Was reading this in today's paper...quite possibly the best news I've heard in a while regarding the Knicks.
[h1]Knicks may have sights set on Kiki[/h1]
By FRANK ISOLA
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER
Wednesday, February 27th 2008, 4:00 AM
Zalubowski/AP
Kiki Vandeweghe served as general manager of the Nuggets with some success. His playing career included a stint with the Knicks (below).
Herbert for News
Isiah Thomas wasn't among the standing-room only crowd at the
Apollo Theatre on Monday for a private screening of "Black Magic," afilm about basketball at historical black colleges.
But of all the famous faces in attendance -
Howard Stern,
Paul Simon, and
David Dinkins - two names in particular should concern Thomas and interest Knick fans.
Madison Square Garden president
Steve Mills attended Monday's screening with
Kiki Vandeweghe, who is working with the
Nets as a special assistant to team president
Rod Thorn. That Mills asked Vandeweghe to be his guest wouldn't be noteworthy expectfor the fact that Vandeweghe, who joined the Nets in December, signed only a six-month contract, which would make him a free agent around draft day this June,by which time the
Knicks would want to have Thomas' replacement inplace. Garden chairman
James Dolan is expected to remove Thomas from power.
A person close to Vandeweghe said it was a chance meeting between Mills and Vandeweghe, but the two did sit next to each other Monday.
Vandeweghe,
Jerry Colangelo and
Donnie Walsh have been mentioned as the three most likely candidates to replaceThomas, the Knicks president. But Vandeweghe appears to have a slight edge, according to several league sources.
"The
NBA is pushing
Kiki for that job," said a league executive. "It sounds like it is a foregoneconclusion that something is going to happen over there at the end of the season. Kiki makes a lot of sense."
Mills worked for the NBA before joining the Garden and serves as a liaison between the league and Dolan. It was Mills who recommended Thomas to Dolan after
Magic Johnson turned down the job.
"Hiring Kiki is a safe play for Steve," says a Knicks source. "They might be intimidated by Jerry and Donnie."
Vandeweghe, 49, played for the Knicks for parts of four seasons from 1988-1992, and also served as general manager of the
Denver Nuggets from 2001-2006. He had spent parts of the last two seasons as anNBA analyst for
ESPN. With the Nuggets, Vandeweghe was responsible for drafting
Carmelo Anthony and orchestrating the trade with the Knicks thatbrought
Marcus Camby to Denver.
But Vandeweghe had some misses as well. He drafted
NikolozTskitishvili - who is no longer in the league - with the fifth pick in 2002. Vandeweghe also acquired
Kenyon Martin in a sign-and-trade deal with the Nets, only to see Martin need majorsurgery on both knees. Still, Vandeweghe was able to take a perennial loser in Denver and turn the Nuggets into a playoff team, and he would be walking into asimilar situation with the Knicks.
If Vandeweghe succeeds Thomas, his first order of business would be to find a head coach. In Denver, Vandeweghe's two hires were
Jeff Bzdelik, who had no NBA head-coaching experience, and
George Karl.
Vandeweghe's hiring history could work in
Mark Jackson's favor. Aformer Knicks teammate of Vandeweghe's who is a Nets broadcaster, Jackson is regarded as a top coaching candidate. Celtics assistant coach
Tom Thibodeau, Knicks assistant
Herb Williams and
Patrick Ewing could also be under consideration.
ScottSkiles,
Rick Carlisle,
Jeff Van Gundy and
Doug Collins are all candidates with previous heading-coaching experience.
Hiring Vandeweghe could lead to the return of several former Knick players. If Ewing is not hired as head coach, he would likely be asked to join the teamas an assistant. Also, Vandeweghe could bring in
Allan Houston or
Greg Anthony as an assistant GM.
