http://espn.go.com/new-york/nba/story/_/id/11006509/phil-jackson-new-york-knicks-not-losing-sleep-carmelo-anthony-decision

GREENBURGH, N.Y. -- New York Knicks president Phil Jackson said he's "not losing sleep" over Carmelo Anthony's pending free agency. But Jackson acknowledged on Friday that he's "definitely concerned" about the idea that Anthony could sign elsewhere this summer.

Anthony has said that he plans to opt out of the final year of his contract this summer. Jackson said Friday that he has talked to Anthony about the possibility of opting in to the final year of his deal and testing free agency in the summer of 2015.

If he decides to opt out, Anthony can make more money if he re-signs with the Knicks instead of another suitor. With the Knicks, he could ink a five-year contract worth around $129 million. If he signs with another team, the maximum he can earn is $95.8 million over four years.

Jackson addressed the possibility of Anthony signing with competitor Friday by saying, "if so, we will survive it."

He also addressed the Knicks' ongoing coaching search, saying that he has interviewed several candidates. He referred to Thunder guard Derek Fisher as "a person that's on my list of guys that could be very good candidates for this job."

Jackson said he did not plan to reach out to the Nuggets to try to work out a compensation package to acquire Denver coach Brian Shaw.

On the prospect of Jackson himself taking over the team, the 13-time world champion said, "at this point, unless the Lord heals me" he wouldn't be physically able to coach.

He said that the idea he could coach for one season as a "transition period" and hand over the reins to another coach next year has been discussed. But Jackson said that's not an idea that he's comfortable with.

He added that his first choice, Steve Kerr, had reached an agreement with the Knicks to coach the team before the Golden State job came open. Kerr turned down the Knicks to sign with Golden State.

"Unfortunately for him, he committed to me the day before the job opened with Golden State. So I had to kind of release him to actually go to this job and say you have to do what's right for yourself," Jackson said. "I understood entirely the process he was going through to have that job open up. That was something he kind of thought would be a good fit for him. So that's good, we're happy for him."

Jackson added that he's considering coaches in the college ranks and coaches with experience but hinted that he'd be most interested in hiring a coach without much experience. He said he doesn't expect the search to extend into July.

I can see Phil retaining Melo on Phil's terms. I would not have a problem with that