The New York Knicks will soon hire Mark Warkentien as a "high-level consultant," reports Yahoo! ace Adrian Wojnarowski. You may remember Warkentien as the former general manager of the Denver Nuggets, where he ... oh hey, he worked with Carmelo Anthony, object of lust for the Knicks and others. The Nuggets canned Warkentien, the 2009 NBA Executive of the Year, in 2010 in a shake-up of the franchise's power structure that left 30-year-old Josh Kroenke and first-time GM Masai Ujiri in charge.
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Wark, Woj reports, is not being hired just for his 'Melo connection and knowledge of the Nuggets' front office. He's also a pretty solid talent scout, as that Exec of the Year trophy would show. He made both of Denver's trades involving Allen Iverson -- the deal to acquire him for Andre Miller, and the swap that brought back Chauncey Billups. Each trade took the Nuggets a step closer to triumph, though Denver never got past the L.A. Lakers or San Antonio Spurs during Wark's tenure.
The Knicks will obviously need some more help to rise above its current lot, and if it doesn’t come in the from of ‘Melo, it will have to come from somewhere. That’s where Warkentien will provide some help for Knicks president Donnie Walsh, who is old (he is!) and may not stay in the game much more than the next couple of years. After Walsh, the Knicks’ front office depth chart is exactly teeming with replacement material. There’s Glen Grunwald and there’s Allan Houston. And with the looming specter of Isiah Thomas, a specter that will exist so long as both Isiah and Knicks owner James Dolan exist, any new blood is good blood.
If the Knicks somehow strike out on ‘Melo on the trade circuit or in free agency, Warkentien and Walsh could look to convince Nuggets center Nene to opt out and sign with New York. Amar’e Stoudemire needs a consistent helping hand up front, and few big men in the league are as spectacular in the dirty work department as Nene.
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