Knicks could feel need for Rasheed

Link:The ugly ending to Rasheed Wallace’s season could be the start of something encouraging for the Knicks.

Isiah Thomas is in the market for a rugged power forward to play alongside Eddy Curry, and Thomas may look to revisit acquiring Wallace, the volatile Pistons veteran who fouled out and was ejected in the fourth quarter of Detroit’s season-ending loss in Cleveland in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals. There already is talk of the Pistons breaking up their team after losing four straight games to LeBron James and the Cavaliers. Wallace, who is signed through the 2009 season, is the most logical choice to be moved.

When Thomas first assumed control of the Knicks, he twice tried to trade for Wallace, who instead landed in Atlanta and then Detroit. Thomas never got over losing Wallace to his former teammate, Pistons GM Joe Dumars, and has told associates that Wallace would have made the Knicks a perennial playoff team.

Thomas has his sights set on Jermaine O’Neal, Kevin Garnett and Pau Gasol, but Wallace is a more realistic option. It is unclear if Dumars is prepared to trade Wallace or if he has interest in any of the Knicks’ players. Another factor could be the influence of Garden chairman James Dolan, who once swore off bringing in players he felt would embarrass the franchise.

Wallace, 32, is one of the league’s top power forwards but has a history of undermining himself and his team with his abrasive antics. On Saturday, Wallace was called for three fouls in a span of 39 seconds, fouling out of the game. He immediately lost control of his emotions, was thrown out and began screaming profanities at referees and Cavs players. Because Wallace had accrued seven technical fouls in the playoffs he would have been suspended had there been a Game 7.