Report: Melo unhappy with Knicks' draft, Phil Jackson justifies Porzingis pick

Less than 24 hours after the 2015 NBA Draft, rumblings of discord have arisen from New York.

New York Knicks president of basketball operations Phil Jackson turned heads Thursday when he selected 7-foot-1, 230-pound Latvian center Kristaps Porzingis with the No. 4 pick.

Knicks fans who attended the draft, held at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, were none too pleased. Now, we can add Knicks superstar forward Carmelo Anthony to the list of dissatisfied individuals, according to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News.

Since Porzingis is a relatively unknown commodity stateside, it's understandable that Melo and Knicks fans are confused. However, some experts questioned why Porzingis' skillset didn't garner him No. 1 consideration.

With Karl-Anthony Towns, D'Angelo Russell, and Jahlil Okafor off the board, the Knicks had the opportunity to draft a promising point guard in Emmanuel Mudiay, dynamic wing Justise Winslow, or defensive stud Willie Cauley-Stein. Perhaps any of those players would have appeased Anthony.

Drama may be brewing in the Big Apple in the wake of the Porzingis pick, but Jackson is resolute in his decision. Speaking with ESPN's Chris Broussard, Jackson justified tabbing Porzingis as their new prized rookie.

"He's got the best upside that we had available to us. Has a great attitude, good family, working at the game," Jackson said. "We understand that it might take a year, but he's willing to work and he's got the equipment to do it."

The tension surrounding this move might come from the time it could take Porzingis to evolve into an impact player. Jackson intends to surround his rookies (the Knicks also traded for the draft rights to Notre Dame's Jerian Grant) with veterans in order to relieve them of overwhelming pressure in their first year.

It seems Melo may not have the requisite patience, however.