NBA

ANOTHER LOST YEAR FOR KNICKS

WHEN it became clear earlier this week that Danilo Gallinari will undergo back surgery, Knicks head coach Mike D’Antoni was quick to characterize the rookie’s abbreviated season as a learning experience rather than a wasted year.

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Considering the investment made in the 20-year-old Italian, you expect the Knicks to stay upbeat about their first-round draft choice even though his 28-game season could qualify as “Much ado about nothing.” He averaged just 6.1 points and 2.0 rebounds while displaying a nice jumper, but lacking strength and the ability to score off the dribble.

Nevertheless, D’Antoni remains confident the sixth overall selection is on track to be “a very high level player.” That outlook remains a tough sell particularly last night when the player chosen after Gallinari, Eric Gordon, scored 19 points to help the Clippers to a 140-135 overtime win over the struggling Knicks.

“It’s good he sampled the NBA a little bit and knows what he has to do,” D’Antoni said of Gallinari. “Now it’s just a question of getting healthy, getting physically stronger and that will come naturally. I think his future is bright.”

Time will tell if the first selection of the Donnie Walsh-D’Antoni era was a home run or a whiff, but the notion of whether the 2008-09 season has been a learning experience or a waste of time can be applied not just to Gallinari but the entire team.

When it’s all said and done, all the highlights of 2008-09 have come off the court rather than on it. The jettison of Stephon Marbury and the clearing of cap space for the 2010 free-agent shopping spree are about all the Knicks have to brag about as their losing streak reached six games.

The loss of Gallinari is the exclamation point on this wasted season. As the Knicks’ highest draft selection since 1986, he is the one player expected to have a huge part in the future of this franchise; the one player, who figures to get big minutes alongside LeBron James or Dwyane Wade or whoever arrives in 2010. Everyone else on the roster, aside from perhaps 2007 pick Wilson Chandler, is expendable and may not be here two years from now.

The Knicks might point to career years by David Lee and Nate Robinson as reflections of the positive influence D’Antoni has had. But despite the double-doubles Lee has amassed and Robinson’s occasional scoring outbursts, neither has proven worthy of a long-term deal for the kind of big money that might limit cap space in 2010.

That’s why this year was all about Gallinari and whether he could validate the Knicks’ first-round selection and secure a prominent role in the franchise’s future. Neither of those questions was answered this season. Couple that with a thus far disappointing finish and the only positive about 2008-2009 was clearing room for 2010.

george.willis@nypost.com