Donnie Walsh and James Dolan - nice match? Photo by Drew Hallowell - Getty	Can Isiah (right) push his plan? Photo by Tom Mihalek - AP

If anyone can bring the Knicks back to respectability, it's the gentleman named Donnie Walsh.  Seemingly the perfect fit for this franchise under seige, he brings a lifetime of basketball experience and a New York legacy to the Knicks top-ops spot.  And unlike Larry Brown, who had similar qualifications, he'll have the power to mold the entire basketball operation to his liking.

But he has taken on a prodigious challenge.  The Knicks have the highest team salary in the NBA and will finish this season with one of the worst records in the NBA.

The New York press corps hasn't fallen so much in love with a sports figure since George Young took over as GM for the New York Football Giants back in 1979.  Indeed, they were hired under much the same circumstances. 

Things were so bad for the Giants under the feuding Mara brothers that they turned to the Commissioner's office then to help them with their decision on a GM.  Pete Rozelle complied and the Giants under Young went on to win two Super Bowls.  And Young won five Executive of the Year awards.

Although NBA Commissioner David Stern had nothing to do with the naming of Walsh, the press corps has trouble believing that Dolan could make such a good decision.  Like hyenas robbed of one of their prey, they have now turned their attention towards making sure that Isiah is not spared still more humiliation.  And Walsh, much to his credit, has thus far refused to give them that satisfaction.

In fact, Walsh did quite the opposite.  He both praised Isiah for his basketball perspicacity and acknowledged that there is talent on the roster.  The most telling thing he said in his press conference, however, was that Isiah must fill him in on his plan.  And although he did not say so, I had the distinct feeling that he had doubts as to the existence of such a plan.

Second only to the Knicks record as the media's ammunition against Isiah has been the Knicks salary cap management.  And, while I don't think that Dolan ever worried about the salary cap, his focus seemed more attuned towards a quick Knicks turnaround, team pundits and fans quite naturally use the team's performance versus the cap as a measure of the team's present and future. 

Isiah managed the salary cap much as New Jersey lawmakers have managed that state's bond obligations, which is to say, not at all.  Isiah liked to speak of asset management, his mix of assets, and he seemed to feel confident that his assets were, by definition, good ones because he had selected them.

That is why our Knicks today have a Stephon Marbury with a 21.9 million dollar cap number for 2009 and a Zach Randolph with a 3-year 48 million obligation.  But other things are not so bad.  Eddy Curry is owed just 31.5 million over the next three years, high perhaps compared to his output but not so high as to put off potential suitors.  He is after all a center who can score, and, as bad as his overall game might be, I can see a contending team showing some interest in a fellow such as that, albeit only in a substitution role.

Malik Rose has just one year left at about 7 and a half million.  But more problematic are the contracts for lesser players such as Quentin Richardson, Jared Jeffries and Jerome James, who, for all practical purposes, have very little value.  Their combined total cap number for the coming season will be about 21 million dollars.  They will, no doubt, linger on the roster as role-players, Jeffries for 3 more years. 

As Jeffries and Richardson have been starters, and as there is no cap room, the Knicks will undoubtedly turn to the draft for legitimate forwards and a center if they're successful in dealing Curry.  And Isiah has certainly done nothing to jeopardize his chances in the NBA lottery, freely substituting his starters for bench players in the dregs of this season.

The best candidate for future NBA stardom in this year's draft is Michael Beasley, a 6'10" 235 lb. power forward from Kansas State.  A 19 year old freshman, Beasley nevertheless averaged over 26 ppg and 12.4 rebounds per game.  If the Knicks are not that fortunate, there are also Brook Lopez, Anthony Randolph and Blake Griffin out there in the Top Ten, all power-forward/centers and all with impressive numbers. 

With a favorable lottery position, it is very conceivable that the Knicks could land two starters, each of whom would be more likely to help the Knicks contend than are the likes of Richardson and Jeffries. A front line of Beasley, Lee and Randolph is a favorable prospect for 2008-2009.  If they can't land Beasley, there is also a very fine point guard out there named Derrick Rose from Memphis, he of Final Four fame.

There were at least two other signs during Walsh's press conference that indicated to me that the future will be brighter for the Knicks in the years to come.  One is that he is very concerned about the "mix" of players on the floor, a factor that sometimes seemed lost under Isiah, who, after all, teamed Steve Francis with Stephon Marbury to disastrous consequences even before his ill-fated Randolph - Curry debacle.

Good sign number 2....Walsh was asked by Al Trautwig what was the first thing he would do as the President of Basketball Operations.  Walsh answered that he wanted to see the practice facility.  That answer promises a man who will be concerned not only with the "who's" but also the "what's" and the "how's" of the overall operation. 

That was a real gym rat answer, worthy of Chris Mullin, or Louie Carnesecca even, Mullin's Saint John's mentor, who left a message for Walsh that "his Dad, and coaches Maguire and Freeman were dancing in heaven".  The best sign of all was Walsh's comment on Louie's message.

Walsh simply said, "That kind of got to me".