Officially, both the Pacers and Donnie Walsh are denying ESPN's report from late last night that Walsh has agreed to sign with the Knicks at the end of the season. Unofficially, though, both Sports Illustrated's Ian Thomsen and the New York Daily News' Frank Isola have found their own unidentified "league source" to corroborate ESPN's report. According to Isola's source, just because Walsh is denying a deal doesn't mean the framework isn't still in place: "If Donnie is saying he hasn't accepted anything then nothing is done but he has an offer," the NBA source told the News. "I think it is safe to say they have a handshake agreement."Of course, the fact that additional outlets are "confirming" this rumor doesn't necessarily mean anything: for all we know, all of these unidentified "NBA sources" may be just a single individual happy to chat with multiple reporters.
But still, this thing seems to be picking up steam -- enough so that it may have been the reason the Knicks canceled practice today -- or at least pretended to cancel practice so Isiah Thomas could avoid the media, depending on how much you take what the Knicks are saying at face value. Stay tuned.




