What frustrates me about the move isn't the end of the Ewing era, which some saw as inevitable, but the fact that little else in the trade makes sense. The Knicks entered the offseason with about five players who can play shooting guard or small forward, and the worst rebounding game in the NBA.

So what do they do? They trade their best rebounder, Ewing, for yet another shooter. Granted, Rice is a three-time All-Star who has shot over 40% from beyond the arc for his career.

But on a team already loaded with perimeter players, including Allan Houston and Latrell Sprewell, his addition seems strange, at best. "Just Add Rice" may be a successful recipe for Harvard University Dining Services on alternate days, but it does nothing for these Knicks.

If no further moves are made, this team will never get another rebound again.

Many expected a follow-up deal to fill the void in the middle. The names Dikembe Mutombo and Chris Webber littered area tabloids the day after the trade occurred, and Knick fans opted to uncharacteristically reserve judgement on the Ewing trade until the other shoe fell.

But during the press conference in which the Knicks' brass introduced Glen Rice to the media, General Manager Scott Layden opened his press conference with a shocking -and unsolicited--comment. He said that no further moves were on the table, and that the Knick team as presently constituted is the team "we're taking to training camp."

Backing him up were officials on both the Hawks and the Kings, who don't seem eager send their respective superstars to the Big Apple.

The only guarantee that Layden or Knick coach Jeff Van Gundy would make is that Larry Johnson would start at power forward, essentially guaranteeing that the team will be undersized for another year.