Days after Larry Brown won the 2004 NBA championship with the Pistons, he walked into GM Joe Dumars’ office with a list of players the coach wanted traded, including at least one starter.
According to a league source, Dumars was shocked and Brown got a reprimand from owner Bill Davidson.
Now Brown, after the most embarrassing season in Knicks history, has carte blanche, and Isiah Thomas has agreed to reshape the roster to Brown’s liking.
“When I left Detroit, we were one game from winning the championship and they got six new players,” Brown said. “We won 23 games. To sit here and think we’re going to stand pat is kind of silly. We’re loyal only to the Knicks winning. Now we got a job to do. We got to change this. The owner and Isiah promised me that we can build a team the way I feel comfortable coaching.”
Detroit’s Ben Wallace said the Knicks need more role players, and that is the Knicks’ plan, not a very sexy one. Brown has identified the three biggest needs: a playmaking point guard, a shot-blocking center, and a defensive small forward.
Generally, Brown wants players who rebound, defend and don’t need the ball. That the description of Seattle’s Danny Fortson, who has demanded a trade. The Knicks inquired about him at this season’s deadline.
The Knicks have the $5 million mid-level exception to sign one free agent; among the targets are Brown favorites: playmaking point guard Speedy Claxton; small forward Jared Jeffries; and rugged rebounding power forward Reggie Evans.
The Knicks will look into a sign-and-trade with Atlanta for free-agent forward Al Harrington, but he’s not their No. 1 priority.
Brown doesn’t trust Jerome James to become the team’s big-man defensive intimidator, so they plan to get involved again with Portland for shot-blocking center Theo Ratliff and can offer Maurice Taylor’s expiring contract. The Blazers are looking for expiring contracts and draft picks, leading to a potential draft-day blockbuster.
The Knicks have two late first-round picks (20th and 29th). The Blazers are trying to get rid of Darius Miles, but the Knicks have more interest in point guard Steve Blake, who worked out for the team last summer.
They will shop Stephon Marbury and Steve Francis, who blew off the media on getaway day and carries more baggage.
“I definitely have a difficult job in terms of changing the roster,” Thomas said. “We want to make it right. GMs such as myself find a way to get [Brown] things he needs and he finds a way to win.”
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The Post has learned that Thomas is heading to Europe in the next few days for a twice-postponed draft-scouting mission.
marc.berman@nypost.com
