Bob Cook

If it’s true that Isiah Thomas wants to get Ron Artest on his team, then the New York Knicks will be well on their way to having the scariest team in the NBA -- in every sense of the word.

Following up his blockbuster trade for Zach Randolph, whose scoring and rebounding abilities are as prodigious as his rap sheet, Thomas, according to New York newspapers, is interested in having Artest join him with the Knicks, sending to Sacramento David Lee (and, presumably, someone else to match salaries).

Earlier, New York papers reported Thomas was interested in Rasheed Wallace. It’s only a matter of time before Thomas calls Golden State to inquire about Stephen Jackson, asks Latrell Sprewell if he wants to start feeding his family again, or hires the Hanson Brothers as consultants.

Apparently Thomas has decided that if you’re going to go down, go down swinging -- literally.

No doubt that in the weak Eastern Conference, which the Cleveland Cavaliers won with a lineup of LeBron James and four guys plucked from a pickup game in Euclid, a Knicks lineup of Randolph, Artest, Stephon Marbury, Eddy Curry and Jamal Crawford would be an instant contender. All of them can score, and Randolph and Artest can rebound. The only one who can play defense is Artest. But the league’s leading lockdown forward shuts off James, then the four pickup players from Parma should be easy enough for the other Knicks to handle.

But this lineup also would be an instant powder keg.

The first problem is the volatile personalities that will make every possession an adventure. With five shooters and one ball, what sort of offense are the Knicks going to run? The one-on-one-on-one-on-one-on-one isolation? With Artest, you never know whether he’s lights out and will go off for 35 points, or whether he will do nothing but stand around and take 3-pointers, scoring 12 points on 4-for-20 shooting.

The second problem is the volatile personalities that will make every personal interaction an adventure. Just ask Ruben Patterson, whose eye socket was broken by a Randolph punch during a Portland practice. After the infamous 2004 Pacers-Pistons brawl, surely no fan is going to spill a beer in Artest’s presence.

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The third -- and potentially biggest -- problem is the volatile personalities that will make every moment off the court an adventure. There’s always the worry that Randolph and Artest, no strangers to the inside of a police station, will get into more trouble by going to New York. But given that both have found a lot of trouble in the state of Indiana (Randolph’s a native, Artest is still living there even though the Pacers bounced him early last season), it’s safe to say Randolph and Artest don’t need the big city to find themselves in a bad situation.

You wonder whether it’s a good idea for Thomas, currently embroiled in a sexual harassment lawsuit brought by a former Knicks employee (a case that also has painted a not-too-flattering light on Marbury’s conduct toward women), to avail himself of players with pending civil (Randolph) and criminal (Artest) cases involving assaults against women.

The acquisition of Randolph, and the possible acquisition of Artest, also makes you wonder, one more time, what Thomas must have on Knicks owner James Dolan to remain employed as general manager and coach, given how his numerous, dubious acquisitions have so far kept the team blissfully playoff-free. It’s a particular head-scratcher because Dolan has a reputation for wanting to root out bad characters on his team, which is why Sprewell and Marcus Camby were sent away.

Oh, wait: Sprewell and Camby’s biggest crime against Dolan was missing one of his team media training sessions. So as long as Randolph and Artest show for those, they should be OK.

In fact, given the drumbeat by some in the local media to have the Queens native return home, Artest, along with Randolph, would solve one of the Knicks’ biggest perceived sins -- being boring.

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