Knicks may have sights set on Kiki

By FRANK ISOLA
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Wednesday, February 27th 2008, 4:00 AM

Isiah Thomas wasn't among the standing-room only crowd at the Apollo Theatre on Monday for a private screening of "Black Magic," a film about basketball at historical black colleges.

But of all the famous faces in attendance - Howard Stern, Paul Simon, and David Dinkins - two names in particular should concern Thomas and interest Knick fans.

Madison Square Garden president Steve Mills attended Monday's screening with Kiki Vandeweghe, who is working with the Nets as a special assistant to team president Rod Thorn. That Mills asked Vandeweghe to be his guest wouldn't be noteworthy expect for the fact that Vandeweghe, who joined the Nets in December, signed only a six-month contract, which would make him a free agent around draft day this June, by which time the Knicks would want to have Thomas' replacement in place. Garden chairman James Dolan is expected to remove Thomas from power.

A person close to Vandeweghe said it was a chance meeting between Mills and Vandeweghe, but the two did sit next to each other Monday.

Vandeweghe, Jerry Colangelo and Donnie Walsh have been mentioned as the three most likely candidates to replace Thomas, the Knicks president. But Vandeweghe appears to have a slight edge, according to several league sources.

"The NBA is pushing Kiki for that job," said a league executive. "It sounds like it is a foregone conclusion that something is going to happen over there at the end of the season. Kiki makes a lot of sense."

Mills worked for the NBA before joining the Garden and serves as a liaison between the league and Dolan. It was Mills who recommended Thomas to Dolan after Magic Johnson turned down the job.

"Hiring Kiki is a safe play for Steve," says a Knicks source. "They might be intimidated by Jerry and Donnie."

Vandeweghe, 49, played for the Knicks for parts of four seasons from 1988-1992, and also served as general manager of the Denver Nuggets from 2001-2006. He had spent parts of the last two seasons as an NBA analyst for ESPN. With the Nuggets, Vandeweghe was responsible for drafting Carmelo Anthony and orchestrating the trade with the Knicks that brought Marcus Camby to Denver.

But Vandeweghe had some misses as well. He drafted Nikoloz Tskitishvili - who is no longer in the league - with the fifth pick in 2002. Vandeweghe also acquired Kenyon Martin in a sign-and-trade deal with the Nets, only to see Martin need major surgery on both knees. Still, Vandeweghe was able to take a perennial loser in Denver and turn the Nuggets into a playoff team, and he would be walking into a similar situation with the Knicks.

If Vandeweghe succeeds Thomas, his first order of business would be to find a head coach. In Denver, Vandeweghe's two hires were Jeff Bzdelik, who had no NBA head-coaching experience, and George Karl.

Vandeweghe's hiring history could work in Mark Jackson's favor. A former Knicks teammate of Vandeweghe's who is a Nets broadcaster, Jackson is regarded as a top coaching candidate. Celtics assistant coach Tom Thibodeau, Knicks assistant Herb Williams and Patrick Ewing could also be under consideration. Scott Skiles, Rick Carlisle, Jeff Van Gundy and Doug Collins are all candidates with previous heading-coaching experience.

Hiring Vandeweghe could lead to the return of several former Knick players. If Ewing is not hired as head coach, he would likely be asked to join the team as an assistant. Also, Vandeweghe could bring in Allan Houston or Greg Anthony as an assistant GM.

Now, again, I'll believe it only when I see it but it adds a glimmer of hope for our future that Isiah might be gone by the end of the year.

As to Kiki I don't know what he would do or if we could trust him but given what his plan was in Denver I think we might see something similar unfold --- an unloading of the mess at hand before trying to build something for the future.

So that would be welcome news. Unfortunate we have the rest of the season to wait it out as Dolan clearly either wants Isiah to suffer every single game - OR - truly believes in him. If it's the latter....wow...what would be the point of next season?

Although, they are just rumors, it's good to see this. I would rather the team hire Jerry Colangelo but the Knicks could do worse than hiring Kiki. I think it would be great to bring back all these old Knicks. These guys knew how to win and more importantly, knew what it took to win in NY. I think it would be a smart first step.

BRIGGS, I'm going to steal one of your ideas, but it's only because I've agreed with it for so long. I think Tom Thibodeau would be a great guy to bring as Coach, he would bring some much needed defensive intensity to this team.

While these are all just rumors, it's still reassuring to hear that Dolan is atleast entertaining the though of firing Isiah and while it could be totally made up, I would think it's not. It's been far too long.

Posted by Cosmic:

"Hiring Kiki is a safe play for Steve," says a Knicks source. "They might be intimidated by Jerry and Donnie."

i.e. Kiki will tow the company line and bow to ownerships demands while Colangelo or Walsh would desire full autonomy.

