The Knicks' controversial attempt to hire Isiah Thomas as a consultant hasn't dissuaded candidates from pitching themselves as the right man for a job that team president Donnie Walsh has left vacant since he was hired two years ago -- a day-to-day GM who eventually would succeed him. The latest twist, according to sources familiar with the situation, has potential candidates angling to present themselves to Walsh and Garden chairman James Dolan as the man who is capable of delivering Carmelo Anthony as a free agent next summer.

The overtures have fallen on deaf ears with Walsh for two reasons, sources say: 1) Walsh has yet to receive clearance to hire a general manager to handle the day-to-day basketball operations, and 2) The respected, 69-year-old executive has grown tired of the free-agent recruitment game and the dishonest pitches that invariably come with it.

Walsh's desire to decompress from the untoward free-agent hysteria, however, didn't stop Dolan from hiring Thomas -- who was ousted and replaced by Walsh and coach Mike D'Antoni in 2008 -- as a consultant whose primary duty will be to recruit free agents. Sources say the hiring may very well be struck down by the NBA, which has strict rules against team employees having contact with high school, college and international players not yet eligible for the NBA draft.

Thomas positioned himself to return to the Knicks by convincing Dolan that he played an important role in the team landing free-agent power forward Amar'e Stoudemire this summer. The Knicks struck out on LeBron James and Dwyane Wade and decided they needed someone with Thomas' clout to ensure it wouldn't happen again.

But Thomas isn't the only current or former NBA executive trying to tout himself as the man who can persuade Anthony, a free agent next summer, to join Stoudemire with the Knicks. Part of that strategy, sources say, includes efforts on the part of at least one candidate to pitch himself to Creative Artists Agency -- the firm that represents Anthony -- as an addition to the Knicks' front office who could bring Anthony with him.

Walsh has had it on the back burner for some time to hire a lead assistant with a big enough profile -- and substantial enough resume -- to replace him when he retires. Such a move would create a rare spasm of continuity for an organization that had known nothing but change and turmoil prior to Walsh's hiring two years ago. Strong indications within the organization this summer have pointed to former player Allan Houston being groomed as Walsh's successor. Houston impressed Dolan and other team officials with his performance in an expanded role during the free-agency period this summer.

Walsh is two years into a four-year contract, and the Knicks must decide by March 31, 2011 whether to guarantee the final year of the deal.

Anthony, an ideal fit for the Knicks, already has told confidants this summer that he's eager to explore playing in New York. His dilemma is whether to turn down a three-year, $65 million extension offer from the Nuggets with only 10 months left in the current collective bargaining agreement. The new deal is expected to be much less lucrative for players. Sources say owners who were rattled by this summer's free-agent frenzy -- orchestrated by CAA, which represented James, Wade and Chris Bosh -- are determined to clamp down not only on player salaries in the new agreement, but also player movement.

Anthony's desire to play in New York is so strong, sources say, that those close to the three-time All-Star have scoffed at the efforts of executives touting themselves as being able to deliver him.

"Carmelo already wants to play in New York," one person with knowledge of his plans told CBSSports.com. "He doesn't need anybody to bring him there. He's a gunslinger. That situation is perfect for him."

Anthony's teammate, Chauncey Billups, said after Team USA practice Tuesday that he still doesn't know whether Anthony will sign the extension or test the free-agent waters next summer.

"If I was a betting man? I don’t know," Billups said. "Of course, I'm biased because I'm playing on the team that he’s playing on. But I'm optimistic that he’s going to come back and play for the Nuggets. I know he loves the city. Shoot, he’s been there since he was 20 years old. So I'm optimistic, but I don’t know. I wish I did, but I don’t."

http://ken-berger.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/11838893/23789550

"Carmelo already wants to play in New York," one person with knowledge of his plans told CBSSports.com. "He doesn't need anybody to bring him there. He's a gunslinger. That situation is perfect for him."

i'd rather we target an orchestrator than a gunslinger... i wanna see balanced team basketball, not 1 guy looked upon to take the lion's share of shot attempts while everyone else stands around doing nothing... i wanna see ball movement, movement w/o the ball, bigmen running up the court cuz they know they're gonna get rewarded on the other end for doing so... i don't wanna see Melo get the ball & shoot it on every single possession... that's not a formula for championship winning basketball in my eyes.

Nalod wrote:

TMS wrote:

"Carmelo already wants to play in New York," one person with knowledge of his plans told CBSSports.com. "He doesn't need anybody to bring him there. He's a gunslinger. That situation is perfect for him."

i'd rather we target an orchestrator than a gunslinger... i wanna see balanced team basketball, not 1 guy looked upon to take the lion's share of shot attempts while everyone else stands around doing nothing... i wanna see ball movement, movement w/o the ball, bigmen running up the court cuz they know they're gonna get rewarded on the other end for doing so... i don't wanna see Melo get the ball & shoot it on every single possession... that's not a formula for championship winning basketball in my eyes.

YOur right, its built to get you to the profitable Conference finals. After that its luck.

If Perkins does not go down do Celts in instead of Lakes?

Knicks for years were built to go deep in playoffs which produce Deep Profits.

Clowns like Isiah being Dolans pet project make us a team of interest but not a team to be taken seriously.

