not going to be surprises. We’re going to have the relationships in place with players and agents, and you couple that with Phil’s credibility from a championship standpoint and coaching and what he’s done to build teams, I think together we can do something special.”
*
Despite setting records for 3-point makes and attempts, coach Mike Woodson nitpicked with J.R. Smith’s Sunday stat line. Smith was 10-of-22 from 3-point range but did not have a free throw in 42 minutes.
“I want J.R. to be a complete player. He and I have talked about this,’’ Woodson said. “You can’t go 30-plus minutes and not shoot a free throw. Good scorers in this league have to mix up their game. I got to get him where he’s shooting five free throws. No reason he couldn’t. He’s athletic enough. I know he can put the ball on floor and get to the rim.’’ … The Knicks had four days off between games and practiced just once.