Three years ago, in a column about the prevalence of salary cap mismanagement in the NBA, I wrote that even Knicks fans could roll on the floor laughing about the Portland Trail Blazers situation.

At that point, the Blazers were at the end of a long run as a playoff perennial and frequent championship contender. Their roster was full of players renowned for their bad attitudes and abilities to fill up police blotters better than they filled up a stat sheet. Even in Portland, the team was often called the Jail Blazers. In addition, they were so far over the salary cap that it seemed their decline would continue inexorably for years.

Instead, the Blazers have bounced back with almost alarming speed. Three years ago, Portland lost 55 games, and a year later they bottomed out at 21–61. Last season, though, the improvement began. Led by Rookie of the Year Brandon Roy, they went 32–50. It was encouraging progress, bolstered by winning the lottery and drafting the heralded Ohio State center, Greg Oden. But after Oden underwent a season-ending micro-fracture knee surgery this year, it seemed that the Blazers would only be able to add modestly to last season’s gains.

Instead, they’ve taken a great leap forward. The team is presently on an 11-game winning streak, and their 16–12 record places them a half-game off the lead in the Northwest Division. Portland’s peripheral stats are less gaudy, but there’s one big factor on their side: youth. The Blazers have the youngest roster in the NBA, with an average of 23.8 years. All of the players in their rotation (except center Joel Przybilla) are on the upside of their careers. They figure to get better from month to month this season, and much better when Oden arrives to push Przybilla to the bench next season.

How did one of the NBA’s laughingstocks become a contender so quickly? And does their rise offer any potential lessons for the Knicks, the subject of much laughter around the league?

The transformation of the Blazers is a testament to timing and to drafting well. The market for NBA players is in constant flux, and the Blazers have adroitly managed to maximize the trade value of their talent and get draft picks to rebuild the franchise. They drafted Brooklyn-based high school star Sebastian Telfair, and when he proved to be a disappointment, their response was textbook: Rather than dig in their heels and insist that he would become a star, they moved him while he still had cachet. They analyzed other teams to see who might be interested in a young point guard, and their research identified Boston. The Celts at that moment were struggling at both the point and in the pivot. Also, the locals were growing weary of the pace of the Celtics’ youth movement. The Blazers smartly offered Telfair and veteran backup center Theo Ratliff in exchange for Raef LaFrentz and the draft pick that became Roy.

Similarly, when the Blazers saw the Knicks entertaining a buyout of Steve Francis, they moved to trade forward Zach Randolph to the Knicks for Francis, who was immediately bought out. Randolph no longer fit into Portland’s future plans, but Francis’s contract had two fewer years left on it, so Portland saved money and the aggravation that comes from watching Randolph, an immensely talented offensive player who sometimes doesn’t even bother to join his teammates at the defensive end.

The result of deals such as these, as well as solid drafting that brought in talent such as LaMarcus Aldridge, Martell Webster, and Travis Outlaw, as well as backcourt wiz Sergio Rodriguez, has turned the Jail Blazers into actual trailblazers when it comes to franchise rebuilding in the NBA.

The Knicks’ current situation closely parallels the predicament Portland faced three seasons ago. Can someone turn the situation at Madison Square Garden around with the same speed? Possibly, but it will take execs with more acumen than Isiah Thomas and James Dolan. The conventional wisdom is that the Knicks are stuck with players such as Randolph, Stephon Marbury, Jerome James, and Eddy Curry, who have bad contracts and little demand for their services.

There’s probably no hope for James, who should just be bought out. But in the next two to three seasons, there will be teams in need of interior scoring or a backcourt gunner, and the Knicks will have to move fast to offer deals as these needs arise. Marbury’s deal expires after next season, and so can Curry’s, if he’s paid off enough to decline his two player option years. Each could bring back several draft picks in trade packages that will be attractive, as long as the locals don’t take on too many stiffs to make salaries match.

This would result in a team with Randolph and guard Jamal Crawford to anchor the offense. Hustle guys such as forwards David Lee, Wilson Chandler, and Renaldo Balkman and a solid mix of complementary players such as guards Fred Jones and Quentin Richardson would surround Randolph and Crawford. Take that and start adding draft choices (with a particular eye on drafting to create a new post-Randolph-and-Crawford nucleus), and you’d have a team in turnaround. They might not have the same ceiling as Portland, but it would result in a team with much better future prospects than the current Knicks squad.

mjohnson@nysun.com