Interview with NY Knicks Writer Sara Peters

Photo Credit: Maddie Meyer/Getty Imagesthh

Just in time for tonight’s NBA draft, SportsAsToldByAGirl got the chance to talk to Bleacher Report’s featured NBA reporter Sara Peters about New York’s premiere team.  She talks about everything from Carmelo Anthony to the surprise trade that sent Raymond Felton and Tyson Chandler to Dallas.

Of course I have to ask you what is on every Knicks’ fans mind, where do you see Carmelo Anthony playing next season?

I’m conflicted!

Until this afternoon I’d have said that Chicago was the most likely place for Melo to play next year, followed by New York, followed by Dallas. But after today’s trade that sent Tyson Chandler and Ray Felton to the Mavericks, I think Melo might head to Dallas. The chance to play with Tyson, Dirk, and Monta Ellis might be more compelling to him, because they can give him more scoring support than the Bulls can, even with a healthy Derrick Rose.

So I guess I’d swap Dallas to number one, and Chicago to number three. New York stays in the number two slot. But if Melo stays in New York it will be because of personal, family reasons, not for basketball reasons.

Regardless if he stays or not, how would you grade Phil Jackson’s first few months as the Knicks president?

That’s a dreadfully hard question to answer, because while I know that he knows far more about basketball than I do, I still find myself questioning every maneuver he makes or attempts to make or thinks about making. Why was he dead-set on a coach with no coaching experience? I don’t know. Why is he interested in drafting PJ Hairston when we’re probably deeper at the shooting guard position than we are at any other? No idea.

But he’s PHIL JACKSON. So probably by the end of next season I’ll be saying that he’s a mad genius and everything he does is amazing… but for now, he gets an “incomplete B-minus.” When he hands in all of his completed assignments, that grade may go up.

 

Do you believe Derek Fisher will succeed as a head coach?  Why or why not?

I think Fish is going to work out well. What has made him a great player was not his athleticism or his shooting ability; it was his basketball intelligence, court vision, and leadership. He’s made to be a coach, really. He understands the game as it’s played right now. He has the respect of all the players in the league. He’s possibly the only guy who ever wore a Lakers jersey that Knicks fans don’t hate on principle.

And of course he has the backing of Phil Jackson. My only worry is that Phil might end up being too much of a backseat coach, and it could cause friction between him and Fish.

 

There has been a lot of talk about the Knicks trading to get a pick in the first round.  Do you believe they should pull the trigger on this?

Absolutely not. I didn’t think they should trade into the draft at all, because the Suns and the Sixers were the only teams with enough picks to spare, and I didn’t think that either of them had enough to offer the Knicks in return for Chandler or Iman Shumpert (the Knicks’ main trade assets). I hoped that maybe they’d buy a high second-round pick from Philadelphia and leave it at that.

Now that they’ve done this big trade with Dallas and have gotten two second-round picks, I hope they’ll use them wisely. I’d like to pick up Jordan Clarkson or Patric Young with the first choice.

There are a lot of key role players that are free agents this season including Patty Mills and Lance Stephenson. Do you see the Knicks aggressively pursuing any of these players?

I could see them pursuing Patty Mills after some of his incredible playoff performances, but I don’t think they’d be aggressive about it. Mills is great but he’s still more of a bench guy than a starting point guard.

 

If Carmelo Anthony does stay and the Knicks do not make any significant moves to improve their roster, do you seem them making any type of playoff run next season?

Even with all the question marks, I think there’s a chance for the Knicks to make a playoff run. One of the biggest problems last season was that they stopped trusting each other and themselves – that affected shooting, that affected ball movement, that affected communication. But they ended the season with a 16-5 run that was full of really beautiful basketball that showed what they COULD do. This season they go in fresh, with a new coach, some new personnel, and the knowledge that they really can play better than their overall record would indicate.

 

One non- Knicks related question.  Who do you think will be taken first overall in this week’s draft and where do you think Joel Embiid will land?

If I was a betting woman (and I am) I’d say Wiggins goes first and Embiid will be chosen by the Sixers with their No. 10 selection. Philly has SO MANY picks, so they might not worry about spending one on him. At best, he heals up, takes a place on their starting lineup, and does brilliantly. At worst, he’s still a trade asset.