Phil Jackson Says Biggest Mistake as Knicks President Is Not Landing Jae Crowder

Successes have been few and far between for Phil Jackson during his tenure as president of the New York Knicks, but there is one move in particular that he regrets not making.

According to Charley Rosen of TodaysFastbreak.com, the Zen Master admitted that turning down the option to have Jae Crowder involved in a trade that sent Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton to the Dallas Mavericks was his biggest mistake at the helm for the Knicks thus far:

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I think the biggest mistake I made was actually this...One of the first deals I engineered when I came back to New York was to trade [Chandler] and Raymond [Felton] to Dallas for Shane Larkin, Jose Calderon, Wayne Ellington, Samuel Dalembert, plus a second-round pick that the Mavs owed to the [Boston] Celtics. In talking with Boston, I was given the option of taking that pick or else taking [Crowder]. I liked Crowder but I thought he wouldn't get much of a chance to play behind Carmelo [Anthony], so I took the pick which turned out to be Cleanthony Early. While Cleanthony has missed lots of time in the past two seasons with us, he still has the potential to be a valuable player. Even so, I should have taken Crowder. Anyway, for all of us, making mistakes are part of the learning process.

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The 26-year-old Crowder has developed into a key player for the Celtics since they acquired him from the Mavericks.

He is coming off what was by far the best season of his NBA career in 2015-16, as he averaged 14.2 points, 5.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.7 steals per game in 73 starts.

Meanwhile, the Knicks have missed the playoffs in three consecutive seasons, including a disappointing 32-50 finish in 2015-16.

New York appears to be a team on the rise, though, with big man Joakim Noah and guards Derrick Rose and Courtney Lee joining the core of Melo and Kristaps Porzingis.

Although that group should make the Knicks playoff contenders next season, there is little doubt that they would be a far more dangerous team with a complete, do-everything player like Crowder on the roster.

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