Knicks president Phil Jackson can now take his triangle, 11 coaching rings and try to sell basketball — not brands — starting at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, when 2015 free agency opens.
According to an NBA executive, Jackson’s recruiting strategy is to home in on selling the game and winning — not outside business ventures found in Manhattan. Jackson does not want to repeat the same mistake made by the Knicks in 2010, when they last enjoyed enormous cap space.
The organization got so caught up in selling free agents such as LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh on New York being the haven to expand their celebrity and brand, the club forgot about the basics — winning.
Jackson told reporters recently he doesn’t want players who care more about “branding’’ than winning. Jackson believes for all of Carmelo Anthony’s outside endeavors — he just bought a soccer team — basketball, by far, is his first priority and love.
Showing off his rings in peddling team basketball and the triangle offense is the pitch now. The problem is Jackson has his triangle, but is almost at square one in building the team back up because of several holes in the rotation, most notably at center. He does, however, have $27 million in cap space and the favorite to take a chunk of it is Detroit big man Greg Monroe.
The desperate search is on for a rebounding big man and a sweet-shooting, hard-nosed defensive shooting guard to place around Anthony, point guard Jose Calderon and jump-shooting 7-foot-1 draft pick Kristaps Porzingis.
“It’s like a jigsaw puzzle,’’ Jackson said of free agency.
The Knicks are setting up tentative meetings this week. They will go to Los Angeles and sit with Blazers power forward LaMarcus Aldridge and the perfect fit in Clippers shot-blocking center DeAndre Jordan. The Knicks were trying to set up a meeting with Memphis center Marc Gasol.
The Knicks are considered major long shots for all three, despite an attempt to promote that coming to the Eastern Conference is an easier path to the Finals than staying in the West.
“I love New York City, I love the city,’’ Jordan told The Post in March. However, the defensive demon may remain with the Clippers. If he leaves, the Houston product’s top choice is staying in his home state, reportedly with Dallas.
Jordan also will meet with the Lakers, and Aldridge is expected to meet with seven teams, including the Lakers, Mavericks and Rockets.
For months, league executives pegged the Knicks as favorites to land Monroe, Detroit’s 6-11 power forward/center, despite his defensive shortcomings as a rim protector. Another rugged power forward has also hit the Knicks’ radar in the Pacers’ David West, who opted out Monday despite being 35.
But an NBA source said West, at his age, is not coming to the Knicks because he wants to play for a team closer to title contention.
Monroe doesn’t have the defensive zeal of Jordan, but the low-post talent is still only 25 years old. He will speak with the Knicks on Thursday. Monroe said he would also meet with the Lakers, Blazers, Bucks and Celtics, but a league source said Boston is already out of the running.
“Do I think he’d be a good fit for the Knicks?’’ Monroe’s agent, David Falk, told The Post in April. “Absolutely. He’d be a good fit for 30 teams. Can he work in the triangle? Sure. He played the Princeton offense at Georgetown. He could play in the rhombus. He’d be a great fit for any system.’’
With the trade of Tim Hardaway Jr. for Notre Dame point guard Jerian Grant, the Knicks have no pure shooting guard on the roster, and a new name has surfaced in Arron Afflalo. He opted out last week and is Anthony’s former Denver teammate.
Anthony has already called Afflalo and has also reportedly phoned Aldridge and Jordan.
The 6-5 Afflalo was traded from Denver to Portland in February and finished the season averaging 13.3 points per game. He is seeking about $12 million annually to start and was called “a front-runner’’ for the Knicks in a Yahoo Sports report.
It’s not clear if Afflalo would come any cheaper than two other major shooting-guard targets, Portland’s Wesley Matthews and the Spurs’ Danny Green, a Long Island native. The Knicks plan to meet with both as well as defensive wing DeMarre Carroll, who knows coach Derek Fisher but could be out of their price range. Perhaps Matthews can be had at a discount coming off an Achilles tendon rupture.
It may be almost impossible to get three prominent free agents under the salary cap. Monroe will ask for a max deal that starts at $15 million annually. A cheaper option could be Portland center Robin Lopez, but it’s unclear if he wants to play in New York as his twin brother, Brook, does with the Nets.