With the Kenyon Martin-era in Denver all but over, the Knicks will surely make another run at the power forward but Larry Brown has also asked Isiah Thomas to court Miami's free-agent center Alonzo Mourning.

In a game versus New York in November, Mourning recorded 9 blocked shots.

Knicks' coach Larry Brown underwent a series of tests on Monday, as doctors attempt to correct his urinary problem.

"I'm not going to discuss his health, it's private," Glass said. "It's been discussed way too much already. He's said time and again it's not going to affect him coaching the team."

Reporters began asking Jermaine O'Neal about the possibility of playing for the Knicks next season following Tuesday's loss to New Jersey.

"The last time I checked, I have five years left on my deal," O'Neal said. "I don't really control where I'm going to play at. I deal with reality, and reality states I have five years left.

"I don't really sit back and think about stuff like that because the task at hand for us is already tough enough to deal with; that's winning playoff games. So I don't sit back and think about where I'm going to play."

1His name will likely continue to be mentioned throughout the summer, but the Pacers say they don't have any intention of trading their All-Star player.

"I hear a lot of talk about it because my brother lives here and he tells me how they say I'm going to play (with the Knicks) next year," O'Neal said. "I'm not a free agent. If I had to make a choice where I'm going to play next year it would be in Indiana because my contract says so."

According to Newsday, after a poor first season some of the Knicks' bosses have at some point discussed ways to remove coach Larry Brown, people familiar with those discussions say.

The viability of a buyout was mentioned in these internal talks. However, it is not known whether they might still weigh a buyout for Brown.

Brown is still owed $40 million over the next four years.

The Knicks were interested in acquiring Theo Ratliff from Portland in Februray and according to the New York Post, they will try once again to complete a trade for the center.

Larry Brown is reportedly the one leading the charge for the veteran, whom he coached in Philadelphia.

The Blazers are looking for expiring contracts and draft picks, leading to a potential draft-day blockbuster.

According to New York Daily News writer Frank Isola, the Knicks may have a taker for 'Starbury' after all.

Timberwolves owner Glen Taylor told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune on Wednesday that his team is interested in acquiring Stephon Marbury, whom Minnesota drafted 10 years ago and traded to the Nets in 1999. However, Taylor admitted that Marbury's contract - he'll earn $60 million over the next three seasons - is a major stumbling block.

"Yeah, it isn't that we couldn't use somebody like that. We certainly could with his experience, and we know him," Taylor told the newspaper. "It's that he was signed at a salary that's going to cause us problems. So it would be difficult, it would have to be one of those things where New York would have to say that they really want to get rid of the player and could help us in some financial way to do it. We wouldn't know until this summer if that would even be a possibility."

According to several team sources, Isiah Thomas is committed to trading Marbury, whose skills have diminished while his reputation as a malcontent has grown appreciably.

However, Marbury's trade value never has been lower; he is showing signs of breaking down and he is a point guard who makes his teammate bitter, not better.

Larry Brown and the Knicks have their eye on free agent forward Jared Jeffries from the Washington Wizards, the New York Post is reporting.

"Larry's liked Jared for a long time," one person close to Brown said. "Larry likes guys who can play multiple positions."

The Post believes that Jeffries could be had for the $5 million mid-level exception.

"He doesn't score a lot, but he does a little of everything," one team executive said. "He's a great team player, he gets hustle points, he can bring the ball up."

The Knicks inquired about Jeffries during the season.

Brown has also identified a classic point guard and a defensive center as other needs. Speedy Claxton and Chucky Atkins, both of whom played for Brown, are free agents.

An NBA source said the Blazers are still willing to talk trade with shot-blocking center Theo Ratliff.

While some believe that Eddy Curry has more talent than anyone available in the upcoming NBA Draft, George WIllis from the New York Post believes that you need more more than talent to be successful, and to this point Curry has not given the Knicks what they need.

Curry needs to be a star if the Knicks are going to build themselves into a contender anytime soon. Thus far, he's far from that. In his first year as a Knick, he has been mostly out of shape and injury prone, an inconsistent player who seems content to be a role player instead of a leader.

Acting head coach Herb Williams said Curry needed to learn how to "dominate" opposing centers. Right now, that sounds a lot like saying Nate Robinson needs to be a 7-footer.

Curry scored 16 points in last night's 98-91 loss to the Bobcats. At times, he showed flashes of the offensive skills that accelerate heartbeats. But through three quarters, he had just two rebounds before finishing with four. That's Curry game, some offense, no muscle; more marshmallow than monster.

Yes, he's only 23, as the front office keeps reminding us. But Robinson is only 21 and he already displays more fire and passion than the 6-11, 285-pound Curry.

Coach Larry Brown reported improvement in his health yesterday, but his status for the Knicks' season finale remained uncertain.

Brown visited with doctors and told a team spokesman that he hoped to return to the team today. Brown made no assurance, however, that he would be on the sideline tonight when the Knicks play the Nets.

With the Knicks in the running for one of the top picks of the 2006 Draft, Eddy Curry is now being compared to players such as Tyrus Thomas and Rudy Gay, as the club will be sending that pick to Chicago as part of the deal made last October.

Most experts believe that there isn't a player in the draft that can make the kind of impact that Curry can.

"Without a doubt," an Eastern Conference scouting director said. "I wouldn't even bat an eye to think about that one. There's nobody in this draft that you're going to add to your team and he's going to make you a playoff contender."

"Centers are hard to come by," a Pacific Division executive said. Curry, he said, "has got a track record" in the N.B.A., "and everything else is pie in the sky."

"You get a starting center who will be in the league for 10 years, then to me that's a good gamble," the executive concluded.