Former New York Knicks President Donnie Walsh believes multi-titled coach Phil Jackson will turn the team into a contender in the near future, despite having a disastrous year this season.

Jackson, an 11-time NBA champion coach, is in his first full season as Knicks president, but things are not going well as they currently hold the worst record in the league at 12-48.

Walsh, who is currently a team consultant with the Indiana Pacers, believes the Knicks has the right man at the helm, considering Jackson's winning mentality, which gave him multiple championships with the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers during his coaching career.

"I think he's a good basketball man and I think he'll build a good team," Walsh said of Jackson via New York Post. "He knows what it is. He knows when he looks around the league and he looks at free agency who would fit with good players and get the good players."

Jackson has made several moves since agreeing to take over late last season. During the offseason, he signed Carmelo Anthony to a new five-year deal, ensuring the Knicks will have one of the best players in the league moving forward.

Jackson then traded Tyson Chandler back to the Dallas Mavericks and also dealt guards Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith to the Cleveland Cavaliers earlier in the season to free up cap space. The Knicks also let go off Amar'e Stoudemire, who then signed with the Mavericks.

With sufficient amount of cap space after the 2014-15 NBA season, Walsh said Jackson will have a lot of options in improving the team, but fans should still be patient because the Knicks president might take a different approach.

"He'll have the wherewithal to do that with the cap space he's got now," Walsh said of Jackson. "I don't know how he's going to approach. He could approach as a one-year thing or a two-year thing or a three-year thing. He'll figure it out. He's got (GM) Steve Mills there. He's got good people up there. So it's rosy in New York."

With Jackson at the helm, Walsh also sees no reason why potential superstar free agents in the summer of 2015 and 2016 will not consider signing with the Knicks. Previous reports indicated that the Knicks will go after incoming free agents Rajon Rondo, Goran Dragic or Marc Gasol in the offseason.

For the latest sports news, follow Latin Post Sports on Twitter.

FOR MORE NBA UPDATES, TRADE AND FREE AGENCY NEWS, CLICK ON THIS LINK TO VISIT LATIN POST.COM'S SPORTS PAGE.

Related