The New York Knicks only have four of the 17 players that were in training camp with the team a year ago as Phil Jackson has worked to turn over the roster.

Carmelo Anthony, Jose Calderon, Langston Galloway and Cleanthony Early are the only four players still on the Knicks' roster.

The Knicks have traded away the likes of J.R. Smith, Iman Shumpert and Tim Hardaway Jr., while Amar'e Stoudemire was waived and Andrea Bargnani walked in free agency.

Jackson focused on defense in retooling his roster.

"That's because defense creates offense," said Jackson. "From Bill Russell and even to [this year's] championship Golden State Warriors, this has always been the case."

The New York Knicks have interest in trading for Jamal Crawford.

Crawford was previously with the Knicks until they dealt him to the Golden State Warriors in 2009 to clear cap space for 2010.

The Cleveland Cavaliers also have interest in Crawford.

Crawford is entering the final season of his current contract with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Phil Jackson has some concerns that Kristaps Porzingis could be too tall. Porzingis is 7'3 and Jackson expects him to add 10 pounds of muscle before the start of the season.

"Like Shawn Bradley, who was nevertheless a pretty good player, K.P. might almost be too tall for the game," Jackson said in the latest edition of "The Phil Files" published by ESPN. "What I mean is that his core strength might never be good enough, and that he might not be able to get low enough to get himself into prime defensive position to body power rebounders or drivers."

The Knicks are committed to giving Porzingis minutes at power forward.

"He can score," Jackson said. "But his natural bent is to be a team player. On defense, he can block shots from behind and is quick enough to stay in front of guards in screen-roll situations."

Phil Jackson criticized Andrea Bargnani, who signed with the Brooklyn Nets this offseason after a disappointing two seasons with the New York Knicks.

“AB was and still is a big tease,” Jackson said on April 23rd.

“When he was injured he refused to do simple non-contact activities like dummy our offense in practice,” Jackson said. “He seemed to be a malingerer and this had a bad effect on the team, and also on the way the Knicks fans reacted to him. When he was on the court, he had a hard time staying intense, didn’t hustle back in offense-to-defense transition, wasn’t active enough in defending screen-rolls.”

Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony are scheduled to make their first steps towards their comebacks from injury during the opening day of USA Basketball workouts.

Durant played only 27 games last season because of a fractured foot.

Anthony will participate in light, non contact practices.

Durant and Anthony are among the stars who were initially earmarked to report to the three-day minicamp solely to satisfy USAB's mandatory attendance requirement in Vegas to remain eligible for the 2016 Olympic team.

Darion Atkins has signed with the New York Knicks on a camp deal.

Atkins' deal will be partially guaranteed and he'll compete for a roster spot in camp.

Atkins was the ACC Defensive Player of the Year at Virginia last season.

Thanasis Antetokounmpo is finalizing a two-year deal with the New York Knicks.

Antetokounmpo spent last season playing with the Knicks' D-League team.

Antetokounmpo averaged 6.4 points and 1.8 rebounds per game in Summer League for the Knicks.

Kevin Seraphin has agreed to a one-year, $2.8 million deal with the New York Knicks.

Seraphin will receive the Knicks' room exception.

Seraphin averaged 6.6 points and 3.6 rebounds in 79 games with the Washington Wizards last season.