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By tomorrow, Knicks president Donnie Walsh will have interviewed Mike D'Antoni and Avery Johnson as his decision on whom to offer the coaching job of the moribund franchise takes shape.
Walsh had a reservation last night at a Phoenix hotel and was expected to have dinner with D'Antoni. A source said Bulls president John Paxson met with D'Antoni Sunday night, and Chicago appears to be the favorite.
Johnson advisor Tony Dutt said Walsh will interview Johnson "midweek," presumably tomorrow. The Bulls will follow Friday.
Johnson was fired last week by Dallas. D'Antoni was granted permission over the weekend by Phoenix to talk to the Knicks and Bulls, who are in lockstep during this coaching search.The search began with Mark Jackson as the heavy favorite until two recent Coach of the Year winners became available, skewing the Jackson odds.
D'Antoni prefers the Bulls, who are the better team despite their crash this season, but it's no lock they'll offer him the job. Toronto could also be an option, with D'Antoni's former boss, Bryan Colangelo, needing to convince ownership to eat Sam Mitchell's contract.
The Knicks can likely outbid the Bulls for both coaches. If he feels Jackson's lack of coaching experience is not right for this group of Knicks misfits, Walsh could present D'Antoni with a five-year, $30 million package to entice him to join 23-59 Team Titanic.
A source close to D'Antoni told The Post yesterday, "Mike doesn't have his mind made up either way. He's excited about both places. Mike wants to go to a place where he can make the biggest impact."
D'Antoni's days with the Suns are all but over. The Suns don't want to pay D'Antoni the final two years and $8.5 million left on his contract, so they want to guarantee he's got another job. D'Antoni doesn't want to return because GM Steve Kerr is putting restrictions on whom should be on his coaching staff.
"He's very upset with the owner and GM for not supporting him," another source familiar with the situation said.
"As we have continued to convey, we value Mike D'Antoni as the head coach of the Phoenix Suns and would like him to continue leading this basketball team," Kerr said in a statement. "Because he has requested to speak to other teams about their head coaching vacancies, we have granted him permission."
Clearly, Walsh is tempted by the track records of D'Antoni and Johnson, both wildly successful in the West with divergent styles.
D'Antoni contructed the chic new model of offense, the high-octane, go-go Suns that he perfected as a coach in Italy. Kobe Bryant grew up in Italy watching D'Antoni play and until last season wore his No. 8 in honor of the Italian league star.
marc.berman@nypost.com
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