When Billy King, the 76ers' president and general manager, flew to Boston for the Reebok Pro Summer League two weeks ago, he had more on his mind than evaluating young players.

Finally out from under the imposing shadow of Larry Brown, King was thinking trade from the moment he set foot in the gym at the University of Massachusetts-Boston.

And 10 days later, late Wednesday night, he turned that thought - and hard work - into results.

Thanks to inside knowledge of what his fellow general managers wanted and his ability to organize complex negotiations, King engineered a four-team deal that involved the Sixers, the Atlanta Hawks, the New York Knicks and the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Sixers got forward Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson and a 2006 second-round pick from the Hawks, plus center Marc Jackson from the Timberwolves.

King sent forward Keith Van Horn to the Knicks and a future No. 1 pick, plus forward Randy Holcomb and cash, to the Hawks.

The Timberwolves got the shooting guard they were looking for in the Knicks' Latrell Sprewell, and the Hawks received salary-cap relief by taking on the contract of Terrell Brandon, the Minnesota point guard who had not played in nearly two years and is expected to retire without playing again.

Everybody, it seemed, got what they wanted. Thanks to King.

Billy King wanted this one. Dead or alive. Four teams, five teams, six teams. Whatever it took.

The 76ers' president/general manager wanted a consistent second scorer - where have we heard that before? - and he wanted some additional size and bulk. In truth, he wanted what he felt he hadn't gotten enough of from Keith Van Horn.

When some voices thought the whole thing was dead and gone, King flatly refused to acknowledge that possibility.

And even as the Sixers acquired forward Glenn Robinson from Atlanta and forward/center Marc Jackson from Minnesota, you got the distinct impression that there could be more coming. Maybe not immediately, but eventually.

"You never know, that's all I'll say, you never know," King said on the telephone from Salt Lake City, where he has been, among other things, monitoring the Rocky Mountain Revue, one of the NBA's sanctioned summer-league venues. "Put it this way, me, Courtney [scout Courtney Witte] and Tony [director of player personnel Tony DiLeo] are still in the room."

Kevin McHale was sitting behind the microphones, displaying more energy than any NBA general manager had a right to have, given the grueling day he had just completed.

Good news will do that. Good news that comes to those who wait, that is. What began as a four-team NBA switcheroo was complicated at mid-day when another team tried to get into the mix. When the fifth team finally dropped out, the deal finally got done.

"I found out one thing," said McHale, the Wolves vice president. "Five general managers can't make a cake, but four can."

Terrell Brandon and the salary-cap relief his contract represents is gone, to Atlanta. Center Marc Jackson is off to Philadelphia. Four-time All-Star Latrell Sprewell comes to the Wolves.

Six players and two draft picks were a part of the deal. Glenn Robinson went to Philadelphia, Keith Van Horn to New York, Randy Holcomb to Atlanta.

The 76ers also sent a first-round draft pick to Atlanta, reacquiring a 2006 second-round pick in return.

For the Wolves, it is the latest in an off-season of moves that has turned over the roster. It began with the trade with Milwaukee for Sam Cassell and Ervin Johnson. It continued last week when center Michael Olowokandi was signed to replace the departed Rasho Nesterovic.

But Wednesday's announcement might be the clincher. Suddenly the Wolves are quicker, more athletic. The blend of experience -- Cassell has won two titles, Sprewell has played in the NBA Finals -- youth and talent had McHale, well, on the verge of giddy.

New York fans have spoken, and Knicks president and GM Scott Layden may want to cover his ears.

Latrell Sprewell is gone, Keith Van Horn has arrived and the Knicks faithful had plenty of bad things to say about last night's four-team, six-player deal that sent away the most popular Knick and brought in the No.2pick from the 1997 draft who has never lived up to his billing.

"You never trade an All-Star for a small star," Jordan Battiste of Queens said. "Besides, (Sprewell) embodies New York well."

Battiste wasn't the only one to identify the four-time All-Star as a Garden favorite.

"He's like the team," said a 20-year-old female fan from Toronto. "When you think of the Knicks, you think of Latrell Sprewell."

The kindness wasn't extended to the player New York got in the trade.

"Van Horn? I don't know," said an Allan Houston-jersey wearing Mark Singleton. "I don't see where he's going to help them. I don't see where they are going to replace Spree."

The trade is final, but even after this long 2 day negotiation is over, some discussion remains.

The deal that sent Glenn Robinson to the Sixers and brought Terrell Brandon and his incredible disappearing cap number to Atlanta has also yielded the rights to Randy Holcombe, some cash, and more importantly, a future first rounder.

However, there is already some dispute over the conditions of that pick...

Six players, including Latrell Sprewell, Glenn Robinson and Keith Van Horn, were involved in a four-team NBA trade Wednesday night.

In the deal, which had been rumored since Tuesday, Minnesota received Sprewell from the New York Knicks and sent guard Terrell Brandon to Atlanta and center Marc Jackson to Philadelphia.

Robinson went from Atlanta to Philadelphia, which sent Van Horn to New York.

The 76ers also sent reserve Randy Holcomb and a first-round draft pick to Atlanta, while they reacquired their own 2006 second-round pick from the Hawks.

Minnesota vice president Kevin McHale said negotiations continued throughout the day Wednesday. He said they were complicated when a fifth team, which he would not name, tried to get involved. The process accelerated when that team dropped out Wednesday evening.

