The agent for New York Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni says the specter of a new team president with Donnie Walsh being reduced to a consultant does not change D'Antoni's desire to coach the team next season.

"This is the team Mike wants to coach," said his agent, Warren LeGarie. "He spent two years putting it in position not only to have a winning record but a playoff appearance. This is where he'd like to continue to coach as long as they want him."

D'Antoni should find out just how committed the Knicks are to him fairly soon. He is entering the final year of a four-year contract that will pay him $6 million next season. Talk of extensions or contracts for anyone else in the organization were put on hold until Walsh's future was resolved.

Walsh, sources said, thought he had an oral agreement with Knicks owner James Dolan on a two-year extension that spelled out his level of authority, but when he received the actual written contract there was an addendum that undercut that authority. Apparently after several weeks of trying to get Dolan to remove the addendum, Walsh decided last night to relinquish his interest in remaining as team president, sources said.

Speculation from other team general managers is that Creative Artists Agency, which represents recently acquired superstar Carmelo Anthony as well as assistant general manager Allan Houston and consultant Mark Warkentien, will exert influence not only on who the Knicks hire to replace Walsh, but also whether D'Antoni is the Knicks coach beyond next season.

Former Knicks coach and team president Isiah Thomas, now the coach at Florida International, has strong ties with CAA, but Thomas told ESPNNewYork.com that he has no interest in replacing Walsh.

One source said that CAA officials were not happy with how Walsh and D'Antoni handled another one of their clients, Eddy Curry, before he was traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves as part of the February deal that brought Anthony to New York.

CrushAlot wrote:D'Antoni didn't endorse Walsh back when he had the chance last season. He stayed vanilla instead of commiting. He was out for himself despite all of the protection Walsh gave him. I didn't want Walsh to be let go but I never thought D'Antoni was the right hire. Not showing loyalty in that situation when he was asked about Walsh just lowered my already unfavorable opinion of him.

BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY FINISH THE JOB AND WHACK THIS HACK JOB OF A COACH

CrushAlot wrote:

nixluva wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:D'Antoni didn't endorse Walsh back when he had the chance last season. He stayed vanilla instead of commiting. He was out for himself despite all of the protection Walsh gave him. I didn't want Walsh to be let go but I never thought D'Antoni was the right hire. Not showing loyalty in that situation when he was asked about Walsh just lowered my already unfavorable opinion of him.

Was there any doubt that you'd take those comments to mean he didn't support Donnie? All that matters now is what Mike does with the team this coming season. IMO this team is setup to win a lot of games even if we didn't change a thing. On talent alone this team would be an above .500 team. Now if we can make some solid moves this offseason and improve the roster then i'm expecting that this team can get into the top 4-5 in the East.

For all of the negative talk about Mike's approach, it amazes me how it's overlooked that he had one of the best teams in the West during a time when the West was loaded and clearly the best conference. He was in the final 4 teams in the league twice during his run. That's no small accomplishment. When was the last time we've been to the ECF's? I would expect that he can coach this team to that level in a weaker overall conference than he faced in the West if we can improve the roster in a couple of key areas.

This team was horrid at rebounding. If we can improve our rebounding it would make a HUGE improvement in our team defense. We were ranked 28th in rebounding rate overall. Not being able to finish possessions by getting the defensive board has a direct impact on overall defense. It would make a big difference in points allowed. Everyone focuses on team defense, but forget that a huge part of team defense is getting defensive rebounds. One of the reasons we allow such a high shooting % is those easy put back baskets the knicks give up. If we can fix our rebounding problems this team can and will be a contender.

You know how I feel about D'Antoni as a coach. I think those comments spoke to his character. I don't think another gm would protect a coach like Walsh did D'Antoni.

With all the change this team still ended up over .500 and I believe this team can improve on that and be in the 50+ win range this year. Donnie will still be here to help us this summer so all is not lost. I don't see any reason to worry about Mike at this point.

