If the goal was to return to the NBA playoffs, the Knicks were doomed from the start last season. Latrell Sprewell showed up for training camp with a fractured shooting hand that would cost him eight games and Antonio McDyess suffered a fractured left kneecap that cost him the entire season.

Even though the Knicks improved by seven wins to 37-45, there's little point in simply bringing back the same lineup and hoping for a healthy McDyess. Everyone in the organization knows the Knicks have to take dramatic steps to get better, and coach Don Chaney isn't pulling any punches when he says changes are in the works this summer. After drafting three players last week, the Knicks expect to be very active during the free-agent negotiating period, which opens tomorrow and often acts as a catalyst for trades.

"I think we have to do more," Chaney said. "I think you have to take everything in stages. Right now, we have to work out the European guys and find out if they will be available. If we can get that done, we can go from there to trades and the free-agency market."

First-round power forward Mike Sweetney definitely will be on the roster this season, but the contractual status of second-round big men Maciej Lampe and Slavko Vranes with their European teams is uncertain. General manager Scott Layden expects to talk to Real Madrid today about Lampe's buyout clause, and he's trying to arrange for both to play with the Knicks' rookie league team starting July 14 in Boston.

Regardless of whether there is a need to clear roster space for Lampe or Vranes, the Knicks are expected to be in the market for a free-agent center. They also are bound to consider point guards, as they can buy out Charlie Ward's contract for $2 million.