NBA

Dolan duplicity led Walsh to leave Knicks job undone: source

Donnie Walsh is stepping down as Knicks president, but he had some help deciding to leave the Garden.

“He was lied to,” one person familiar with the situation said yesterday after Knicks owner James Dolan announced Walsh will leave his post after June 30 and become a consultant to the team next season.

“Stunning is a good word [to describe the announcement],” one person close to Walsh said of the unexpected news.

Walsh had a verbal agreement weeks ago with Dolan to return as team president with full autonomy in basketball operations. The 70-year-old was even willing to take a paycut to finish the job of returning the Knicks to NBA relevance.

But when Walsh got the contract documents in recent days, there were addendums regarding the power structure with which he was uncomfortable. It became the final straw in his tumultuous relationship with Dolan.

The wording in the contract did not give Walsh full and final authority to hire and groom his successor — which was something he sought. The source said Walsh was offered a downgrade in salary to roughly $2.5 million after making in the $4.5M range this past season.

“The 40-percent paycut was an insult but money had nothing to do with it,” the individual said. “It was more insulting that he didn’t believe he’d have the full autonomy to run the basketball.”

As previously reported in The Post, Dolan, despite his friendship with Isiah Thomas, is not considering the former Knicks president and coach as a candidate to replace Walsh. Dolan’s Garden lieutenants finally have convinced the Knicks owner it is not the wise move.

Thomas said yesterday on ESPN he wasn’t interested in rejoining the Knicks because of the stress to his family, but he may have said that to save face. Asked if he would be interested in returning if Dolan called him, Thomas said he would not rule it out. Regardless, with Walsh gone, Dolan figures to lean on Thomas’ advice more so than in the past few months.

Mark Warkentien, the former Nuggets president who was hired by the Knicks on an interim basis to help with the NBA Draft and Carmelo Anthony negotiations, could be a strong candidate to replace Walsh.

Kentucky head coach John Calipari, who is represented by CAA, the same agency that represents Anthony and 2012 free agent Chris Paul has been mentioned as a possibility, but has not had contact with the Knicks. Sources said Calipari only would be interested in coming to an NBA team if given the power to run the organization.

Walsh took the high road in a conference call yesterday, saying he decided to leave because he didn’t want to commit beyond one more season, and Dolan wanted him for at least a two-year deal because of the potential NBA lockout July 1.

“The commitment is more than I wanted,” Walsh said. “I understand the franchise needed a commitment for more than one year. I wasn’t sure I could even do it for two years. I didn’t think I could do it multiyear. I’m getting older.

“I really did look into my soul, and I can’t do this job at less than 100 percent, and I don’t know that I could have committed to do this job for two years at 100 percent. I’ve already given everything I’ve got up to this point, and I don’t know how much more I’ve got left.”

According to a source, Walsh did not have the desire to work for Dolan for another two years, especially with his family in Indiana.

“He was treated with disrespect,” the source said. “Dolan would yell at him.”

Walsh claimed yesterday he had a good relationship with Dolan and said a compromise was to stay on as a consultant for next season. He said he would help “advise” Dolan on hiring a new president. With a lockout looming, Dolan is in no rush to make a decision because Walsh will oversee the draft June 23, and free agency may not begin for a few months.

Glen Grunwald, the vice president of basketball operations and a former Raptors president, will be interim president and can fill the bill, especially during the lockout.

Walsh’s exit does not necessarily put coach Mike D’Antoni’s job in a less secure light. In fact, D’Antoni may put his hat in the ring to at least temporarily serve as coach/general manager. Dolan likes D’Antoni and he has an ally in Garden sports president Scott O’Neil. Dolan’s statement mentioned D’Antoni as “an outstanding coach.”

Dolan said a search for a new president would take place without a timetable for a hiring. Walsh had told several of his associates he planned to return next season and some people close to him believe he’s not done.

“I’ll never rule anything out,” Walsh said. “I can wake up in six months and be 25 again.”

Sources said Walsh ultimately believed the club’s marketing department had become too influential in basketball operations, with advertisers on the planes and in the locker room. Walsh denied he was upset Dolan took over the negotiations for Anthony in the final days.

Former Blazers GM Kevin Pritchard, former Cavaliers GM Danny Ferry, former Nets president Kiki Vandeweghe also are considered possibilities. According to a source, after the season Walsh gave Dolan two GM candidates — Chris Mullin and Mark Jackson — and Dolan rejected both.

In the statement, Dolan said: “Following a long series of discussions regarding his future role with the New York Knicks, Donnie Walsh and I have mutually agreed he will be leaving his position as president, basketball operations of the Knicks at the end of June.”

Walsh spent two seasons reducing one of the league’s highest payrolls. The Knicks got only Amar’e Stoudemire as a free agent, but traded for Carmelo Anthony in February and finished 42-40, their first winning record in a decade.

However, associates said Walsh didn’t feel he had completed the task and wanted to return.

“I love the challenge of trying to bring this team back,” Walsh said. “I think I did that. I think I did the first step of that. But there are more steps to go.”