Donnie Walsh has been as active and involved as a President of Basketball Operations (never to be abbreviated as "Prez of B.O.") can be in his tenure with the Knicks. Walsh has made moves on just about every draft day and deadline he's encountered, and worked magic to prepare the organization for this summer's free agent market. Nonetheless, the word has long been that Walsh is looking to hire another individual to assume some control as general manager. While I wouldn't put too much stock in any influence that a certain free agent might have, Marc Berman reports that there are murmurs of a hiring going down late this summer.
According to two sources, Knicks team president Donnie Walsh plans to start compiling a list of general manager candidates in late July/early August after the free-agent frenzy is over.
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Knicks senior vice president of basketball operations Glen Grunwald, a leftover from the Isiah Thomas regime, has one more year left on his contract, but Walsh does not appear to view him as his ultimate successor.
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Nets' GM Kiki Vandeweghe, dismissed by new owner Mikhail Prokhorov, has interest in the Knicks' job. John Gabriel, the Knicks director of pro scouting who spearheaded the scouting and preparation of the 2010 free-agent class, has a distinguished resume as the GM of the Magic. Mark Warkentien, the Nuggets GM whose contract is up, also is close with Walsh.
None of these names are new to the conversation, but it seems one of them might be a member of the organization before the Knicks next take the court. Berman cites the aforementioned free agent-who-shall-not-be-named and Walsh's long-postponed hip surgery as variables in the hiring, but let's not forget that similar rumors surfaced around this time last summer.
Any thoughts on this? Like I said, the list of candidates shouldn't be too surprising. I, having been thoroughly indoctrinated at the Sloan Sports Analingus Analytics Conference, would be excited to see someone with more of a new-school analytical background added to the staff.