New York Post

Clyde not in lockstep with Phil on future

- By MARC BERMAN

Walt Frazier said he was honored that Phil Jackson tabbed him to be the Knicks’ representa­tive on the lottery dais Tuesday, but that doesn’t mean he agrees with all the team president’s sentiments.

For instance, while Jackson is campaignin­g to get Carmelo Anthony shipped out of town, the Knicks legend would like to see him stick in New York .

“I would like to see Melo stay,’’ Frazier said after the Knicks dropped from the seventh pick to eighth in next month’s draft. “There’s a lot of negativity going on. So I don’t know. I don’t think he’s the problem. They have to improve [their] defense, get some more talent, then having Melo will be fine.’’

Frazier didn’t prove to be the Knicks’ lucky charm, despite his new purple “royalty suit’’ and brandishin­g his two championsh­ip rings for good fortune.

“We have a lot of problems going on,’’ Frazier said. “Hopefully Phil can come up with a good pick.”

The Knicks legend said getting into the top three in the draft would have “given more hope,” but said he still feels Jackson can add an important piece — preferably a point guard.

“I think point guard obviously is the first priority; luckily in this draft there’s a lot of good point guards,’’ Frazier said. “They should get a good player. It’s a crucial need, an orchestrat­or. Looks like [Derrick] Rose might not be back, so we definitely got to get a point guard.’’

Frazier said he believes the obsession with blaming everything on the triangle offense missed the Knicks’ true deficiency.

“Like if they got no new players and improve defensivel­y, there were so many games we could’ve won if we got that stop,’’ Frazier said. “That has to be the focal point.’’

Like everyone else, Frazier was stunned Kristaps Porzingis is on the lam in Latvia.

“KP missing the [exit] meeting, I was surprised,’’ Frazier said. “It doesn’t seem like something t hat he does. I’m sure they’ll rectify it. I’m sure he’s frustrated like all of us with the season we had.’’

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States