WACK!!!

I'd give Kiki a shot. I'd rather have Colangelo, but I can live with Kiki too. I can't totally blame him for Skittles either, b/c he played awesome in pre draft workouts and everywhere he went, accept in the NBA. I guess he was just one of those decieving players who never turned into anything.

He did fleece the Knicks when we had Layden, that's for sure. Him not drafting Stoudemire is another thing, but I think he had a promise from Phoenix, and he probably did not workout with other teams, so Stouds probably wasn't a blip on his (Or our) radar.

Overall, give Kiki a chance.

He probably could have made a move at the deadline to put us in better position over the summer.

Exactly. That's why I didn't view Isiah doing nothing, like a Dead Man Walking, to be a good thing. It was a missed opportunity to remove some of these cancers, clear cap space, perhaps accumulate some picks and make room for the kids to show what they can do so the next GM has a better idea.

This is a great rumor and one I would not mind seeing come to fruition. I wanted Kiki as GM here before and I have not changed my mind. He had some mistakes in Denver but he did change the culture there when he arrived. Getting lucky with Carmelo is not something he did but raping the Knicks and getting Camby and Nene for McDyess was pretty good. Other than the KMart signing which before hindsight was not that bad, only the Nene and Skita drafting over Amare is the only thing I see that warrants a lashing.

Bring him in Jimmy Doh! Maybe he can get the old knickerbockers back into the mix.

Posted by nyk4ever:

Posted by eViL:

Posted by islesfan:

...at this point anyone is an improvement over Isiah. If nothing else, it's a start and they couldn't possibly be worse.

This is the same reasoning many used to validate their approval of the Isiah hiring. Anyone would have to be better than Layden. I'm sorry, I'm so sick of losing -- I want the best that's available. Kiki is not the best. The Knicks should pass. I hope this is just a negotiating strategy so Colangelo knows the Knicks have alternatives.

I agree with you eVil. I think most people are saying they would love to have Colangelo, but in the end if Dolan is afraid of giving him power like he wants, then you have to settle for a guy like Kiki. I think what people are saying is that there are worse guys to just "settle" with.

I agree with you but you have to ask the question: Is having Kiki, under Dolan's supervision, the right way to build a championship contender? I highly doubt it, although I do think the team would be less painful to watch than the current one.

Posted by eViL:

Posted by islesfan:

...at this point anyone is an improvement over Isiah. If nothing else, it's a start and they couldn't possibly be worse.

This is the same reasoning many used to validate their approval of the Isiah hiring. Anyone would have to be better than Layden. I'm sorry, I'm so sick of losing -- I want the best that's available. Kiki is not the best. The Knicks should pass. I hope this is just a negotiating strategy so Colangelo knows the Knicks have alternatives.

That's not true because some people understood that Isiah was far worse than anything Layden was capable of, and that says a lot.

I'm not a huge fan of Kiki's but I sincerely doubt that he'll make the same mistakes that Isiah did. Isiah not only repeated but compounded the mistakes that Layden made.

Colangelo is definitely the best case scenario.

Posted by Bonn1997:

Posted by nyk4ever:

Posted by eViL:

Posted by islesfan:

...at this point anyone is an improvement over Isiah. If nothing else, it's a start and they couldn't possibly be worse.

This is the same reasoning many used to validate their approval of the Isiah hiring. Anyone would have to be better than Layden. I'm sorry, I'm so sick of losing -- I want the best that's available. Kiki is not the best. The Knicks should pass. I hope this is just a negotiating strategy so Colangelo knows the Knicks have alternatives.

I agree with you eVil. I think most people are saying they would love to have Colangelo, but in the end if Dolan is afraid of giving him power like he wants, then you have to settle for a guy like Kiki. I think what people are saying is that there are worse guys to just "settle" with.

I agree with you but you have to ask the question: Is having Kiki, under Dolan's supervision, the right way to build a championship contender? I highly doubt it, although I do think the team would be less painful to watch than the current one.

I think they should take their time and interview as many available gm's as possible, but Kiki is tested and proven. Let's keep everything in perspective the Suns nor the Pacers ever won a championship under either Calangelo or Walsh. I'm not knocking them but stating Kiki is capable of duplicating similar success with equal amount of yrs on the job.

What a load of BS. Admiral Dolan would never fire Cap'n Zeke or his trusty first mate Marbs. Cap'n Zeke is just the man to guide the ship through the turbulent waters that were stirred up by Larry Brown's treachery. Just give him time.

The middle of a raging storm is no time for a mutiny.