Beyond the specifics of precise events, a generalized view of ancient predictions reveals threads of a common theme. In each glimpse into our future, the prophecies follow a clear pattern: descriptions of catastrophe are immediately followed by a vision of life, joy, and possibility.

Interesting, no? The Isiah Thomas Effect is one of a self-believed basketball prophet who led the Knicks franchise through great catastrophe.

To be honest, I’ve been avoiding the sensationalism. I ignored the idea when I heard he’s be on the radio today in what was sure to be a stunt to try to get more listeners.

What bothers me most is that there are people who WANT members of the media to HATE Isiah Thomas so they themselves can react to their preconceived notion of what is unjust.

I loved Isiah the player. His biggest flaw here was his ego, which is what made him a great player. He signed and traded for Jamal Crawford and Eddy Curry giving them no incentive-type deals based on what he felt they COULD become. In business we call that risk. Some of the greatest moves ever have come based on risk and rewards are reaped, but the other side of that story is usually utter disaster.

The off the court stuff bothers me a bit as well because that comes down to how you handle yourself as a person. How you carry yourself as a man. What happened behind the scenes, no one knows to be fair, but they lost the suit and that’s a bad sign.

I writing this to urge you to look at what you read with caution and objectivity. Donnie Walsh didn’t decide to go his own way because of Isiah Thomas. That is where the truth can be stretched. Walsh left because he was treated without respect and that is the real shame because he felt he could continue to build a champion.

Isiah cannot be hired by James Dolan in an executive role. I’ve received 50 emails over the past two days from season ticket holders who would dump their tickets if he did. But the owner doesn’t care about the fans, this much we know.

I don’t dislike Isiah. Many executives have failed and found success later. What Isiah did here was treat all of you like you were dumb. Like NYers aren’t as smart and savvy as a kid from the streets of Chicago. Like Mike D’Antoni, I respect Zeke for taking the job in the first place and for trying to make things happen in difficult circumstances. It didn’t work. Omar Minaya isn’t coming back to the Mets.

Just be careful what you read and what you hear. The combination of “journalism” and “sensationalism for the dollar” is rearing its head. I don’t need hits as badly as radio needs listeners, viewers need to be counted, and papers need to be sold. We have low overhead here.

Again, Walsh is out of the mix because of respect. CAA is embedded to the Garden walls. Who better for the press to call to the stand as their star witness than the guy who makes you all nervous knowing that the owner won’t strike back. And when he does, firmly, like he did at the Melo press conference he is dismissed.

Isiah can come back as a scout or consultant as far as I’m concerned, just not in any position where he can lie to you and treat you like an idiot.

And again, as far as the owner, what can you say? The guy has been standing on third base his whole life. Would I care if he pulled my media credentials? Not in the least. Read up on successful leaders. They have a great surrounding group. They have people who they trust give advice on the decision. But they never, ever put themselves in a position where too many people are involved in swaying a decision. Their confidence level and expertise is what got them there and that just wasn’t because of a last name.

So when you’re sipping your coffee or favorite beverage today take a deep breath and sort all this stuff out. The Isiah Effect is versatile and can surface in many forms and on many occasions.

Just trust me when I tell you I really don’t think it’s all that big of a deal. The Knicks have to make the right hire and at this point it’s hard to 100% fully believe they will. It’s pretty clear that the people surrounding the owner are telling him he can’t hire Isiah in an executive role.

Any other role doesn’t bother me in the least.

Some can spin the name Isiah, some can talk about CAA and the agency’s stranglehold on the franchise. Others may choose to focus on the fact that Walsh may be stepping away at the right time and the team is a sinking ship waiting to happen. That they went all-in with the Carmelo trade and they will always be second fiddle to the Heat and the Bulls during Anthony and Amar’e's prime years.

I can’t help but think, based on what I know and based on what I’ve been reporting throughout this whole situation, that Walsh truly believed he could made this franchise a championship contender if he was allowed to do it his way.

