NEW YORK - The deal is almost done.

The fine print of Larry Brown's contract was the only thing keeping him from becoming the New York Knicks' 22nd head coach.

"An offer has been made, but that doesn't mean a contract has been completed. Nothing has been finalized," Joe Glass, Brown's longtime agent, said Tuesday night.

A little more than a week after his divorce from the Detroit Pistons, Brown is trading down in talent but up in salary and sentiment.

The Knicks were Brown's favorite team when he was growing up in Brooklyn, and the eighth stop on his NBA coaching carousel will truly be a "dream job" - just what Brown called it earlier this year.

He'll join a long list of distinguished coaches - including Joe Lapchick, Red Holzman, Pat Riley and Lenny Wilkens - who have guided one of the NBA's charter franchises.

The buzz surrounding Brown has been steady throughout the month, and all indications pointed to the job being his before the calendar turned to August. Barring any snags, he will likely be formally introduced as the franchise's 22nd coach at a news conference Thursday.

The hiring was all but complete, with Brown's agent and Knicks executives planning to work out the final few details of a contract Wednesday to make the 64-year-old the coach of his hometown team.

Glass was not sure when contract negotiations might wrap up. The Knicks were reportedly willing to offer Brown a five-year deal worth $50 million to $60 million.

"Too hard to say," Glass said. "There's no time factor as far as we're concerned. We'll get it done as soon as we get it done."

The Knicks' weeklong pursuit of Brown moved into its final stages after the unemployed coach had dinner Monday night with the man he will replace, Herb Williams. That summit came after meetings between Brown, owner James Dolan and team president Isiah Thomas.

Brown would be the team's fourth coach in less than a year, following Williams, Wilkens and Don Chaney. The Knicks haven't been to the finals since 1999 under Jeff Van Gundy and haven't won a title since Holzman coached the team in 1973.

Brown, who had been uneasy about the prospect of displacing Williams, described their meeting as "positive."

"That was a huge obstacle for me, not for him," Brown said. "It's not at all anymore."

Trying to turn the rebuilding Knicks into a winner would be the latest challenge for Brown in a nomadic NBA coaching career that has included stints with the Philadelphia 76ers, Indiana Pacers, Los Angeles Clippers, San Antonio Spurs, New Jersey Nets and Denver Nuggets. Brown also coached collegiately at Kansas and UCLA, and his first professional coaching job was with the Carolina Cougars of the ABA.

Brown was the coach of the 2004 U.S. Olympic team that finished a disappointing third. Part of that roster included Knicks guard Stephon Marbury, who would be reunited with Brown after clashing with him last summer. Marbury has already publicly endorsed the hiring of Brown, and Brown has said he will have no problem coaching Marbury.

Still unclear is what role Williams would have with the Knicks under Brown, and which of New York's current assistant coaches might remain with the club.

Williams' head coaching contract expires Sunday, but his assistant coaching contract has another year left. The Knicks finished 33-49 last season and missed the playoffs for the third time in four years.

Brown would be taking over a roster that Thomas has transformed into a mix of youngsters and high-salaried veterans.

Brown has a reputation for shunning big roles for young players, but the Knicks selected three rookies in last month's draft, and their key players include 25-year-old guards Quentin Richardson and Jamal Crawford, 22-year-old power forward Michael Sweetney and 20-year-old swingman Trevor Ariza.

Brown's wife, Shelly, had been concerned about her husband's health. Brown missed 17 games last season due to a hip replacement operation that led to a bladder problem, and Brown underwent his third surgery in nine months shortly after the Pistons lost Game 7 of the NBA Finals to the San Antonio Spurs.

Doctors at the Mayo Clinic told Brown he needed rest, and he and his wife have decided he'll get enough of it during the next two months before training camp begins.

Brown's two young children also are enthused about the move to New York.

"No one wants this to drag on," Shelly Brown said. "I know everyone's on the same page."

In 22 seasons as a professional coach, Brown has compiled a 987-741 record. The title he won with the Detroit Pistons in 2004 was the only NBA championship of his career.