With Mo Taylor now gone from the Knicks' roster, the team will sign two big men to compete for the open roster spot: Wichita State center Paul Miller and Virginia power forward Elton Brown.

Word is, Brown has given Eddy Curry all he could handle in scrimmages, according to Marc Berman of the New York Post.

Last year's Larry Brown saga drags on, and may even reach into the first day of this season as well. Brown spent 9 1/2 hours at NBA headquarters yesterday, pleading his case to commissioner David Stern that the Knicks owe him $53.5 million, and it still wasn't enough time to sort out the mess. That means Isiah Thomas might be late to training camp.

In a formal hearing Stern heard testimony from several people, including Brown, Knicks owner James Dolan, and Thomas, but he wasn't able to wrap up the hearings, which will resume Tuesday.

Stern said that if Brown's legal team requests Thomas appear on Tuesday -- the first day of Knicks camp -- he would have to miss his first official day of practice as the Knicks new head coach.

Thomas was on hand for about four hours, and left without speaking to reporters. There were also some surprise witnesses -- all of whom were under oath -- including Brown's close friend Gregg Popovich of the San Antonio Spurs. He was presumably summoned at the request of the Knicks to bolster their claim that Brown discussed potential trades with other teams.

Larry Brown's dispute over $40 million in his contract following his firing by the New York Knicks went before NBA commissioner David Stern on Friday.

Stern isn't expected to rule for up to two weeks. Neither the NBA nor the Knicks would comment on the arbitration hearing at the league office. Joe Glass, Brown's agent, said he wouldn't comment for "another 10 days or two weeks."

New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations and Head Coach Isiah Thomas announced today that forward Maurice Taylor has been waived.

Taylor, 6-9, 265-pounds, averaged 6.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 18.1 minutes in 67 games for the Knicks last season.

Glen Grunwald is excited about working with Isiah Thomas once again.

"We trust each other," Grunwald said. "We communicate well. It worked well in Toronto, I don't see why it wouldn't work well in New York."

Larry Brown and the Knicks' highest-ranking officials will meet face to face in front of NBA commissioner David Stern at an arbitration hearing in Manhattan this morning, their first such contact since Brown was fired last June, Frank Isola of the New York Daily News is reporting.

James Dolan, the Garden chairman, claims that he fired Brown for cause and is trying to void the final four years of Brown's contract worth approximately $40 million. The Knicks contend that Brown violated the terms of his contract by trying to make trades without Thomas' approval, criticizing players through the media and failing to return Thomas' phone calls.

Brown will argue that he is owed $40million, plus another $12 million in legal fees and damages. Brown had a clause in his contract that designated Stern to serve as the arbitrator.

Dolan was upset that Brown refused to acknowledge any of the infractions mentioned during his final meeting with team officials. In fact, the club wanted Brown to sign a document outlining the violations that he had committed with the promise not to make them again.

"I had 50 million reasons to stay with (Brown)," Dolan said. "If I thought there was any chance that we were going to have the Larry Brown that everybody thought we were going to get, I'd jump through hoops. But I don't believe there was any opportunity to do that."

New York Knickerbockers President of Basketball Operations Isiah Thomas announced today that Glen Grunwald has been named senior vice president, basketball operations. As per club policy, terms of the deal will not be announced.

?Glen is a skilled NBA executive whose expertise will be a great asset to the New York Knicks,? Thomas said. ?I know him well from our days as co-captains on the 1981 NCAA Championship team at Indiana University and I hired him in Toronto, where he helped assemble a roster that made three consecutive postseason appearances. I consider him to be a quality evaluator of talent and a skilled communicator.?

The Toronto Board of Trade today confirmed that Glen Grunwald has accepted an offer from the New York Knicks basketball team and has tendered his resignation as President and CEO of Canada?s largest chamber of commerce.

?I love this city, I love this job and the Toronto Board of Trade is involved in great work,? says Grunwald, ?but I could not turn down this offer to rejoin my old friend Isiah Thomas and the sport that I love.? (Grunwald, a former basketball executive with the Toronto Raptors and Denver Nuggets, was once drafted by the NBA but did not play due to injury. He also holds a law degree, an MBA and an honours business degree in marketing.)

Mo Taylor, hoping to have his contract bought out before training camp opens Monday, told The Post the Knicks' mismatched roster was cause for their 23-59 demise, not the head coach. And Taylor isn't sure Isiah Thomas did enough in the summer to lift the club into the playoffs.

"First and foremost, we're a bad team," said Taylor, who arrived into New York yesterday from his home in Houston. "Let's get that out of the way first. It's not all of a sudden we weren't winning. How did Don Chaney do? How did Lenny Wilkens do? How did Herb Williams do? It's not like we were just bad lately. So I don't look at it as Larry failing miserably.

"The most surprising part is they fired him with so many years left on his contract," Taylor said. "And he's also a Hall of Fame coach."

Veteran power forward Maurice Taylor will fly from his home in Houston to New York today but realizes his stay may be very brief. Taylor said he and his reps have discussed a buyout the past two weeks and it could be done before Monday's training camp.

"I'm hoping to get something done quick," Taylor told The Post. "[The Knicks] don't have any plans for me. They thought a buyout would be good for me too. It's 50-50."

Taylor's expiring contract has $9 million left and is expiring, meaning he's a definite trade pawn at the deadline.

"All I want is a fair shake, and my reps have talked to other teams," Taylor said. "I'm not in their future plans."