- be a native new Yorker

- have a proven record of winning at an NBA Hall of Fame level

- have extensive experience in franchise building and maintenance. He owns a championship ring.

- NOT be so much of the MSG corporate culture that he is a part of some committee, cartel, cabal or circle of friends. He is is own man.

- own the vision of an elite point guard. Coincidentally, he might played the position at an elite level.

- NOT be a golf buddy of James Dolan

- be focused, determined and draw on his life experiences with people and their biases to have a rare perspective on judging talent and blending diverse talent

- care less about pleasing the media with interviews or sound bites because he is smarter than them. Some might call him arrogant or aloof. Cool.

- knows that New Yorkers are demanding, impatient, prone to second-guess every move and will boo you without mercy if the think you are dogging it.

- knows that New Yorkers can lift a supreme effort from a mediocre player by sheer intensity, will and volume

The ideal President of Basketball Operations would be Lenny Wilkens. But it will never happen.

Unfortunately, our franchise burns too many bridges.

- listen to the idiots who post at UK, me included.

Nalod - you KNOW that Lifetime Achievement Award was what reminded me of Lenny.

The mere thought of running the Knicks by committee brings to mind the treadmill the Atlanta Hawks are stuck on. The best minds, like Masai Ujiri in Denver - and Sam Presit in OKC, are on lockdown. We are backed into a corner because Dolan does not have he personal vision to make a bold call with a young executive on the rise. He will rely on a buddy or third hand advice from an acquaintance.

Translation: hope and pray that David Stern makes another phone call... or expect a comfortable retread.

knickstorrents - the only adult in the room, someone on the "inside" at MSG, would be limited to someone like Walt Frazier or a board member at Cablevision with some outstanding perspective on basketball executives. If the commissioner makes a phone call or two that would be considered as tampering?

Or simply protecting as asset?

AnubisADL - which ONE do you recommend promoting to President of Basketball Ops?

No committees please.

Interim Is Interim

Hiring someone simply because "he has been there so long" is NEVER valid reason to trust the keys to the entire franchise in his hands.

Glen Grunwald could also be a part of the problem, as he was hired by Isiah as an assistant GM September 28, 2006. As interim GM, Grunwald's has an opportunity to assert his authority in the upcoming draft.

Does he have Zeke on speed dial?

AnubisADL - are you suggesting the $5M salary of the President of Basketball Operations should be reduced to a fraction of that ($24M) of the big name coach?

Donnie, according to published reports, was offered a $2M cut in salary. If the trend holds, the next guy will be in the $2-3M range, which is still pretty good money in the NBA. Suns executive David Griffin turned down the OKC GM vacancy because it wasn’t near the $1 million median salary for recently hired general managers like Cleveland’s Chris Grant, Dell Demps of New Orleans and Portland’s Rich Cho.

Dolan does not have the courage, or basketball smarts, to go with an executive from the under-40 crew. He will go with a recognized name and therefore need to spend for that marquee recognition.

I would hire that GM that was recently fired at Portland.

I vote for Phil Jackson. He was able to control one of strongest personalities and make them work together. Dolan is a mad man, at the same time, hes the boss. We need someone to can talk, persuade, receive and give the respect needed. Its a tough situation, I think Phil can do it. I think its a lot easier being a GM/President than being a coach....

We want a starphuch guy we can really believe will work miricles.

Reality is you grind it out and build value slowly.

Dolan either needs a minion who will do what he wants (its his team) or have a big name who can be a larger than life figure and help sell tickets and corp sponsers.

Riles back in the day was a great public speaker/motivater but wanted a piece of the pie but was perfect for the role.

Dolan needs a guy to look the part, sound the part and be the man: Magic Johnson.

Im not saying him, but a dude like him. Isiah failed in this capcity. Magic, BIrd, Mchale, Ainge, Jordan, all of a previous era, all well spoken guys and all successful public figures. They command presence.

How about Bill Bradley?