The New York Knicks have struggled for more than a decade under James Dolan despite spending heavily on the players on the floor, as well as investing in renovating Madison Square Garden.

"I don't think there's an owner who wants to win more than James Dolan," Thomas said Saturday. "He commits the resources. He does everything he can for the players. He just spent $1 billion on the arena for the fans. I think he'll do whatever it takes to win."

"The people in the Garden aren't basketball people," said an unnamed veteran executive. "They think they're basketball people. They're New Yorkers, so they watch a lot of basketball, but that's a far [bleeping] cry from working in it."

The Knicks have struggled to sustain any type of success with the impetus to win now always at hand.

"The solution for every problem, whether it's in team-building or in the corporate world, is a coherent long-term strategy," said another longtime sports executive. "And the requisite follow through. Sure, you have to be nimble and flexible enough to make midcourse corrections when necessary. But if you did a good job plotting your course you can't keep changing plans every year or two."