QUENTIN PART OF PLAN

By PETER VECSEY

THE nice news about the Knicks' inevitable swap of Kurt Thomas for Quentin Richardson (and a conditional first round pick) is it doesn't alter Isiah Thomas' "genius plan" to pursue the Grizzlies' Pau Gasol using Memphis native Penny Hardaway as bait.

On second thought, it occurs to me the Grizzlies, who've lost $40 million since Michael Heisley bought the team five years ago, might've already turned down Thomas' mouthwatering offer; I seem to recall reading Jerry West decided to keep his team's borderline franchise forward despite his six-year near max contract rather than face the pandemonium Penny's proud homecoming would provoke.

The naughty news regarding the Knicks' imminent pull of a third guard who likes nothing better than to shoot is the deal's "snag" shortly will be untangled.

It seems Richardson's remaining 6-year $37.7M guarantee would not be fully insured should he incur an injury to a specific part of his anatomy (unknown to me) impaired previously. There's every reason to believe Camp Cablevision is agreeable to deleting that exclusion in writing.

Don't get me wrong, Richardson is for real; he's a tough Chicago kid (making him immediately irresistible to Thomas) who set a Suns' single season 3-point record (226 makes, incalculable tries) last year and, at 6-6, 235, is no pacifist on the post by any stretch. The swingman's arrival signals the automatic termination of the wealthy, unhealthy Allan Houston whose remaining two-year $39.8M obligation must be swallowed whole.

At the same time, do the Knicks really need another relatively one-dimensional player with an itchy trigger finger with one round always in the chamber and 32 in the clip?

Granted, Richardson, 25, is seven years younger than Kurt Thomas. Yes, he's a fairly good rebounder at small forward. Still, he's a certified chucker and an especially easy mark on defense, particularly when assigned to cover on the perimeter; Cecelia, er, Manu Ginobili broke his heart and shattered his confidence nightly.

That individual mismatch in addition to the Suns' definitive frontcourt exposure in that series convinced the powers that be to deal from as close to the bottom of their deck as possible. Freeing up future space is a necessity in order to extend Amare Stoudemire and re-sign restricted free agent Joe Johnson.

At the same time, Jerry and Bryan Colangelo are gambling big they'll be able to retain Johnson, whom they passed on locking up last summer. Presumably, agent Arn Tellem will make them painfully pay for that slight. Sources indicate the Cavaliers and Hawks are prepared to recruit the soon-to-be 24-year-old (another Celtics' reasonably recent giveaway; Chauncey Billups leading the way) to the max!

If the Suns aren't ready to go that high, project them to be minus two of their four official scorers. If they're willing to do whatever it takes, then Kurt Thomas is perfect for what ailed them against the Spurs: He provides low post macho coverage; rebounding and scoring, 10.4 and 11.5, respectively; a flawless pick-and-roll dead aim partner for Steve Nash; allows Sean Marion to return to small forward and Stoudemire to spend more time defending power forwards.

*

Just over a month after sayin' coach Terry Porter is stayin' around to complete his 3-year contract, GM Larry Harris did a U-turn on Interstate 180. Other than Buckin' the odds to ping-pong the first pick in next week's draft, what happened in between to change his mind?

According to sources (Harris refused to address the matter through the team's PR person), Porter resisted surrounding himself with a staff to support him in his weaker areas, insisting on hiring his friends instead. Very weird; Harris had iced Mike Schuler (too negative and domineering) and Jerome Kersey (offered very little) using the same rationale. When there was no agreement on how to go forward Harris responded accordingly.

My first reaction, in view of the reports Utah center Andrew Bogut figures to be the pick of the liter, is to think Rick Majerus must be on tap to take over. At least for two days, anyway.

Majerus is a long-time friend of owner/Senator Herb Kohl, the driving force in this reversal and every other important ending. Former assistant Terry Stotts, currently on the Warriors' bench, also has the senator's respect.

There also are rumbling that TNT's Doug Collins may re-surface in some capacity, if not coach, then the front office. Meanwhile, Flip Saunders appears to have eliminated himself from consideration throughout the league by asking for full personnel power and $10M per.

Hey, If Majerus doesn't grab Larry Harris, I hear there's an older gentleman who bears a striking resemblance to him in Dallas; Del Harris did a commendable job coaching the Bucks before and would make a superior choice this time.


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PV is one of the worst reporters out there.....

I don't know how you can call Q one dimensional when he's a good perimeter shooter, good post scorer, and good rebounder.

So how is this behind the scenes of anything?

The guy just rehashed all the news and threw in some bad jokes and theories.