Are the Knicks Entering the 21st Century?

UPDATE - Walsh has denied rumors that he is leaving the Knicks.

Peter Vecsey of the New York Post is reporting that Knicks president Donnie Walsh "may possibly retire" within the week because of "health" and "a failure to land LeBron James."  The article goes on to suggest that former Portland GM Kevin Pritchard is the front runner to replace Donnie Walsh.

This is an interesting, and dare I say, an exciting development for the Knicks.  Prior to his dismissal by Portland, Pritchard was widely considered to be a top five GM in the league. While he might be most famous for taking Oden over Durant, Pritchard did a spectacular job of taking a terrible Portland team (the "Jail Blazers") filled with bloated contracts and bad personalities (sound familiar Knick fans?) and putting together a solid, if not championship contending roster. (This link is to a great article about Pritchard).

While Walsh may have done a good job of shedding the Knicks of bad contracts and at least putting us in a position to sign LBJ, I am not sure that he is the man that you want to conduct the rebuilding of your franchise.  By losing out on LBJ, the Knicks will have have to actually use skill and talent evaluation to build a contender.  I would much rather have Pritchard orchestrating the trade of Eddie Curry's expiring contract in January than an aging Walsh who has never been a great talent evaluator.  I think Prtichard's energy, hunger, and desire to show Portland that they were CRAZY for firing him will be great for the Knicks.

All the best to Donnie Walsh, and lets hope that his health really isn't a huge issue, but it will be nice to see the Knicks with a GM who will take us into the 21st century.