“He’s a big piece to the puzzle,” coach Mike Woodson said. “It’s a major loss to what we’re trying to do but we’re going to have to wait on him and continue our climb.”

The team announced on Saturday evening that Stoudemire is expected to undergo a knee debridement sometime in the coming week. A debridement is a form of arthroscopic surgery that removes debris. And it’s just the latest in a long list of knee ailments for the 30-year-old veteran.

Stoudemire first felt soreness in both knees earlier Saturday and sat out of the morning shootaround. An MRI later Saturday revealed surgery was required. Per the six-week timetable, Stoudemire could miss the remainder of the regular season. If he is off the floor for the full six weeks, the earliest Stoudemire would return is April 20, three days after the final game of the regular season.

“We’ve just got to patiently wait and hope that everything goes well,” Woodson said.

Stoudemire missed the first two months of the season while recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his left knee. The procedure also was described as a debridement. The timetable for Stoudemire to return from the surgery earlier this season was six to eight weeks, and he needed the full eight to get back.

Stoudemire also underwent microfracture surgery in October 2005, but bounced back well from the procedure.

Still, the procedure can be a red flag for teams. Stoudemire’s contract with the Knicks — a five-year, $100 million pact — is uninsured because of his history of knee issues. Stoudemire is under contract through 2014-15. He is scheduled to make $19.9 million this season and a combined $45 million over the final two years of his deal.

Asked if he was concerned that Stoudemire would struggle to bounce back from this most recent ailment, Woodson expressed optimism.

“I hope not; Amar’e works hard,” the coach said. “I give him a lot of credit for that. He wants to play and be on the basketball floor so I can’t help but think that he’s going to put the time in … to get back out on the floor to help us.”

Stoudemire had been playing on a 30-minute restriction to preserve the health of his knees this season, per instructions from the Knicks’ medical staff. In 29 games this season, the 10-year veteran averaged 14.2 points and five rebounds in 23.5 minutes, shooting 57 percent from the field. In recent weeks, he’d established himself as a strong low-post threat off the bench for the Knicks (38-22).

“When you start playing playoff basketball you need some post up play … [and] that’s where Amar’e was so valuable for us,” Woodson said.

Stoudemire’s injury isn’t the only health concern for the Knicks. Carmelo Anthony missed his third straight game on Saturday with a lingering right knee injury.

“We have to just go out there and find ways to win,” small forward Steve Novak said before the Knicks’ 113-84 rout of the Utah Jazz. “Obviously, those are our main two throw-it-to-and-then-create-their-own-shot scorers for us, so I think our approach just has to be a little bit different.”

An extended stretch without Stoudemire means more playing time for the recently acquired Kenyon Martin, who showed some remorse for Stoudemire.

“It’s part of sports, we all know that, so we’ve got to come together as a team,” Martin said. “That’s why I’m here, so I’m looking forward to the opportunity to get some more playing time. It’s a very, very unfortunate situation.”

Ian Begley is a frequent contributor to ESPNNewYork.com. ESPNNewYork.com contributor Jared Zwerling contributed to this report.

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Gonzalez said late in the season he was 95 percent sure he would retire. He even moved that figure up to 97 percent after the Falcons won a playoff game against Seattle. After losing the NFC Championship Game to San Francisco, Gonzalez said he still intended to retire.

Dimitroff, who has been lobbying hard for Gonzalez to return for an 18th season, thinks Gonzalez’s chances of being back are a lot better than the veteran is letting on.

“Tony has done so much for us on and off the field, and I don’t believe, not stating that he would be lying to anyone, but I don’t believe the 95 percent,” Dimitroff said on “Pro Football Talk” on NBC Sports Network. “I want to believe it’s a lot closer to 50-50, to be honest with you, and we’ve had discussions.

“Obviously (Falcons coach) Mike Smith has had discussions with him. We’re all in a good place. Ultimately it’s up to Tony to decide if he wants to come back and potentially catch 100 balls again. I think it’s one of those situations that Tony was so effective for us down the stretch, and I can’t imagine that his appetite wasn’t sort of whet from his contributions in the playoffs.”

During Super Bowl week in New Orleans, Dimitroff said there was no firm timetable for Gonzalez to make a decision.

“We don’t have a deadline at all,” Dimitroff said. “But let’s face it that it’s important for us to know sooner rather than later because we have to move forward on all our decision-making.”

A 13-time Pro Bowler who will turn 38 years old on Feb. 27, Gonzalez holds NFL records for touchdown receptions (107) and reception yards (14,268) by a tight end. He had 93 catches for 930 yards and eight touchdowns last season.

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King told Ian O’Connor during an interview on ESPN New York 98.7 FM on Sunday morning that the team “supports” interim coach P.J. Carlesimo and will “re-evaluate” things moving forward, while deflecting questions about Jackson by repeatedly saying “P.J.’s our coach.”

“We’ve put our support behind (P.J.) and then we’ll look at things and evaluate it later,” King said. “I know people have been throwing lists together and things like that, but we have not contacted anybody. … We’ve made the move and now we’re going to let P.J. coach.”

While King didn’t want to put a timetable on anything, he did suggest that Carlesimo could conceivably finish out the season, calling it “a great opportunity” for Johnson’s former assistant, who has several years of NBA head coaching experience under his belt with three other franchises.

Sources had told ESPN.com that the Nets have made Jackson, an 11-time NBA coaching champion, their top target to replace Johnson on a permanent basis. But when King was asked about when he was going to contact Jackson, he replied, “I don’t know how many times I can say it or Mikhail can say it. P.J.’s our coach. We’re gonna let him coach and then re-evaluate things. I know Mikhail said it about 10 times when he was asked, and I’ve been saying it, and I think people just keep dismissing what we say.”

Prokhorov spent $330 million to improve the Nets’ roster in the offseason and said a successful first season in Brooklyn would be defined by a trip to the Eastern Conference finals. Given those high expectations — the Nets are in the third-year of Prokhorov’s five-year championship plan — it seems reasonable the Nets would contact the biggest names on the market.

Carlesimo, who is 2-0 since taking over for Johnson with wins over the Charlotte Bobcats and Cleveland Cavaliers, said Saturday he believes the possibility of retaining the job for the rest of the season is “available” to him. Carlesimo had a fancy lunch meeting in New York City with Prokhorov Saturday, but declined to discuss specifics of what was said about his future.

“Sometimes you just need a different voice,” King said. “What I like about P.J. is he’s had NBA head coaching experience. I think he understands the game, he’s been around it.”

King believes this is a good time to give Carlesimo an opportunity to lead the team.

“More than anything, you just need to calm the waters and let guys breathe as a group and try to gel,” King said. “Because if we’re in the middle of a search, the turmoil just continues. We need our guys to just focus on the now and San Antonio (on Monday).”

Van Gundy is held in high regard by the Nets, but a league source said he needs to learn more about the organization before determining his level of interest in the job. He also would prefer taking over after the season, not during it, the source said.

“I would never comment on a job that was filled,” Van Gundy told Yahoo! Sports, which first reported his preference to wait until after the season. “I was an interim coach. I hope P.J. has great success there. He’s someone I respect greatly.”

Kelvin Sampson, Nate McMillan and Mike Dunleavy have been other names mentioned to take over for the Nets.

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