By JOHN HOLLINGER
February 6, 2007

The trade deadline is rapidly approaching, so you'll pardon Knicks fans if they're watching the news ticker with trepidation these days. Based on events of the past few years, followers of the Knicks have all but resigned themselves to reading something like " Knicks send F David Lee, G/F Quentin Richardson and 2009 first-round pick to Blazers for F Darius Miles" running across the bottom of their TV screens soon.

However, that scenario may be a little less likely this time around. For one, Isiah Thomas acquired every player on this roster, so making a deal now means trading one of the guys he was so anxious to obtain in the first place. Second, it appears owner James Dolan no longer has an open-checkbook policy with Thomas, restricting him from making the splashy, costly deals that have been Zeke's bread-and-butter in the past.

But suppose for a minute that sanity ruled the day. Suppose Thomas was looking at deals with the Knicks' long-term interests in mind (chortle, chortle), and that instead of the big splash, the Knicks looked at more subtle moves to help address some of their weaker areas. What type of deals would the Knicks look at then?

As you can see by looking up and down the roster, there are plenty of areas for improvement, and fixing them doesn't have to cost a fortune. Here's some areas where the Knicks are most in need of help, and a few deals that might get them what they need:

NEED 1: A true point guard. The Knicks have plenty of players on the roster who list "point guard" on their résumés, but in truth these are guys are only called point guards because they're too short to play the wing. Stephon Marbury, Nate Robinson, and Steve Francis all have shoot-first tendencies, as does occasional point man Jamal Crawford. As a result, the bigmen tend to get short-changed on touches, because whoever is at the controls is more concerned with creating his own offense than shots for his teammates.

This isn't always a bad thing — witness the Wizards offense with Gilbert Arenas at the helm — but the problem here is a lack of variety. The Knicks have three players who do very similar things offensively in Robinson, Crawford, and Francis; Marbury is more of a passer than the other three but hardly the second coming of John Stockton. Exchanging one of them for a player of similar ability but one more inclined to share the ball would help Thomas mix and match lineups by need, instead of subbing three basically redundant players in for one another.

Point guard is a crowded area on the trade market too, so it seems there's room to deal. Players like Atlanta's Tyronn Lue, the Rockets' John Lucas, and Orlando's Travis Diener all have inexpensive contracts and can be had for the right price. That price that would probably involve Robinson or Mardy Collins unless Francis's contract was included as part of a much larger deal.

NEED 2: A shooter who can hit from outside. The Knicks have a dominant post player in Eddy Curry, but to maximize his potential they need more players who can stretch the opposing defense and make opponents pay for doubleteaming. The Knicks are shooting .327 on 3-pointers this year, the fourth-worst mark in the NBA; individually only Quentin Richardson (38.4%) is a reliable weapon from downtown. Marbury and Crawford have had their moments (especially in Crawford's 52-point outburst against Miami), but for the season their numbers are pedestrian — 35.3% for Marbury, 30.3% for Crawford.

The Knicks could potentially knock off two needs with one deal here, as the point guard they get in the deal outlined above could also be an outside shooter. Both Lue and Diener are strong outside shooters, for instance.

NEED 3: A stopper on the wings who isn't completely useless on offense. In other words, not Jared Jeffries. The Knicks' latest free agent flop has proved even less capable than expected offensively. As a result, opponents feel at liberty to abandon him in order to double-team Curry in the post. Additionally, the Knicks are learning that Jeffries's skills are more suitable to zones and trapping than to being the man-to-man stopper New York hoped it was getting.

The Knicks won't be able to dump his contract, but they have some other players that could be expended in order to acquire a stopper. Malik Rose, for instance, would be expendable if the Knicks wanted to take on a slightly longer mid-level type deal — such as that of Minnesota's Trenton Hassell. Memphis's Dahntay Jones could be had less expensively, although this may be a wash since offensively he's not any better than Jeffries. But the best option may be Orlando wing Keith Bogans — the reeling Magic are looking to deal and might be enticed if the Knicks made the right offer.

NEED 4: A defensive-minded power forward. Of all New York's needs, this is clearly the greatest. Isiah Thomas recently inserted Jerome James into the starting lineup because his desperation for a defensive presence to play alongside Eddy Curry was so great. With David Lee slated to come off the bench as the team's unofficial energizer bunny, somebody in the starting group needs to set the tone defensively for the frontcourt. That won't be Curry, and I greatly doubt it will be James.

So the solution is to acquire a power forward who thinks defense first. If he can create space for Curry by hitting 15-footers, so much the better. Unfortunately, this isn't an easy specimen to acquire. Teams put a premium on frontcourt players, and especially ones who can defend.

That's why the Knicks must ponder what was unthinkable a year ago — exchanging Channing Frye for a different type of player. Don't get me wrong — I still think Frye will be an outstanding offensive player in the NBA. So do a number of scouts and execs that I've talked to. But the reality for the Knicks is that he simply can't play alongside Curry — one of New York's frontcourt players has to be able to defend good post players, and neither of these two can do it.

Moreover, a package of Frye and Rose could potentially pull in somebody truly good. Not just a stopgap, à la Lue and Diener, but a long-term rotation guy who can improve the Knicks' greatest weakness, defense.

I'm sure Isiah would be reluctant to deal a guy who was his lottery pick a year earlier, and in fact, I would be reluctant, too. But this is an area where the Knicks should listen hard to any offers, because if the right deal came along, it could make the team considerably better for the stretch run.