Phil Jackson's Replacement: New York Knicks' Owner James Dolan Targeting New President

The New York Knicks have parted ways with Phil Jackson, and now the team is looking to find a replacement for their president of the last three years. Jackson’s tenure with the team just ended, but owner James Dolan is already pursuing a big name to run the team.

According to The Vertical’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Knicks are targeting Masai Ujiri, who currently serves as the president of the Toronto Raptors. Until New York has an official replacement, general manager Steve Mills will be running the show during free agency.

READ: Carmelo Anthony More Likely To Stay With Knicks After Phil Jackson Firing

“While we are currently evaluating how best to move forward regarding the leadership of the organization, I will not be involved in the operation of the team,” Dolan said in a statement. “Steve Mills, the team’s general manager, will run the day-to-day business of the organization over the short term. Tim Leiweke, who brings tremendous expertise and experience in sports franchise management from both Toronto and Los Angeles and is our partner in the Oak View Group, will advise and work with Steve on an interim basis to help develop a go-forward plan.”

It isn’t difficult to see why Dolan wants to hire Ujiri, considering he’s had a lot of success in the front office of multiple organizations.

As the Denver Nuggets Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations, Ujiri won the 2012-13 NBA Basketball Executive of the Year award, having put together a team that won 57 games and was the No.3 seed in the Western Conference. He became the Raptors’ general manager for the 2013-2014 season, and the team has since averaged 51 wins per season with four straight playoff appearances. Toronto failed to post a record above .500 in the six seasons prior to Ujiri’s arrival.

Leaving a successful organization like the Raptors to join the dysfunction of the Knicks might not seem very appealing, but Ujiri could have a few reasons to be interested in New York. Jackson was paid $12 million per season to be the Knicks’ president, and he’ll make $24 million over the next two years to do nothing following his departure. Ujiri won’t command the same salary as one of the greatest coaches in NBA history, but the Knicks can certainly afford to offer him a significant pay raise.

With point guard Kyle Lowry hitting free agency and reportedly entertaining the possibility of leaving the Raptors, Toronto could be heading further away from competing for a championship. The Raptors were swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the second round of the 2017 playoffs, and the Boston Celtics have clearly surpassed Toronto as the biggest threat in the Eastern Conference to LeBron James.

It’d be somewhat ironic for Ujiri to join the Knicks, with whom he completed one of the most lopsided trades of the last few years. Shortly after Ujiri was hired by Toronto in 2013, he sent Andrea Bargnani to New York in exchange for Marcus Camby, Steve Novak, the Knicks’ 2016 first-round draft pick and two future second-rounders.

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Ujiri signed a multi-year contract extension with Toronto, and he’s probably likely to stay with the Raptors. The Knicks shouldn’t have much trouble finding a replacement for Jackson, however, because of the money they can offer. The new president will inherit one of the NBA’s best young talents in Kristaps Porzingis, as well as the lucrative contract of Carmelo Anthony, which the team had been trying to move under Jackson’s leadership.

With Jackson at the helm for three years, the Knicks compiled a record of 80-166.