Isiah Thomas is thinking of changing his starting lineup again and probably hopes the next move doesn't send the player he's benching AWOL.

"We could have another change or two down the road depending on the way our guys are playing," he said before the Knicks' latest loss. "I got three big guys who are playing as well as any three big guys in the league, in David (Lee), Eddy (Curry) and Zach (Randolph). There could be some thought to playing those three together, a lot. So we'll look at ways to continue to get better and to get the best players on the floor, regardless of position."

If Lee becomes a starter, that would send Quentin Richardson to the bench. While that would make the Knicks a bigger and better rebounding team, it would also pose quickness problems when they play against conventional small forwards. Lee can't guard on the perimeter, while Richardson has shown he is still a better-than-average defender on the outside.