End of an error

In his Manhattan apartment, as the placards were being revealed across the river in Jersey, Donnie Walsh was watching the news.

"I'm curious to see what happens with the [Senate] primaries," he said.

Honestly, at 69 years old, Walsh didn't need the agida of watching the NBA's Draft lottery show. The Jazz, who owned the Knicks pick, had a slim chance to climb up to the No. 1 spot, but Walsh remembers when his Pacers made the playoffs on the final day of the 1992-93 season by edging out the Orlando Magic. Then the Magic, with just one ball out of 66 in the hopper, won the draft lottery. Walsh said he heard the news while driving in his car. "I almost drove off the road," he said.

This year's lottery results came to his Blackberry via email and this time there was nothing to make him wince (aside from the fact that the 76ers, an Atlantic Division rival, will be getting a damn good player at No. 2 overall).

I asked him which was more of a relief, that the Nets didn't hold the top spot or that the Jazz didn't wind up with a stunning -- and, for the Knicks, demoralizing -- victory from the ninth spot.

"I didn't have a feeling one way or another," he said. "[The Nets] are going to get a good player where they are. The way I look at it, we have to get better. It's not a matter of what another team does."

The lack of a first round pick this year was all about what this team did six years ago, when the trade for Stephon Marbury was made. Concerns about where yet another lost lottery pick -- third since 2006 -- would land can now disappear. That doesn't give anyone reason to relax because the Jazz are still getting to make a selection at No. 9 and that's far more enviable than No. 38 (where the Knicks will finally get to choose). But it does put some closure on a bad memory from the past.

"When I came here I knew there was no pick," Walsh said. "So I never gave it too much thought. Most of my energy is how are we going to get where we need to build a better team."

Will Walsh be around to see what comes of the future first rounders he gave up to clear more cap space for this summer's free agency sweepstakes? Next year's pick is only protected if it wins the lottery. The 2012 pick is protected if it falls within the top 5. Otherwise, the Houston Rockets have the right to swap draft positions if the Knicks are in a more favorable spot.

Walsh knows if either of those picks are in the lottery, it doesn't matter where they fall. He -- and Mike D'Antoni -- probably won't be around to deal with it.

Walsh was packing for his trip to Chicago this week for the NBA pre-draft combine, where the Knicks will intensify their search for a diamond (or two) in the second-round rough.

"I've done it before," Walsh said of uncovering a second-round gem, "so I go into it with confidence that you can do it [again]."

Walsh is referring to 1990, when he and his scouts snatched up Antonio Davis with the 45th overall pick.

It should be noted that while Walsh was with the Pacers, the team made 12 second-round selections since the Davis pick and, aside from Fred Hoiberg (1995, 52nd overall), who had a 10-year NBA career as a three-point specialist, didn't find many keepers.

As far as any fallout from the lottery results, the fact that the Nets slipped to third will likely quell the speculation that they could be the better choice if LeBron James left Cleveland for New York. Walsh admitted he was somewhat alarmed by all of the talk following James' playoff elimination.

"I did earlier, because then it was new and I was like 'Oh jeez'," he said. "But then when I check it out, I don't know if it's valid. I realize there are a lot of people out there talking and some of them aren't even involved with the free agents. They're just trying to confuse everything."

I asked Walsh if the lottery results -- avoiding the Nets top pick scenario -- gave him a little more confidence in his free agency plans for this summer.

"I don't use the word confident," he said. "I'm just playing this out. I'm goin to try to make sure we can get the best players we can get. Whatever that takes. Right now I'm in no position to know who the hell they're going to be, because no one should be."