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Donnie Walsh (r) Has One Year, $5M
Remaining On His Contract With Knicks |
Knicks President of Basketball Operations Donnie Walsh "may possibly retire" within the week because of health issues and a "failure to land" LeBron James, who announced plans to join the Heat, according to a source cited by Peter Vecsey of the N.Y. POST. Walsh, who has next season and $5M remaining on his contract, used the signing of James as a "plan he sold to Cablevision owner James Dolan soon after signing a $15 million, three-year deal in April 2008." Walsh shortly after the June 24 NBA Draft "underwent neck surgery and "had the tip of his tongue removed" in '08. Former Trail Blazers GM Kevin Pritchard "may be the replacement" for Walsh (N.Y. POST, 7/9).
MOVING ON: In N.Y., Marc Berman notes Dolan Thursday "broke his silence to give a long-overdue thanks to the fans who have filled the Garden the past few seasons despite the team's horrible records." Dolan began the team's press conference to introduce F Amar'e Stoudemire by "acknowledging that the Knicks ranked fifth in the NBA in attendance." Dolan: "I want to thank the loyal fans who stuck with us during these troubled times by coming to our games and showing their enthusiasm." Dolan said Stoudemire's signing "brings a new era of Knick basketball to the Garden" (N.Y. POST, 7/9). ESPN N.Y.'s Johnette Howard wrote the "two seasons of losing [and] the groveling courtship of James according to his unprecedented rules" were "worth it in the end." The Knicks were a "franchise going nowhere for nearly a decade before James decided to become a free agent," and without him "as the carrot they were chasing, the Knicks would've never had the organizational courage necessary to do the gut-job on their roster that they undertook" (ESPNNEWYORK.com, 7/8). But in N.Y., Mike Vaccaro writes the Knicks "will never be able to use money as a sledgehammer the way the Yankees can in the lawless economic frontier of baseball." If the team is "ever going to become something other than a civic eyesore," Thursday "must be remembered as much for the player who said 'yes' as for the player who said 'no thank you'" (N.Y. POST, 7/9).
MSG FACING CHALLENGES: The WALL STREET JOURNAL's Martin Peers writes James "could have lifted the performance" of the Knicks, though "any such improvement wouldn't have fully offset challenges facing" MSG. With a market capitalization of $1.55B, MSG is "arguably expensive given free cash flow of just" $42.5M in '09, up from $14.2M in '08. There also is MSG's "looming commitment to renovate its namesake stadium for as much as" $850M. Peers: "Not only could renovation costs balloon, but the returns are unclear. ... Investors should stick to a no-MSG diet" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 7/9).
CAN HE REALLY DO THAT? In San Jose, Tim Kawakami noted the Knicks finalized a sign-and-trade deal sending F David Lee and his new six-year, $80M contract to the Warriors minutes after James announced he was signing with the Heat. The "obvious major question" is whether Warriors Owner Chris Cohan can "increase the long-term payroll that much -- while the team is moving towards a sale." A source said that "he can," and that the team is "under Cohan's complete control ... and the bidding groups had no input, one way or the other, on the trade or the contract." The source indicated that Warriors GM Larry Riley's "only serious directive -- from Cohan -- is to keep the team under the luxury tax and this deal will stay within that line" (MERCURYNEWS.com, 7/8).