What will be interesting is who will be here next. Again, I can’t see it being a desperate John Calipari who wants the position very, VERY badly. I believe Mike D’Antoni will be here for a year and then Phil Jackson will be coaching the team with the hopes of taking them to the next level.

I have to say that not having Walsh as a major part of the franchise puts a damper on things for me. It is a sure sign that agencies have not just taken over athlete’s interests, but franchise interests as well. There’s an element that just doesn’t sit well with me. But I can’t say I’m surprised considering I couldn’t stomach the AAU circuit when I coached high school ball. The game is evolving, but what Walsh will continue do in his next stop, and there will be one, is evaluate talent. That will never change and that’s what drives me as someone who has been immersed in basketball for his entire life. I learned a lot from Walsh during his tenure in terms of patience in making a deal and understanding how to evaluate. I learned that from a few conversations and from watching it from afar.

What Walsh leaves is legacy surrounding putting the franchise back to a point of respectability at a time when the franchise was the laughingstock of SPORTS, not just basketball. Real Knicks fans won’t forget that. Walsh had his moments of weakness and may not have always made the right move, but his decision was always done for the sake of the franchise. That was his main objective. Team first, self second.

Sadly, that feeling wasn’t mutual from ownership.

“They tell me both guys are coming back,” he stated. “Then again, they also told me the Knicks were going to get LeBron James.”It’s unnecessary to ask who “they” are. It’s well-known they are CAA’s talent-hoarding force field, agents Leon Rose and Wes Wesley. Wide World Wes kinda “represents” Calipari in that the NBA Players Association sorta insists negotiators pick up commissions exclusively from players or coaches, not both… Because the give and take was not completed until last week, I’m informed. Late changes were made by Walsh and approved by Dolan. Once Camp Cablevision’s required “six signatures” (I don’t think my source was being facetious) are on the dotted line, apparently sometime this week, the deal will be done, if not publicized.

Clearly, the new arrangement will give Walsh the control to finish the Knicks’ renovation the way he sees fit. If there was any uncertainty about that it would have demonstrated Dolan did not want him back. That would have shoved Walsh into retirement.

Wait, there were people at CAA who were telling people that Lebron and NY was close to happening? Come on.

And last week we reported that the ball was back in ownership’s court after Walsh made changes to the original pact. No word on if those changes were signed off on as of yet, but we’ve known from the start that, despite Calipari’s obvious desperation to get out of Lexington ASAP, Dolan truly wants Walsh to return. And what about D’Antoni?

Other than Amar’e Stoudemire, whose numerous differences with D’Antoni when both worked for the Suns miraculously became non-issues once he joined New York for $99 million, not a single consequential Knicks thinks their coach can coach.

One player said Chauncey Billups, especially after he got injured, did far more coaching on the bench and in the huddle during the playoffs than D’Antoni, and “made a helluva lot more sense.”

After talking to another person about the subject this morning who is filled with information it was interesting that I heard the name Phil Jackson again so I’m going on record.

He’ll be the Knicks coach in 2012-13.

“Walsh would like to return,” the source said, “but wants written assurance that some previously negotiated terms continued to be honored.”

The source wouldn’t specify, but it’s easy to speculate that the “distractions” surrounding players around the arena and inside the locker room rate high on the list. TKB previously reported that Walsh has been bothered by the surrounding working atmosphere, but not outside of work hours. Walsh was given a contract and returned changes to ownership, the source said.

Asked to give a percentage of the odds of Walsh’s return the source said, “65%”.

The final guaranteed year of Walsh’s original contract expires at the end of June.

Stay tuned.

It seems like Donnie Walsh is treating the negotiations regarding his own future the way he handles most trades: slow and steady. From what I have heard from various sources, Walsh isn’t as much angling for total control as he is for a more controlled environment for the players. Appearances with David Letterman and Regis are no big deal and it’s not as much the crowds that gather around the court before games at MSG – the players actually like that because it creates a big-game buzz and atmosphere every night. It’s the madness that exists elsewhere, such as in the post-game locker room at the Garden, where visitors are mixed in with members of the media to create an environment unlike any other in the league.

