Recently, New York Knicks president Phil Jackson admitted that one of the mistakes he made as an executive was to not trade for forward Jae Crowder, who is now thriving with the Boston Celtics. 

In a report by Charley Rosen of Today's Fastbreak, Jackson discussed the missed opportunity.

Jackson spoke about one of the first moves he accomplished as the head of the Knicks. The deal involved ex-Knicks Tyson Chandler and Raymond Felton who were sent to the Dallas Mavericks for Shane Larkin, Jose Calderon, Wayne Ellington, Samuel Dalembert and a second-round pick (owed to the Celtics). He shared that when it came to Boston, he had the option between the pick or Crowder and he went for the former. 

The pick was Cleanthony Early, who was selected 34th overall by the Knickerbockers in the 2014 National Basketball Association (NBA) draft. 

Jackson then said: "While Cleanthony has missed lots of time in the past two seasons with us, he still has the potential to be a valuable player. Even so, I should have taken Crowder."

Before emerging as a key player for the Celtics, Crowder did not really have a standout run with the Mavs. That could be the reason why Jackson passed on the chance of adding the 26-year-old who last season emerged and played the best year of his career so far.

Crowder is a hustle guy who is an efficient contributor on both ends of the floor.

It would have been interesting to see how Crowder fared if he had headed to the Big Apple and stayed there, especially now that the squad boasts a star-laden lineup that features franchise superstar Carmelo Anthony, former league Most Valuable Player (MVP) Derrick Rose, veteran center Joakim Noah and rookie sensation Kristaps Porzingis. 

The Knicks and Jackson can still target Crowder but it would be much difficult now that he is one of the best players on the Celtics roster.