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The detachment from the team.? The power-share with Larry Bird.? The off-the-court shenanigans involving Indiana Pacers players the past few years.? Whatever the case may be, this could be the final year that Indiana Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh is involved with the team, according to Frank Isola of the New York Daily News.? Walsh is fully expected to postpone his retirement and, according to a source close to Walsh, is drawing some interest from 2 clubs – one of them being the New York Knicks.

The Knicks are expected to contact Walsh about the possibility of replacing team president Isiah Thomas, whom ironically Walsh hired to coach the Pacers prior to the 2000-01 season.? Neither Walsh’s agent, Steven A. Kaufmann, nor the Knicks were willing to say whether both sides have had any contact other than Kaufmann saying that Walsh would gladly accept a meeting with Knicks management.? As if any meetings in fact took place is up for debate.

Flight records were obtained by the Daily News by way of a Knicks official that a jet belonging to?Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan made 2 trips to Indianapolis over a 24-hour period last week; however, the records don’t prove that Dolan was either on the plane or that the purpose of the trip was for a secret meeting with Walsh.? Yet when the plane landed in Indiana on Tuesday night, Walsh was inconspicuously absent from the Pacers’ game against Seattle; the Pacers say that Walsh was home with the flu.? Walsh was also out of the office the following day when Dolan’s plane flew to Florida, where Dolan owns a home.? The plane returned to Indiana later that afternoon before flying again to Florida.

Kaufmann claimed to have no knowledge of a meeting between Dolan and Walsh, and Walsh had no comment; in addition, the Indianapolis Star is reporting that Walsh declined comment about a possible meeting with the Knicks.? The Knicks apparently must have a Plan B, as about 2 weeks ago, the Knicks had made contact with New Jersey Nets assistant general manager Kiki Vandeweghe.? The Knicks and the Pacers have unclear futures for both Thomas and Walsh, respectively.

Dolan has not addressed the status of Thomas for over a year; on the other hand, Indiana’s status with Walsh also is up in the air.? But according to a high-level Pacers official, the team’s co-owners Herbert and Mel Simon hope to keep Walsh and fire team president Larry Bird; the same source also says that Walsh has too much respect for Bird to fire him then re-assume full control of the franchise.? What more than likely will happen is that Walsh will leave the Pacers when his contract expires this season and seek work elsewhere; it seems that in recent months – and it was brought up in this piece earlier – Walsh has seemed rather detached from the team as he no longer sits in lower-level seats and instead watches the games from a luxury box.

Walsh has also said in the past that he misses the daily interaction and operations of running a franchise; it is increasingly clear that Walsh and Bird cannot do a “power-share” in order for the Pacers to be the franchise they once were, even as recently as 2000, when the Pacers went to the NBA Finals – Bird as the coach and Walsh as the CEO.? Assuming that Walsh leaves Indiana and lands with the Knicks, you can assume that Walsh will not want Thomas as their coach; a name that has been floating out there – albeit under the radar – is former Knick and Pacer guard Mark Jackson.? Jackson received a big push to be the Pacers’ coach before they settled on Jim O’Brien. so it is conceivable that Jackson could get his first coaching job in New York.

Another possibility is former Chicago Bulls coach Scott Skiles as his no-nonsense style is something the Knicks need right now.? ?Regardless what happens when the smoke clears, both the Pacers and Knicks are at a crossroads right now, and perhaps a change of scenery is the tonic that Walsh needs.? It should get real interesting right after the NBA season is over – so stay tuned.