The Knicks made news on the basketball court — not in the courtroom — over the weekend, when they acquired rookie guard Jared Jordan from the Los Angeles Clippers. The team selected Jordan, a six-foot-two-inch point guard, in the second round of this summer’s NBA draft. At Marist College in nearby Poughkeepsie, Jordan became the first player in nearly 20 years to lead the NCAA’s Division I in assists per game in two consecutive years, averaging 8.7 dimes per contest, along with 17.2 points. In addition, he played well in the Clippers’ summer league games.

Jordan is known as a pass-first point guard with a somewhat suspect outside shot. This alone should make Knicks fans happy, as the team’s roster is loaded with point guards who look for their own shot first. But as much as Jordan fills a need on the Knicks, it’s hard to see where and how he will fit into the roster.

The Knicks entered the summer with an overstuffed roster, and this trade only makes it worse. NBA rules limit the players under contract to 15 per team, and the Knicks now have 18. The major drama — er, make that the major on-courtdrama—of the exhibition season will be how the team sorts out its surplus.

Looking at the Knickerbocker roster (see chart at right), it appears to be a motley crew, no? The Knicks’ roster underscores the ability of coach and team president Isiah Thomas to gather superb role players without first having a great nucleus for this secondary talent to surround. Take any top 20 NBA superstar and surround him with this group, and the Knicks would be a favorite to come out of the East. Without such a superstar talent, though, these Knicks are not likely to make it deep into the playoffs. But an important step toward the postseason will occur during the next few weeks, as they get the roster down to regulation size.

The Knicks are said to be taking that first step this week. The AP reports that the team is nearing a buyout with Dickau, a 29-year-old journeyman guard who is not a good outside shooter (39.6% from the field, and 34.3% from behind the arc for his career, and last season’s numbers were far worse). He isn’t a bad passer, but that’s exactly what Jordan (and yes, it’s hard to keep typing that name without thinking of someone else) brings to the table.

After Dickau, the choices get tougher. The team reportedly asked Nichols to play in Europe this season, and he turned down the request. Nichols was acquired from Portland shortly after they made him the 53rd pick in this summer’s draft. Ordinarily, players chosen in that slot don’t have many options, but this was a deep draft, and Nichols distinguished himself with excellent play during the Knicks’ summer leagues this year in Las Vegas. The organization may cut him simply by viewing him as a malcontent. If they do, however, it seems likely that Boston or Toronto, or even the Nets — a team always in dire need of secondary talent — will lunge for the former Syracuse University standout.

The player that every Knicks fan and commentator would like to lose is center James. A former Sonic, James parlayed a week of good basketball against a poor and injured defender (Brad Miller with a bad leg), into a six-year, $30 million deal in 2005. Even though the competition is stiff for this dubious honor, James is easily Thomas’sworstfreeagentsigning. In two seasons, he has been putrid. Per 40 minutes of play, he averages 11 fouls (which tells you how he plays defense), and his shooting, at 41.8%, is shockingly bad for a seven-footer who is typically the tallest player on the floor and standing next to the rim.

Buying out James would require that the Knicks’ front office is suddenly able to recognize their mistakes and amend them. That’s a skill sorely lacking in Thomas and his associates, though, as the sexual harassment trial against Thomas has made clear.

The next parting choices are even less likely. Balkman’s injury, which will sideline him for four weeks, makes it unlikely that the team will part with Jeffries. Also, Rose is the team’s best post defender, so he becomes less expendable until Balkman’s condition is better known. Jones’s skills are widely duplicated on the roster — but he has ties with Thomas going back to their days together with the Indiana Pacers when Isiah was his coach and mentor. Were it not for those ties, the Knicks would not likely have wanted him included in the Randolph trade. Letting go of any other player will likely bite the Knicks in the butt later.

So, who will go? The best choices are James and Jones. Jones isn’t needed among the array of guards, andMorriseasilymatchesJames’s skills — and James’s minutes should go to the younger Morris, anyway. But the Knicks aren’t likely to do that, so expect a couple of roster moves this month that will likely hinder the progress that the team has made this summer.

mjohnson@nysun.com