I’m hearing very similar things…

And as far as the Dwight Howard stuff, I think we can all agree that the Lakers have the inside track there if Orlando wants a Shaq part 2 re-do, but if the Knicks were to take back a wretchedly bad contract like Arenas’ then the Magic might listen.

I think I’d stay away from that one though. That’s the worst contract in the NBA.

Via Knickerblogger

Since then, DW (Walsh) has arguably connected in the first round (Rik Smits, Malik Sealy, Travis Best, Al Harrington, Danny Granger, Gallo) more than he’s whiffed (Scott Haskin, Freddy Jones, Primoz Beszec, COUGHJordan HillCOUGH). He’s also made his fair share of late steals, with Antonio Davis (45^th pick in 1990), James Jones (49^th in 2003) and Landry Fields (39^th in 2010) being chief among them.

No, he hasn’t been a drafting Carnac. But to those who count Miller as his only home run, consider this: During his tenure in Indiana, Walsh never had a pick higher than #10 — a testament to an overall GM savvy that helped transform the “small market” Pacers into a perennial contender.

Can anyone name me an executive with a perfect, or even close to perfect, draft record?

Ryan Feldman, who does a great job talking to people at The Hoops Report, has this note about how the bigs fared in Jersey, specifically Smith.

Every NBA person I spoke with was unimpressed by any of the big men. The big men that came into the weekend with the best chances of being drafted were Greg Smith, Josh Harrellson and Jackson. Nobody was overly impressed by Smith and Harrellson. Smith was an intriguing prospect coming in, but scouts feel that he is too raw right now and doesn’t have much skill. I heard some positive feedback on Jackson – nothing too negative – but it wasn’t a consensus. The word was that Jackson played superb defense and rebounded the ball, which is what he has always been known to do.

Jackson may benefit from the Zach Randolph model. That is not a comparison. He isn’t the player Randolph is. But he’s nonathletic, somewhat crafty and left-handed. I watched Jackson a ton at Portsmouth and his motor was sound, I just don’t know if he has the edge to outwork bigs at the NBA level.

“He is talking and planning as if he will return,” one source told TKB yesterday.

This would appear to be good news for Knicks fans, but as we’ve been saying, which was confirmed the other day, Walsh has not made a final decision on his future.

There are other things to consider.

“Donnie knows the distractions that occur in New York, ” the source added. “Guys going on talk shows don’t bother him. That’s not an issue, but the amount of ‘non-team’ personnel having locker room, practice, and bus access I think is.”

This is a critical juncture in the Knicks continued progression from league laughing stock to championship contender. The Knicks have 2 players in their prime to build around and must identify who else is part of the solution. They also have to be creative in the process of roster additions. One would have to believe if Walsh were to stay he has a good feeling that the team can improve under his watch and wants the assurance that he can make such decisions as he deems fit.

Again, if he thought the Knicks were in a bad financial position, or would be hamstrung from a roster perspective, he could leave now with dignity and leave behind the legacy that he pulled the franchise out of the garbage.

BrandonTierney

Brandon Tierney

@BrandonTierney: Donnie Walsh could retire to Pluto, never to be heard from again, the man has done his job. He finally has Dolan cutting the cord with Isiah

May 5, 2011 @ 03:41 PM from Twitter for Android

From what I have gathered, he hasn’t given any indication that the Carmelo Anthony trade has made his job harder, which is a great sign for Knicks fans as the Knicks try to become one the league’s elite teams moving forward.

alanhahn

Alan Hahn

@alanhahn: Latest Fix wonders about the holdup in the Donnie Walsh situation: http://bit.ly/j9vW3L #Knicks #NBA

May 7, 2011 @ 02:38 AM from TweetDeck

Really nothing new on this front from what I understand as Hahn describes. I think the most important thing to note about Walsh’s decision is does HE feel this franchise made a huge mistake and gave up too much for Melo. If he thinks this isn’t a team that can win over the next few years, then he should walk away with class and dignity and probably will. If he comes back, he feels pretty good about their chances, which should be a good gauge for fans as well.