If this team is fully healthy in the playoffs they could've extended that Boston series. It was that close. You can't tell me that with a healthy STAT and CB this team didn't have a chance. So how bad was Mike really? IMO improve the roster and have a full camp and this coach can get the job done.

They should go Chris Rock on this........."I might not have liked the way Knicks treated our Client Eddy, BUT WE UNDERSTAND!"

Legacy wins!, kicking Marbury's sullen noggin and Eddy being exiled into the abyss are two things IM proud of this franchise doing. They showed a bit of backbone.

Until this team has proven to not be coached right Im rooting for the knicks to succeed and if so the coach is doing a good job. Thats all Im looking at. wins are wins.

YOu want championship in the mix, then assume this team is failing. Im looking at the roster and the time these men were playing for us and I can't understand the Mike hate other than fans just love the idea of a new guy.

arkrud wrote:I think Mike always was out of place in NY.
His system and his personality are only good for the organization which value integrity, consistency, and patience.
This has nothing to do with Knicks.
Mike did a big mistake taking this job and now he will face the consequences.
He lost 2 years of his life for nothing and I have no doubt he will regret it.

He didn't lose two years of his life he made big money. And Donnie is making big money still for another year as a consultant.

arkrud wrote:

Vmart wrote:

arkrud wrote:I think Mike always was out of place in NY.
His system and his personality are only good for the organization which value integrity, consistency, and patience.
This has nothing to do with Knicks.
Mike did a big mistake taking this job and now he will face the consequences.
He lost 2 years of his life for nothing and I have no doubt he will regret it.

He didn't lose two years of his life he made big money. And Donnie is making big money still for another year as a consultant.

He will make same money elsewere. One million more or less has no difference for income like he has.
It is not about money. For people like him it never was and never will be.

No he signed with the Knicks because they blew the others out of the water with their offer.

We won't be taking away from the talent level of this roster. Instead we'll be ADDING to the talent on this roster. We're gonna keep the best players and replace the weaker ones with better talent. That being the case this team is gonna be pretty darned good next year and Mike won't drop the ball with a talented team like that. The better the talent on this roster the more Mike will be able to do. When healthy CB, Melo and STAT were pretty good. Imagine how much better they can be with more time together. Especially if we can get a PG and a C in here.

nykshaknbake wrote:That impresses you but 11 championships under Pjax doesn't?

nixluva wrote:

CrushAlot wrote:D'Antoni didn't endorse Walsh back when he had the chance last season. He stayed vanilla instead of commiting. He was out for himself despite all of the protection Walsh gave him. I didn't want Walsh to be let go but I never thought D'Antoni was the right hire. Not showing loyalty in that situation when he was asked about Walsh just lowered my already unfavorable opinion of him.

Was there any doubt that you'd take those comments to mean he didn't support Donnie? All that matters now is what Mike does with the team this coming season. IMO this team is setup to win a lot of games even if we didn't change a thing. On talent alone this team would be an above .500 team. Now if we can make some solid moves this offseason and improve the roster then i'm expecting that this team can get into the top 4-5 in the East.

For all of the negative talk about Mike's approach, it amazes me how it's overlooked that he had one of the best teams in the West during a time when the West was loaded and clearly the best conference. He was in the final 4 teams in the league twice during his run. That's no small accomplishment. When was the last time we've been to the ECF's? I would expect that he can coach this team to that level in a weaker overall conference than he faced in the West if we can improve the roster in a couple of key areas.

This team was horrid at rebounding. If we can improve our rebounding it would make a HUGE improvement in our team defense. We were ranked 28th in rebounding rate overall. Not being able to finish possessions by getting the defensive board has a direct impact on overall defense. It would make a big difference in points allowed. Everyone focuses on team defense, but forget that a huge part of team defense is getting defensive rebounds. One of the reasons we allow such a high shooting % is those easy put back baskets the knicks give up. If we can fix our rebounding problems this team can and will be a contender.