With center Raef LaFrentz recently falling out of favor with coach Don Neslon, the New York Knicks are once again preparing to try to swoop on the 6-11 bigman.

Frank Isola of the New York Daily News reports that Knicks president Scott Layden has coveted the 6-11 forward for three years and nearly traded for him 11 months ago before the Mavs made a deal with Denver on the eve of the trading deadline.

To land LaFrentz the Knicks would have to give up reliable big man Kurt Thomas, whose departure from Dallas following the 1998 season was labeled a "franchise error" by Nelson last week.

A trade of Thomas-LaFrentz would need to include additional players from New York's end due to a big difference in salary.  

Mavericks owner Mark Cuban told reporters last week he does not envision his team making any trades.