NBA

Allan Houston The Front-Runner To Be Knicks GM

For you Knicks fans concerned about the rumored potential second coming of Isiah Thomas, you can slowly exhale. According to ESPN’s Ric Bucher former shooting guard Allan Houston has emerged as the favorite to land the GM position.

And, despite some cryptic language, it appears that Knicks President of Basketball Operations Donnie Walsh fully endorses this decision:

“He is working with me to learn the position of GM, whether with the Knicks or elsewhere.  I feel Allan has the tools to be a great GM.”

Thus far, however, these tools that Walsh alludes to have gone untested. Houston has no history of serving in an executive position of this nature–he has acted only as the special assistant to the president under Walsh–and, consequently, it would follow that Knicks fans should feel a certain degree of skepticism on whether the former Knicks star would be the right man for the job.

Regardless of Houston’s qualifications, the hiring of anyone who is not Isiah Thomas–who still, incredibly, holds very high standing with owner James Dolan–would be a victory for the franchise. The Daily News cited a source in a recent article as saying,”If not for the trial, Isiah is still here.  I’ll always remember him saying that he could basically have the job for life and compared it to the security that (Rangers president and GM) Glen Sather enjoys.”

With Walsh remaining as the President of Basketball Operations, one can take solace in the idea that the new GM could only do so much damage (it would be unlikely that any transaction would go through without the approval of Walsh). So despite the change in title, Houston would still, in a way, be merely a special assistant to Walsh.

The last thing to consider? Should Houston be awarded the position, he, as well as anyone, would know the ramifications of giving out 6 year, $100 million contracts to 29-year-old shooting guards.