Tag Archives: Donnie Walsh

Wojnarowski Confirms That Isiah Thomas Is Running The Show In New York

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And this is why the Nuggets are going to make out like bandits in the trade for Carmelo. From Yahoo! Sports:

The thin veil of secrecy has torn away now, the pretenses gone and Isiah Thomas has left the shadows and moved into the light again. Once more, he is the New York Knicks’ top basketball executive.

Thomas is driving everything through owner James Dolan – the trade for Carmelo Anthony, the departure of Donnie Walsh and perhaps even the eventual hiring of the New York Knicks’ next president and general manager, multiple league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

“Isiah is calling the shots for New York,” said one front-office executive with knowledge of the Anthony trade talks. “It’s a disgrace. Donnie should walk.”

Thomas wouldn’t blink. After all, that’s his plan: He wants Walsh to leave out of sheer frustration because of Thomas’ meddling, or because Dolan doesn’t pick up the option on his contract in April. For a franchise with a history of inexplicable dysfunction, even this is an episode for the Madison Square Garden time capsule.

Dolan has overruled Walsh in these trade talks and undermined his authority. Walsh has never wanted to give away Raymond Felton for an aging Chauncey Billups and throw Danilo Gallinari into the package, too. This is all Isiah, all his influence.

Thomas doesn’t believe Dolan is inclined to give him his job back, but it almost doesn’t matter anymore. In a moment of truth for this Knicks franchise, in the biggest trade they’ve tried to make in years, Isiah Thomas, the coach of Florida International University, has emerged as the de facto GM.

I really have no words to tell you how shocked I am by all of this.  Isiah was the worst GM in the history of American professional sports during his first tenure  with the team.  He traded away all of their best players and draft picks for some of the most bloated contracts in the NBA along with several locker room cancers.  They are only now recovering and the owner who witnessed Thomas destroy the franchise is going to let him come back in to do it again.  It’s bizarre, all of it.

I almost feel bad for how much the Nuggets win in this trade.

Oh wait, no I don’t.

[Yahoo! Sports]

Nuggets Set To Set To Exploit Knicks Owner James Dolan In Carmelo Trade?

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Take a look at what the New York Daily News is reporting this morning:

Carmelo Anthony could have been a Knick Monday if only team president Donnie Walsh were willing to meet Denver’s trade demands, which one team official classified as “steep.”

According to a team source close to the negotiations, “there is a deal to be made” but whether Anthony joins forces with Amar’e Stoudemire in New York between Tuesday and the Feb. 24 trade deadline likely comes down to the Nuggets either lowering their asking price or the Knicks turning over their roster to acquire one of the NBA’s top players.

The Nuggets, according to a source, are asking for three starters – including Danilo Gallinari and Raymond Felton – plus Eddy Curry’s expiring contract and at least one first-round pick. In that proposed deal, Anthony and veteran point guard Chauncey Billups would be coming to the Knicks.

It is believed that Walsh and Mike D’Antoni feel the team would be giving up too much. Garden chairman James Dolan has had direct involvement in the negotiations and may ultimately overrule his basketball staff.

It’s long been thought that the Knicks have the inherent advantage in these negotiations because Carmelo can ultimately just become a free agent and go sign in New York during the offseason.  They are (rightfully) thought to have the leverage because it would allow them to keep the core intact without having to sacrifice any potential talent that would otherwise be lost in a trade. 

A fair point, indeed.

Unfortunately for Knicks fans, what most people underestimated up to this point is that the Knicks have one of the worst owners in sports in James Dolan.  This a guy who still takes regular advice from Isiah Thomas after the former completely and utterly destroyed the Knicks reputation as a respectable basketball franchise.  He’s watched current team president Donnie Walsh come on the brink of making the team respectable and yet many still believe Walsh will be out and Thomas will be back in going into next season.  This would be like Jerry Jones calling up Wade Phillips during the season and then firing Jason Garrett and reimplementing Wade as coach.

Absurd, I know.

The idea of him handing over Felton, Gallinari, Curry, and a draft pick is not outside of the question, even if his entire basketball operations staff is imploring him to do otherwise.

This trade would obviously be a coup for the Nuggets and would give them a solid point guard with a very efficient contract in Felton, an up and coming star in Gallinari to replace Melo at the three, cap space with Curry’s expiring deal, and then a potential draft pick.

Nuggets fans can only hope Dolan is that dumb.

[New York Daily News]

Knicks Make Important Move Towards Landing Carmelo

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The team recently named former Nuggets GM Mark Warkentien as a special consultant to the franchise.  This is important because 1) Carmelo loved the guy when he worked in Denver and gave him tons of credit for assembling the team that made it to the West finals and 2) because Warkentien has long considered Knicks president Donnie Walsh a mentor and would jump at the chance to be the next GM of the Knicks, if only to work side-by-side with him.  From the New York Post:

Former Nuggets general manager Mark Warkentien, who had a strong relationship with Carmelo Anthony and has long rumored to be headed to the Knicks, has been hired as a top consultant.

Yahoo! first reported the move last night, but the Knicks have yet to announce it. Knicks president Donnie Walsh would not deny an announcement is forthcoming but said only, “I have nothing to report at this time.”

That Warkentien’s name has surfaced with Anthony in Newark tonight is interesting. Warkentien recently left his agent, Steve Kaufmann, to join William Wesley and the ever-powerful CAA. Wesley is the longtime associate of Leon Rose, Anthony’s agent. Wesley has emerged as a key player in Anthony’s future destination.

Anthony, who played in Philadelphia last night, praised the hiring of Warkentien.

“Did they?” Anthony said upon hearing the news. “[Is that] surprising? Yeah. As far as I am concerned, I guess that’s a great addition to that organization.”

You gotta love that last throw-in that Warkentien recently left his agent for William Wesley (aka Worldwide Wes) and CAA.  For those who don’t know, CAA is also the agency of Carmelo and the other cast of league stars (LeBron, Bosh, D-Wade, etc) who have long been rumored to be attempting an NBA takeover with the creation of the NBA “super teams.”  It’s a great move by the agency and especially the Knicks to land Carmelo in New York.

Sucks for Nuggets fans.

[New York Post]