Donnie Walsh returned to Madison Square Garden on Sunday with the visiting Pacers.

Walsh spent several seasons as president of the New York Knicks where he rebuilt the roster coming out of the Isiah Thomas-era.

“I’ve said before, I think they’re a contending team,” Walsh said. “There’s not that many contending teams…You see the roster, but now they’re playing up to the roster and they’re only going to get better.”

The Knicks have acquired Tyson Chandler, Jason Kidd, Marcus Camby, Rasheed Wallace and Kurt Thomas since Walsh's departure.

“I’ve said they’re a contending team. But to go any further, you’ve got to do it. You can’t talk about it, you’ve gotta do it. And that’s kind of where all the teams are,” Walsh said. “They have the whole gamut of guys. I think around the league, they’ve got as good (depth) as anybody.

“I think Glen has done a wonderful job, got exactly the right guys to add to what was here before. And I’m really happy for the fans. Because during the years when we were breaking the team up, the two years we knew we were going to lose…I’m glad to see they can come here now and say ‘Wow, this is a team that can be really good.’ And I think that they will be.

“I’m happy that what I started here is coming to fruition here.”