Knicks Fix: Donnie's last stand?

One of Donnie Walsh's favorite things to do is to sit in the front row behind the scorer's table and watch players go through their pregame warm-ups. He's there every home game, watching players from both teams and chatting with anyone who comes by to talk basketball.

But ask him about his future and the conversation is short and terse. "None of your business," he'll say.

Actually, the direction of the franchise beyond this season is very much the business of anyone who cares about the Knicks or covers the team. There is a Twitter movement by some fans who are trying to encourage fans at Tuesday's regular-season finale at the Garden to start up a "Don-nie Wa-lsh!" chant to support the widely respected team president.

It calls to mind the time during the 1999 playoff run when fans chanted for coach Jeff Van Gundy after Garden president Dave Checketts admitted he had talked to Phil Jackson about the job Van Gundy held.

Garden executive chairman James Dolan said at the news conference to announce the Carmelo Anthony trade that he would speak with Walsh about his future after the trade deadline. It's been six weeks and nothing has been settled. Or, at least, announced.

Walsh continues to decline comment about, in his words, "things that are offseason issues." The deadline for Dolan to pick up Walsh's option for the 2011-12 season is April 30, but it should be pointed out that if the option isn't picked up, the contract does not expire until June 30. An extension still could be worked out.

With the Knicks back in the playoffs and a foundation set for success, the logical thinking is to maintain the stability that Walsh has brought to the franchise since his arrival in 2008. But at 70 years of age and with some health issues the last three years, does Walsh want to come back?

The belief here is that he does want to finish what he started and see this franchise through to a championship contender.

But Walsh can't be expected to handle the heavy lifting that would be expected of a general manager. Walsh has a perfect righthand man in Mark Warkentien and a solid collective-bargaining agreement expert in Glen Grunwald.

Where does assistant general manager Allan Houston fit in this? Perhaps as the heir apparent for the president's seat. Walsh's guidance is invaluable, which only adds to his importance to the future.

D'Antoni d'one too?

If Walsh does not return, what does it mean for coach Mike D'Antoni, who has one year left on his contract?

D'Antoni already has had a great deal of heat on him for most of this season, especially through the first six-game losing streak in November and the last one in March.

But although fans may be frustrated with D'Antoni (and the team defense), one has to consider the lack of experienced candidates to replace him. If Phil Jackson retires from the Lakers, as expected, it's highly unlikely he'll want to take on an incomplete roster under the glare of the New York spotlight. Plus, next season is almost sure to be shortened -- if not canceled -- by a lockout.

With that in mind, the Knicks should focus on 2012, when the most important free agent might not be Chris Paul, Deron Williams or Dwight Howard but Doc Rivers. There are strong indications that Rivers won't return to the Celtics after this season and instead will take the 2011-12 season to follow his son Austin, who is a blue-chip prospect for Duke.

Rivers has history with the Knicks; he was a member of the 1994 Finals team (though he did not play because of a knee injury). He obviously has a proven track record of getting star players to commit to a team concept.

And D'Antoni deserves at least a full season without a major roster shake-up. In each of his three seasons, he's had to adjust on the fly.

NBA railThe Detroit Pistons finally can move into a rebuilding mode with the sale of the team from the family of deceased former owner Bill Davidson to self-made, Michigan State-educated billionaire Tom Gores. Perhaps the first move Gores needs to strongly consider is a new man at the top.

Joe Dumars has run the Pistons for a decade. Though one can argue that he built a championship-caliber team -- after an NBA title in 2004, two NBA Finals appearances and six straight conference finals appearances from 2003-08 -- it also can be argued that a lot of luck was involved. The Pistons' success was based on several surprising performances from troubled castaways, none more notable than that team's leader, Chauncey Billups. Dumars also passed over Carmelo Anthony in the 2003 NBA draft to take Darko Milicic, which didn't resonate with the franchise until years later.

More recently, Dumars' decisions to spend salary-cap space on bad contracts to free agents Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva in 2009 has proved disastrous, as has the decision to hire career assistant John Kuester as coach. The Pistons, who failed to make the playoffs for a second straight year, have become an embarrassment this season, which included a player revolt against Kuester. Even if Dumars is spared, it is almost certain that Kuester will be fired.

Around the NBA

Despite yet another losing season and size issues in the backcourt, Warriors GM Larry Riley told Yahoo! Sports that he expects Monta Ellis and Stephen Curry to be together again with Golden State next season. There had been rumors that the Warriors might explore dealing Curry, whose growth has been stunted playing next to the ball-dominant, high-scoring Ellis . . . Michael Redd's comeback in the final games of the season for the lottery-bound Milwaukee Bucks is worth monitoring. If he still can get off that deadly three-point shot, he'll get a lot of interest in the offseason from teams such as the Heat and the Knicks . . . LeBron James' marketing firm, LRMR, has entered into a partnership with Fenway Sports Management, which essentially connects James to ownership of the Red Sox as well as the English Premier League soccer club, Liverpool FC. On Friday, Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish -- a former star from Scotland who, coincidentally, also goes by the nickname "King" -- said, "I don't mean to be disrespectful, but I don't know him. He'd probably say the same about me."

Tweet of the week

@amareisreal "Playoffs, I told yall the "Knicks are Back" NY Stand up!!"