The deal ends Sprewell's five-season tenure with the Knicks which included a trip to the 1999 NBA Finals. He averaged 16.4 points and shot only a shade over 40 percent last season -- some of the lowest numbers of his 11-year career.

For more than a year, the Knicks have dangled Latrell Sprewell around the league, looking for a taker. For nearly as long, the Knicks have flirted with the prospect of acquiring Philadelphia's Keith Van Horn. Both goals may soon be accomplished in one bold move.

After a week of discussions that began with the Knicks and the Sixers trying to work a deal and has expanded in a series of incarnations involving different teams, a multiteam trade may now be taking shape and may be completed as early as today.

But multiteam trades are notoriously hard to complete and this one, like others, may end up dissolving although it is clear that the Knicks appear intent on reshaping their roster before the 2003-4 season.

According to two team officials familiar with the deal, the latest version would have the Knicks obtaining Van Horn from Philadelphia and sending Sprewell to Minnesota. The Timberwolves would ship Terrell Brandon to Atlanta and Marc Jackson to Philadelphia, and Atlanta would ship Glenn Robinson to Philadelphia.

Although those are the key components to the deal, one N.B.A. team official said, it could eventually wind up including other players.

According to one Eastern Conference official, the key components - Van Horn, Sprewell, Brandon and Robinson - and teams are set. The deal would need more pieces to work from a salary-cap standpoint, with Brandon set to make $11.1 million this season, Robinson earning $10.1 million, Sprewell due to earn $13.5 million and Van Horn $13.3 million. Although the often-injured Brandon has not announced his retirement, it is unlikely that he will play again. A team that acquires him is clearly doing so for salary-cap reasons, with his salary eventually being wiped off the books.

What do you do when your Franchise Player is not talking up his team in the offseason before a contract year?  When your Franchise Player, despite be one the most talented players in the league, can't get out of the first round of the playoffs?  Well you make some big moves or prepare yourself to drive him to the airport so that he can fly out to his new team.

The Wolves have decided on the first of those two options, having already brought in a championship winning point guard and center that most claim is just waiting to blossom the Wolves are trying to acquire All Star Latrell Sprewell.

In a deal that has been reported to involve as many as five teams, the Timberwolves look  be sending out Terrell Brandon's contract with backup center Marc Jackson.

In a deal that would give the Wolves one of the strongest backcourts in the league and the Knicks Keith Van Horn, Glenn Robinson will go to the 76ers with Brandon who will never paly again and will retire ending up in Atlanta.  That will then leave Jackson most probably joining Robinson in Philly with other player and/or draft picks being moved about as well.  Some reports have the Kings also involved in the deal but to what capacity at this time is anyone's guess.

In the other news the Wolves are reported to have had a preliminary discussion with free-agent swingman Eric Piatkowski.

Piatkowski, a nine-year veteran former Clipper, has a reputation as a pure shooter. He has made 40 percent of his three-point field-goal attempts.

Piatkowski is the Clippers' all-time leader in three-pointers made (738), attempted (1,835) and percentage (.402).

Keith Van Horn's stint in Philadelphia likely will be over soon. In a four-team trade, the details of which were being worked out last night, the 76ers will send Van Horn to New York and acquire Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson from Atlanta, an NBA source said.

The other big names involved are Latrell Sprewell, who will jump from the Knicks to Minnesota, and Terrell Brandon, who will go from the Timberwolves to the Hawks. More players, possibly another Sixer, will be included.

Billy King, the Sixers' president and general manager, was in Utah last night for the Rocky Mountain Revue summer league and was unavailable for comment. It is the team's policy not to comment on trade rumors.

Van Horn, vacationing with his family in Utah, did not immediately return a telephone message last night.

No one, including Van Horn, should be shocked. Knicks coach Don Chaney has been outspoken about his love for Van Horn's game, and there was talk between the teams about a deal before February's trading deadline.

Just last week, Chaney denied that another deal was in the works, but he said of the Sixers forward: "It's no secret that I have loved Van Horn's game for a long time."

Were the Hawks so unimpressed with Glenn "Big Dog" Robinson that they'd be willing to trade their leading scorer --- in essence --- for nobody?

Hawks director of basketball operations and interim general manager Billy Knight confirmed Tuesday night that the team has had conversations about a possible blockbuster four-team trade involving Robinson, New York Knicks forward Latrell Sprewell, Philadelphia 76ers forward Keith Van Horn and Minnesota Timberwolves point guard Terrell Brandon's contract.

In the complicated deal, which could be completed today, Robinson would move to the 76ers, with Van Horn going to Knicks and Sprewell leaving for the Timberwolves. Brandon --- and his $11.1 million in salary cap relief --- would come to the Hawks. Other players could be thrown in the mix for cap purposes.

"It's premature," Knight said. "We are talking about a deal, but no deal is a done deal until the deal is done."

Acquiring Brandon would be a shrewd move for the Hawks if Brandon sticks to his decision not to play again --- "That's the only way we'd do it," Knight said. If so, his huge contract will move off the books in February, more than two years after he played his last game for the Timberwolves, and take the Hawks out of luxury tax territory next year.

Knight had tried to persuade Hawks president Stan Kasten to use the $4.9 million midlevel exception this summer, but with more than $50 million tied up in the 10 players currently under contract, Kasten fears paying the dollar-for-dollar luxury tax. Most of the big-name free agents already have found homes, but this move would put the Hawks on the offensive, giving them the flexibility to sign restricted free agent Jason Terry and pursue other available free agent options at small forward like Lamar Odom, James Posey or Stephen Jackson --- without paying double.