Lets hope Im wrong.

relying on any 1 guy to do it all is not my idea of good basketball unless we're talking about guys like MJ or Kobe who play All-NBA defense on the other end while they dominate offensively as well... Melo is not on that level... offensively he's a dynamic scorer there's no doubt, but i would rather focus on creating a team with a balanced attack & great leadership that plays a good fundamental style of game... i'm not interested in laying all of the franchise's hopes & prayers on a guy like Melo.

Vmart wrote:

TMS wrote:

Nalod wrote:

TMS wrote:

"Carmelo already wants to play in New York," one person with knowledge of his plans told CBSSports.com. "He doesn't need anybody to bring him there. He's a gunslinger. That situation is perfect for him."

i'd rather we target an orchestrator than a gunslinger... i wanna see balanced team basketball, not 1 guy looked upon to take the lion's share of shot attempts while everyone else stands around doing nothing... i wanna see ball movement, movement w/o the ball, bigmen running up the court cuz they know they're gonna get rewarded on the other end for doing so... i don't wanna see Melo get the ball & shoot it on every single possession... that's not a formula for championship winning basketball in my eyes.

YOur right, its built to get you to the profitable Conference finals. After that its luck.

If Perkins does not go down do Celts in instead of Lakes?

Knicks for years were built to go deep in playoffs which produce Deep Profits.

Clowns like Isiah being Dolans pet project make us a team of interest but not a team to be taken seriously.

Lets hope Im wrong.

relying on any 1 guy to do it all is not my idea of good basketball unless we're talking about guys like MJ or Kobe who play All-NBA defense on the other end while they dominate offensively as well... Melo is not on that level... offensively he's a dynamic scorer there's no doubt, but i would rather focus on creating a team with a balanced attack & great leadership that plays a good fundamental style of game... i'm not interested in laying all of the franchise's hopes & prayers on a guy like Melo.

Your going to have Amare so all the franchise hopes are not on one player.

Not only that but Melo is just straight up the real deal..Tremendous scoring machine, it doesn't even matter who's checking him...Just watched a replay of a Nuggets/Cavs game from last season the other day on the NBA channel. The game was played in Cleveland & went to OT..Melo was a beast throughout but esp. at the end of this game where he just went off...He either attacked the basket relentlessly or just squared up 'Bron and drilled shots right in his grill. Showed me a ton. The guy took the King to school in his own gym and willed his team to victory..LeBron's a tremendous two-way player, possibly the league's best -- I don't think I've every recalled seeing anyone score the ball at will continually on James like that...LBJ was awesome himself on the offensive side of the ball throughout though he did miss a few shots at the end where he wasn't able to keep pace with Carmelo (Melo did manage to play some tough, focused D on 'Bron even on some LeBron makes. Melo definitely made it tough on him)...Bottom line is LeBron had no answer for Melo on the other end when it counted most...When considering how we'll have to build a team to eventually matchup with Miami, you better believe I'm very interested in a guy who can play LeBron James like that and not give away too much if anything, perhaps even winning the matchup outright on any given night like Melo did in this game. And on LeBron's home floor..Just sayin'...Anyone remember this game live?? Not trying to take anything away from CP3 -- the man's an AWESOME PG when healthy -- but this performance by Melo was truly UNBELIEVABLE and definitely makes a good case regarding Melo to NY...

If you go with a squad of Amar'e & Anthony along with whoever else (AR, Gallo) I think you can succeed with Ray Felton running that team...Time will tell - we'll have to see how Felton plays for us this season.

Vmart wrote:

TMS wrote:

Nalod wrote:

TMS wrote:

"Carmelo already wants to play in New York," one person with knowledge of his plans told CBSSports.com. "He doesn't need anybody to bring him there. He's a gunslinger. That situation is perfect for him."

i'd rather we target an orchestrator than a gunslinger... i wanna see balanced team basketball, not 1 guy looked upon to take the lion's share of shot attempts while everyone else stands around doing nothing... i wanna see ball movement, movement w/o the ball, bigmen running up the court cuz they know they're gonna get rewarded on the other end for doing so... i don't wanna see Melo get the ball & shoot it on every single possession... that's not a formula for championship winning basketball in my eyes.

YOur right, its built to get you to the profitable Conference finals. After that its luck.

If Perkins does not go down do Celts in instead of Lakes?

Knicks for years were built to go deep in playoffs which produce Deep Profits.

Clowns like Isiah being Dolans pet project make us a team of interest but not a team to be taken seriously.

Lets hope Im wrong.

relying on any 1 guy to do it all is not my idea of good basketball unless we're talking about guys like MJ or Kobe who play All-NBA defense on the other end while they dominate offensively as well... Melo is not on that level... offensively he's a dynamic scorer there's no doubt, but i would rather focus on creating a team with a balanced attack & great leadership that plays a good fundamental style of game... i'm not interested in laying all of the franchise's hopes & prayers on a guy like Melo.

Your going to have Amare so all the franchise hopes are not on one player.

i'd rather have a facilitator to take advantage of Amare down low & get guys like Gallo also involved in the offense... Gallo would literally disappear playing next to Melo, i don't even doubt it for a second... look at how he took a backseat last year when guys like Al Harrington & Nate were launching up shots from the perimeter on every possession.

I won't be a sucker this time with Melo. I think that he is using us just like Lebron. Don't beleive the hype!!

Gallo would literally disappear playing next to Melo, i don't even doubt it for a second

I imagine Gallo would disappear as part of the trade to acquire Melo...I mean, it's highly likely it'd be a sign and trade and he is our best trade asset.