Perhaps the final trade deadline of Donnie Walsh’s NBA career passed yesterday without another move, so now the countdown begins on his future.
In upstaging Carmelo Anthony’s introductory press conference on Wednesday, owner James Dolan said he would meet with the Knicks president about his contract status after the deadline, giving no specifics.
Walsh said yesterday he was aware of the plan all along. The Post reported last month talks would not take place until after the deadline, so as not to distract Walsh.
“It’s basically what [Dolan] told me — we’d talk about all this after the trade deadline,” Walsh said. “It seemed a bigger issue with you guys [in the media] than with me. I’m not thinking about it at all.”
The deadline to exercise the option on Walsh’s final contract year is April 30. But Dolan pointed out Wednesday that Walsh’s contract expires in June, spitting out the month.
Walsh said the Knicks owner mentioned June for a reason. Even if the April 30 deadline passes, “It doesn’t cut out doing another deal.”
The final year on Walsh’s pact is in the $5M range. However, if Dolan goes past April 30, he could offer Walsh a lower salary and a diminished role, perhaps splitting duties with recent hire, Mark Warkentien — if Isiah Thomas stays away.
Warkentien, the former Nuggets GM, was at yesterday’s practice and is under contract until June 30. He was hired partly to help with insight and gossip on Anthony and Denver ownership, according to a source.
A league source said Walsh, 70, would not be crushed if he did not return. Dolan spent 2:23 of his three-minute introduction to Melo’s press conference discussing Walsh and Thomas, the FIU coach who could conceivably show up Sunday to watch the Knicks-Heat.
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Walsh said he is interested in locking in Chauncey Billups on his $14M option for next season, but in no great rush. Once done, Billups would be eligible this summer after the new labor agreement to sign an extension, but the Knicks regard Billups, 34, for the short term.
“We will begin talking to his agent [Andy Miller],” Walsh said.
Billups said he wants to remain in New York next season.
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Charles Barkley said on Miami radio the Nuggets were still better than the Knicks and would win a seven-game series.
Walsh said he had no idea Deron Williams, acquired by the Nets, was on the block. “I probably should’ve thought about it when Jerry [Sloan] left [as Jazz coach],” Walsh said.
Troy Murphy, traded by the Nets on Wednesday, is expected to reach a buy-out with the Warriors, and would be an option for the Knicks as a power forward.
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Anthony’s Knicks debut drew the highest rating for a regular-season game on MSG network since Michael Jordan’s famed “double-nickel” game 16 years ago.
The Knicks said their 114-108 victory over Milwaukee on Wednesday earned a 6.75 household rating, easily topping the previous high this season, a 3.61 for the Celtics’ visit Dec. 15.
It was MSG’s highest-rated Knicks telecast in the regular season since Jordan’s first return to Madison Square Garden after his first retirement, when he scored 55 points in a Chicago victory.
The Knicks are averaging a 1.62 rating through 52 games, a 60 percent increase over the 1.01 at this time last season.
With AP