We were all set today, with tonight’s start of the NBA Finals, to celebrate the crossing of the I’s and the dotting of the T’s on the Donnie Walsh contract, the one we’ve been patiently tapping our fingers to finish up for about two years now. It’s May 31. The Knicks are doing some draft preparation — the Knicks Blog has all kinds of info on a bunch of players you’ve never heard of — but all told, they shouldn’t be too busy right now. No problem, this should be done, cool, thanks. But nope.
The deadline is June 30, when Walsh’s contract officially comes off the books. That’s a month from now. But it’s a formality, of course. Of course. Of course?
From the indispensable Alan Hahn:
“We’re still talking about it,” Walsh told Newsday Monday.
He wouldn’t elaborate, nor would he comment on a report that said an extension will be completed this week. The NBA Finals begin Tuesday night, and the league usually frowns upon spotlight-stealing announcements from teams not involved in the series.
Yes, we suppose that makes sense: Donnie Walsh and the Knicks don’t want to pull an A-Rod, after all. (One assumes a Walsh extension wouldn’t quite create the waves that news did, at least in worlds outside of our own.)
And the Post’s Peter Vecsey, who is never ever wrong (and also never cranky), said over the weekend that everyone’s coming back, and it might even be announced this week. Though his initial source was John Calipari.
According to Vecsey, though, the deal is just going through the usual MSG bureaucracy, and Walsh will have the power to finish out his tenure by finishing up the rebuilding job he began three years ago. Though with the lockout coming and the Knicks’ contract situation, that may very well end up meaning “scouting the D-League and refusing to pick up the phone when Jared Jeffries calls.” Which all told is fine.
Yes, we suppose that makes sense: Donnie Walsh and the Knicks don’t want to pull an A-Rod, after all. (One assumes a Walsh extension wouldn’t quite create the waves that news did, at least in worlds outside of our own.)
And the Post’s Peter Vecsey, who is never ever wrong (and also never cranky), said over the weekend that everyone’s coming back, and it might even be announced this week. Though his initial source was John Calipari.
According to Vecsey, though, the deal is just going through the usual MSG bureaucracy, and Walsh will have the power to finish out his tenure by finishing up the rebuilding job he began three years ago. Though with the lockout coming and the Knicks’ contract situation, that may very well end up meaning “scouting the D-League and refusing to pick up the phone when Jared Jeffries calls.” Which all told is fine.