With dollars drying

ORLANDO – Phil Jackson can be active on the New York scene. He attended a Lady Gaga concert last year, for instance, and is a man of many eclectic interests suited for Broadway, Woodstock, philosophy classes and the solitude of Montana.

So maybe it wasn’t so surprising that he recently ran into Joakim Noah, another enigmatic personality, on the New York streets. To hear Jackson recall the story, Noah decided to issue a challenge to prove his health.

“He wanted me to do a pullup on his arm,” said Jackson, 70, who couldn’t manage a pull-up on a metal bar, let alone on Noah’s surgically-repaired shoulder. “I refused.”

On Friday evening, armed with the knowledge of Noah’s confidence in his health (and hopefully some medical records), Jackson met with the 31-year-old center and hammered out an agreement on a four-year, $72 million deal. They then both stayed the night at a Disney resort.

“Pluto was in our cafeteria,” Jackson said, annoyed.

With Noah and Courtney Lee eating up almost all of the Knicks’ cap space this summer, Jackson settled for strong ripples in free agency since the big splash (Kevin Durant) wasn’t interested. But he built a starting lineup and arguably upgraded at the three positions he replaced. Jackson also risked a large sum of money on injury-prone players, with Rose’s knees and Noah’s broken-down body as the top concerns.

Asked about his emotions after the first day of the free agency frenzy, Jackson said, “Flat.”

“That’s pretty much my style anyway. We like the discussions we’re having with the agents,” he