Isiah Thomas sounds like a man desperate to make changes to his roster - and you can take Eddy Curry off the untouchable list.

Thomas insinuated some guys on the club can't play in the manner he wants and made his most damning remarks yet about Curry, pointing out his flaws and admitting Curry may not develop into a franchise center to build around.

It seems the time for the Knicks to reignite trade talks for Ron Artest, who can opt out after next season. With team morale at its lowest and one of the supposed team leaders on-the-block Malik Rose recently asking to be placed on the inactive list, Artest can't make the climate any worse. Rose dressed last night only because of Quentin Richardson's knee injury but did not play.

Thomas said in the summer he wouldn't deal David Lee or Renaldo Balkman for Artest, but that may have changed.

Thomas' recent rips on Curry could be perceived as bracing fans for Curry's departure.

"I can say that, as always, if we can improve our team, we will," Thomas said yesterday, which usually is code phrase for saying the club is active in trade talks. And, there's a growing sense more than just Rose wants out too.