Isiah Thomas was not brought into New York to reshape the Knicks with the same kind of finesse that was a trademark of his long Hall of Fame career.  Mr. Thomas came onto the island of Manhattan swinging a hammer, collecting a crew of talented pieces with the hope that somehow they?d quickly glue to fit.

Since taking over the GM reigns from Scott Layden last December, Mr. Thomas has discarded Keith Van Horn, Antonio McDyess, Howard Eisley, Dikembe Mutombo, Clarence Weatherspoon, Othella Harrington, Frank Williams and Cezary Trybanski from his roster.  

His first big move came on January 5th, less than one month after his hiring, as he traded Antonio McDyess and Howard Eisley to the Phoenix Suns for Stephon Marbury.  With Mr. Marbury returning home to New York, he became the face and focal point of the Isiah Thomas era Knicks and it became evident that he?d build his team around a high quality point guard with a game and mental makeup that reflected his own.

Mr. Thomas then parted ways with the unpopular Keith Van Horn, exchanging him for versatile forward, and also albatross contract holder, Tim Thomas of the Milwaukee Bucks.

The revamped on-the-fly Knicks snuck into the playoffs, but were bounced out in the first round by their Hudson River rivals, the New Jersey Nets.

The summertime seemed schizophrenic for Mr. Thomas, as many very different trade scenarios were being widely discussed in the media.  Vince Carter, Erick Dampier, Shareef Abdur-Rahim and Antoine Walker all seemed like they were destined for the Garden at one point or another, but one name remained a constant, Jamal Crawford, the restricted free-agent from the Chicago Bulls.

Mr. Thomas had his eyes locked on Mr. Crawford, the young athletic guard from Seattle, Washington, who is capable of playing either guard position.  After five weeks of negotiations, the Bulls and Knicks eventually settled upon a sign-and-trade deal, which sent Crawford to New York, along with Jerome Williams, in exchange for Dikembe Mutombo, Frank Williams and Cezary Trybanski.

With Mr. Crawford on board, Mr. Thomas has created a logjam at the guard positions, with Stephon Marbury and Allan Houston poised to start, creating a situation where the former Bull would come off the bench, providing an instant spark at either the point or shooting guard position.

Other moves included taking chances on two talented but troublesome players; Vin Baker, a recovering alcoholic and Jamison Brewer, a player who has played in a total of 36 games over three years, and loosely resembles Ricky Williams.

Isiah Thomas? past post-playing career with the Raptors and Pacers was a mixing of both success and disappointment.  He was the first GM of the expansion Toronto Raptors, where he drafted point guard Damon Stoudamire, and he became a surprise rookie of the year.  He left the organization in 1997 where he went on to try unsuccessfully to save the CBA.

In 2000 he replaced Larry Bird as head coach of the Indiana Pacers, a team that went to the Finals and gave the L.A. Lakers their most difficult battle.  Mr. Thomas seemed like a good fit with a talented young core of players like Jermaine O?Neal and Ron Artest, as well as a former rival, veteran Reggie Miller.

Mr. Thomas was eventually let go during the summer of 2003, when Larry Bird was brought back to Indiana as an executive, and he hired his former assistant Rick Carlisle.

It took him less than six months to resurface with one of the most high profile jobs in all of sports, GM of the Knicks and has quickly become one of the most talked about executives in the league, with his "Trader Isiah" mentality.

Heading into this season, no coach in the NBA is on more of a hot seat than Lenny Wilkens, as he constantly looks over his shoulder at his boss, who may have his sights on the on-the-floor position.  Thomas expects big things out of the team he has assembled, and if the Knicks aren?t near the top of the Eastern Conference, Mr. Wilkens will swiftly become the scapegoat and it looks very likely that Mr. Thomas would hire himself as head coach.

Only a man with both the credentials and confidence of Isiah Thomas could be capable of completing all of these deals, which were made with such brash velocity.  The starting five on opening night featured Charlie Ward, Allan Houston, Keith Van Horn, Kurt Thomas and Dikembe Mutombo.  This season it will likely consist of Stephon Marbury, Jamal Crawford, Tim Thomas, Kurt Thomas and Nazr Mohammed.

Opinions vary on whether "Version Isiah" will implode or lead the Knicks back to the Finals for the first time since 1999, when they were defeated in five games by San Antonio, but the thing that is for certain, the Knicks will make for interesting back page material for the first time in several seasons.  

This is the second of Christopher Reina?s five pieces in October about the most intriguing executives of the NBA.

October 8th  Kiki Vandeweghe
October 13th Isiah Thomas
October 19th Mitch Kupchak
October 26th Jerry West
October 31st Joe Dumars


The columnist may be reached at [email protected]