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Don't be surprised if Isiah stays with Knicks

Ken Berger

March 27, 2008

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When his career was on the ropes in the summer of 2000, after his failed power play in Toronto and the CBA fiasco, Isiah Thomas needed someone to rescue him. Donnie Walsh obliged, hiring Thomas to coach the Indiana Pacers.

"Donnie gave him life," a person with knowledge of the situation said yesterday. "There's no way he's going to cut off his legs."

Which brings us to where we are today, Day 4 of the Walsh-to-the- Knicks saga.

Given his relationship with Walsh, and Walsh's reputation as a man of character and honesty, it is inconceivable that Walsh would enter into any talks with the Knicks without speaking with Thomas. So I asked Thomas yesterday if they'd talked.

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Thomas has an answer for everything, but this time he paused for 13 seconds, his eyes darting all over the practice gym in Greenburgh.

"To answer that type of question would leave, you know ... I can't," he said, pausing five more seconds before turning to the P.R. man.

"How do you answer something that hasn't happened?" Thomas asked him.

Well, usually people say they either had Fruit Loops for breakfast or they didn't.

"Let's deal with today," Thomas said. "My direct report is Steve Mills and Jim Dolan. So any questions you have about that type of stuff, you should talk to those two."

It's always risky to interpret body language, but Thomas' reaction to that question seemed important. And it only supported a notion that three NBA executives proposed yesterday: Thomas is not a bystander in the transfer of power under way at the Garden. He's involved in it.

Which is as good an explanation as any for why nothing has happened since Walsh reportedly agreed to take over the Knicks' basketball operations on Monday night.

"What possibly could be the holdup?" a person involved in the coaching business said. "Parking spaces?"

It was meant as a joke, but parking spaces translate to power; the top guy gets the best one. Power is what this is about - who gets it and how much, who gives it up and how much.

It would appear that by keeping himself relevant and staying in Dolan's good graces, Thomas has made himself part of the process that was designed to remove him from power. In this case, he not only has enough guile to navigate a mutiny but also the good fortune that both of his foes - Dolan and Walsh - are also his friends.

Clearly, nothing can be final with Walsh until Thomas' future is decided. That's partly because Dolan gave him a contract extension last March and owes him anywhere from $14 million to $21 million, depending on which figures you believe.

"Isiah will probably hold their feet to the fire and make them pay him whatever he feels he's due," one executive in the league said. "I think that's part of the hangup all along. Even if Dolan is inclined to let him go, he ends up looking like a horse's -- after giving him a four-year extension. I suspect and believe that's why Dolan has held pat as long as he has."

If a buyout can't be negotiated, then Thomas actually gets to keep one of his jobs. Don't laugh. Some NBA executives, baffled that the Walsh situation continues to linger, are beginning to wonder if that's part of the plan.

"You announce deals before they're done, as long as there are principal parts, because you're trying to stabilize a franchise - not continue to destabilize it," a person involved in the league said. "Everybody makes it a foregone conclusion except the guys involved. So what are they really arguing about?"

In the visiting locker room at the Meadowlands last night, before Walsh's Pacers fell to 29-43 by losing to the Nets, Jermaine O'Neal pondered how his former coach (Thomas) and soon-to-be former CEO (Walsh) will work this out.

"If Donnie were to come in and help him, I think he would do a very good job," O'Neal said. "I think Mr. Dolan would be extremely happy about that scenario if that were to happen."

It would seem that Mr. Dolan has already thought of that. Otherwise, what's taking so long?