Marc Berman reports that while Detroit GM Joe Dumars has been emphatic about re-signing Rasheed Wallace, Mehmet Okur's status is unclear. As with Wallace, Thomas is expected to take a run at Okur, it has been learned.

If Wallace does re-sign with the Pistons, Okur could be the odd-man out and the Knicks have their $5 million mid-level exception to play with. Thomas has said he will be very active with his mid-level exception.

Knicks coach Lenny Wilkens said the club would look for an athletic power forward. Okur doesn't meet that description, as he's slow, but he has brawn and size and can block shots, unlike Nazr Mohammed. Plus, this free-agent class is weak and Thomas can eliminate all the talk that he doesn't like European talent if he signed Okur.