http://www.nypost.com/sports/knicks/30242.htm Latrell Sprewell should have extra motivation tomorrow when the Warriors visit the Garden to kick off the post-All-Star break schedule. Sprewell still takes great pleasure in beating Golden State, where the same management team is in place that sought to ban him from the league. That's not all. Tomorrow night could be his last game at the Garden in a Knick uniform. The Knicks open their 11-day, six-game Western trip Friday in Phoenix. The Knicks will be in Oakland next week for the Feb. 20 trade deadline. When Don Chaney told The Post last week that he felt Sprewell is having his best all-around season because he's been a better leader, you can take it at face value. Or you can take it at trade value, as in trying to increase his trade value. Sprewell has increased his market value the past six weeks. Teams recognize the Knicks have been a .500 team since he returned to the lineup and he's played extremely unselfishly, been on time and has regained his shot since January, his scoring average back up to 17.8. The Knicks are shopping the 6-5 Sprewell because their three aims are to get younger, get longer and obtain a player or players with shorter-term contracts at less than maximum. The Sixers' Keith Van Horn fits the first two criteria but not the financial one. Van Horn is making $12M this season - similar to Sprewell - and has one more contract year. That extra year is a crucial factor in the new way of Cablevision thinking, with James Dolan facing a $40 million luxury-tax bill this summer. One Eastern Conference talent evaluator said a Sprewell-for-Van Horn swap would be a good basketball move for the Knicks. Because Sprewell is stuck out of position at small forward, he believes the Knicks should deal him for either the 6-10 Van Horn or the very available 6-7 Hawk Glenn Robinson. Sprewell is 32, Van Horn is 27 and Robinson just turned 30. "The team's not getting any younger," the NBA front-office type said. "You get a guy like Glenn, you've improved your team because you have a natural 3. Glenn's getting all the heat in Atlanta, but their star player [Shareef Abdur-Rahim] is not very tough." Knick GM Scott Layden and Chaney happen to be big Van Horn fans. "Keith is what Keith is; you've got to accept that," the executive said. "Put him on a frontline with Kurt Thomas and [Antonio McDyess], it's a playoff team, as long as they play him at the 3. You lose a little perimeter defense but he shoots the ball better than Spree and he'll get more rebounds. Keith takes heat because of how much money he makes, you want more out of him. But he'll get you 16-to-18 points and eight rebounds. He's a good player." Though Sprewell's maximum contract (with two years left on it after this one) is a turn-off, clubs feeling they are one player away from making a championship run might bite. "It will juice him up, too," the executive said. "Those guys are used to winning. He's a great competitor. Those guys want to compete for a championship. He's a veteran guy and a great perimeter defender." Which is why Layden won't give him away simply to try to cut his future luxury-tax bills. Chaney contends Sprewell is a new man since the controversial preseason. "He now has a sense of responsibility to the team and teammates," Chaney said. "That helps his leadership. He's become a real leader. He's been a much better player this year than he's ever been. A lot of that has to do with all the things that's happened."
