BY ALAN HAHN
The season is soon coming to an end, but the end of Isiah Thomas'
tenure doesn't seem as certain.
With two games left in the season after Friday's 116-104 loss to the
Atlanta Hawks, Thomas appears to be comfortable with whatever his fate
may be, including a different role within the organization.
"I think whatever Donnie decides to do in the time that he needs to
take, I'm fine with that," Thomas said.
Team president Donnie Walsh spent the day in meetings, but not with
Thomas, who was at the MSG Training Center for the morning
shoot-around while Walsh was at 2 Penn Plaza in Manhattan. Walsh has
started to move into an office at the Garden, but it was not as if he
moved into Thomas' desk. After Garden chairman James Dolan had Thomas
take over as coach when Larry Brown was fired, Thomas moved his things
out of 2 Penn and up to the training facility in Greenburgh.
As he did for Wednesday's win over Charlotte, Walsh sat with Garden
president Steve Mills - Dolan was at the Rangers playoff game in New
Jersey - to watch Thomas' players and, of course, Thomas. On
Wednesday, Walsh said he wants to talk with Thomas about the team and
"to find out what's been going on" before he decides what to do with
the lame duck coach he inherited.
"Whatever he wants me to explain and whatever he's asking me to do,"
Thomas said, "I'll do."
The players are not as caught up in Thomas' fate as they are focused
on the near end of this nightmarish season.
"Twelve quarters to go" was the mantra in the Knicks locker room
before Friday's game. Thomas still has the respect of several players,
but it's not expected that they will make an overwhelming case for his
return.
Walsh said he won't seek the players' opinions, but will consider
them.
"No, I'm not going to say, 'Did you agree with the coach?' I don't get
into that with players very often," he said. "If they bring it up,
then you listen to it, but it has to come from them, I think."
The belief is that Walsh is not inclined to go forward with Thomas as
the team's coach, but there is a strong possibility that Walsh will
offer Thomas another position within basketball operations. It is up
to Thomas to accept the position - he's already been stripped of his
team president title - but if he declines, it would set up an
interesting situation regarding his contract, which has three years
and about $18 million remaining.
If Thomas doesn't accept the position change, he essentially would be
quitting. But that doesn't necessarily mean he would not be able to
collect most of the money owed to him on his contract, which was given
to him to be president and coach.
"Let's not get into hypotheticals," Thomas said when the subject of a
title change was broached, "because those are questions that are
better answered by Donnie."
When asked the daily "Do you expect to be here next season?" question,
Thomas replied, "We don't need to get into that right now."
Notes & quotes: Joe Johnson had 34 points for the Hawks (37-42), who
maintained a two-game lead over the Indiana Pacers for the final
playoff berth in the East. Jamal Crawford scored 20 points for the
Knicks (23-57), who need to win one of the final two games to avoid
tying the franchise record for losses in a season. Larry Brown's team
in 2005-06 went 23-59 ... Rookie Wilson Chandler had 18 points and
eight rebounds as he continues to impress with regular minutes.
Chandler's play will create an interesting situation for Walsh going
into next season, because the Knicks have a logjam at small forward
with Quentin Richardson, Jared Jeffries and Renaldo Balkman.
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