The worst kept secret in New York City became public today when Donnie Walsh officially became president of basketball operations for the Knicks.

It brings to mind all the hoops a political candidate jumps through for years, then finally wins, settles into his seat and turns to his chief of staff and says, "Now what do I do?"

Provided he has full autonomy as promised from mercurial owner Jim Dolan, Walsh should be able to do enough to return the Knicks to NBA relevancy.

Again, assuming that is the case, they'll find somewhere to stash coach and outgoing president Isiah Thomas, whether it be a personnel job or if they just put him on the shelf with all the other fired Knicks coaches that get overpaid long after they've been put out to pasture.

The biggest question is how much more money is Dolan going to eat?

Does Walsh bring in Scott Skiles or Mark Jackson to coach and see if they are capable of dealing with Stephon Marbury, or does Dolan choke on that oversized deal as well? And speaking of oversized, there is the status of big boys Eddy Curry and Zach Randolph - two talents that have yet to prove capable of performing as professionals (either on or off the court) on a daily basis.

Those are the first orders of business for Walsh as he moves forward. He hired and fired Thomas with the Pacers, so this shouldn't be such a huge problem considering they have a professional relationship one way or the other.

Regardless, the Bronx-born Walsh is a great pick for the job if it is tenable for anyone. He has rebuilt Pacers teams on the fly and kept them competitive in the process. They were continuously in the playoffs and Eastern Conference contenders until the 2004 brawl against Pistons fans derailed what looked like a championship season, then Larry Bird joined him in the front office.

Now that he's on his own again, success should be inevitable because there is talent on the Knicks roster and he is a super evaluator. It just doesn't fit right now. It will take a new coach. It will take moving out the old, tired head cases that are Marbury, Curry and Quentin Richardson ... among others. Dump the damaged goods and replace them with new energy.

The Knicks have been toxic since Jeff Van Gundy walked out as coach in December of 2001. Walsh can be the antidote, but it's going to take time and it won't happen tomorrow, next week, next month or even next season.

But it will happen.

What we don't know is how patient the Knicks fans and media will be until it does.