The Knicks Fix

Let us put another blog on the fire and get ready for what I expect will be a busy offseason for Isiah Thomas and the Knicks, regardless of what he said at the end of the regular season.

For instance, this Sunday one of Isiah's well-known media friends, the reputable Sam Smith of our sister-paper, the Chicago Tribune, tossed a nugget in his NBA column that said Jermaine O'Neal has already asked to be traded to the Knicks:

". . . sources say O'Neal already has told the Pacers he wants to be traded to the Knicks and former Pacers coach and close friend Isiah Thomas. Would the Pacers take Stephon Marbury or maybe a package with Steve Francis, Jared Jeffries and Channing Frye and the Bulls' first-round pick, which the Knicks own in the swap?"

Hold up. Before you start tearing Channing Frye's name off your No. 7 jersey and stitching on O'Neal, let's have a moment of clear-headed thinking.

Does anyone think Larry Bird has any interest in making Isiah's dream come true? Does Bird owe anything to O'Neal to follow through on this apparent request, which has already been refuted by people with knowledge of the Pacers situation? And, of course, why would Indiana want to send their best player to an Eastern Conference rival?

With his opt-out coming next summer, O'Neal does possess some influence on the Pacers' interest in dealing him. If he wants out of Indiana, they'll get him out of Indiana. But it's up to Bird to find the best deal and, quite frankly, he has to believe he can do better than Francis, Frye and a draft pick. I also find it interesting that Smith would include Stephon Marbury's name in the mix, don't you? What reason would anyone have to think Thomas would be willing to part with Marbury? Very interesting.

As of now, it's been suggested to me that O'Neal will likely wind up in the West. If the Lakers can't pry Kevin Garnett out of Minnesota, he'd be the next-best thing to make Kobe Bryant happy, which is a priority in Los Angeles. Perhaps the Knicks will have to out-bid the Lakers, but if you consider the icy relationship Isiah has with Bird after his departure as Pacers coach, perhaps the Knicks would have to overpay to get O'Neal. Like, say, including David Lee in the deal.

Yeah, that makes me hesitate, too.

The O'Neal situation will be something to follow from now until the NBA Draft, when the Knicks will probably consider dealing their first-round pick as part of a package. As Ken Berger wrote on Sunday, signing Randolph Morris out of Kentucky makes their late first-round pick expendable, even though Isiah has done well drafting in the 20s. The franchise has enough youth at this point in time. It's not a priority to add more prospects. The team now needs to get better top-shelf talent and, most of all, fill a desperate need at starting power forward.

On a lesser scale, if Jermaine O'Neal doesn't happen -- and I'm not saying it won't, it just won't be easy -- Isiah could try to work out something with the Washington Wizards for big man Brendan Haywood, who wants out of Eddie Jordan's control and, at least, can defend the low post. Make him the backup center and buy-out Jerome James, who was supposed to be the guy who could defend on the blocks.

The Nets plan to re-sign Mikki Moore, but the Knicks could dangle some of the mid-level exception money at him to lure him across the Hudson to bring energy, intensity, defense and a decent mid-range jumper.

There is, of course, one other tantalizing option to fill the starting four-spot: Pau Gasol. From what I hear he is still getting great interest from the Chicago Bulls. Now wouldn't that be a nice payback for Isiah, to steal Gasol out from under from the Bulls on the same weekend the Bulls use the Knicks lottery pick.