As we pass the one-year mark of Isiah Thomas’s stewardship of the Knicks, it’s time to look back on how he transformed a moribund franchise into one of the league’s best teams in less than 12 months. Too bad it wasn’t the Knicks.

Thanks in huge part to Thomas’s trade for Stephon Marbury in January, the most surprising development of 2004 has been the transformation of the Phoenix Suns into one of the NBA’s best teams. We can only say “one of” and not “the” best team after Tuesday’s 115-94 demolition at the hands of San Antonio. But regardless, a team thought to need a multiyear rebuilding project instead made a lightning-fast U-turn.

Less than a year ago, Phoenix was struggling near the bottom of the Pacific Division and looking at a deeply flawed roster that would be over the salary cap for several years to come. That changed in one fell swoop when Phoenix sent Marbury and the asphyxiating contract of Anfernee Hardaway to the Knicks in return for a grab-bag of leftovers and two developing players (reserve forward Maciej Lampe and Spanish league guard Milos Vujanic).

If you only look at the players involved, Isiah swindled the Suns. But in the NBA, it’s never just about the players – it’s about the almighty cap. Unencumbered by Marbury’s and Hardaway’s contracts, the Suns had a free ticket to rebuild around high-flying forwards Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire. They took that ticket and won the lottery with it, netting guards Steve Nash and Quentin Richardson in free agency to create one of the league’s best starting squads.

It seems odd that exchanging Marbury for Nash and adding Richardson, a solid but hardly star-caliber talent, could propel the Suns to such heights. Nonetheless, they are 24-4 through Tuesday after winning only 29 games all of last season. Of course, such a vast improvement required the confluence of several important factors, above and beyond Isiah’s help:

1 CHEMISTRY The new starting five fit together a lot better than the previous quintet did. Stoudemire and Marion are terrors in the open court, but their skills were wasted with a half court point guard like Marbury. Adding Nash, who pushes the ball upcourt harder than any point guard this side of Jason Kidd, immediately addressed the need to get more transition opportunities for the forwards.

2 SMALLBALL One reason the Suns so much better this year is be cause coach Mike D’Antoni was brave enough to throw caution to the wind, move Stoudemire to center, and play 6-foot-7, 210-pound string bean Shawn Marion at power forward. This immediately removed one of Phoenix’s biggest obstacles to success: they had been starting stiffs at center for years.

A year ago, Phoenix played Marion and Stoudemire at forward with limited Jake Voskuhl manning the middle. Now Voskuhl’s spot effectively belongs to Stoudemire, making the team much more dangerous. This was a vastly underrated choice by D’Antoni – there aren’t five coaches in the league who would have had the cojones to make that move.

3 THE RULES The timing of the small ball switch couldn’t have been more fortuitous. Just as the Suns were remaking their lineup into a smaller, faster unit, the league fired a missive to the officials to crack down on hand checking on the perimeter. The result: A huge advantage for players like Nash and Marion, who can no longer be shooed away with a forearm to the hip when they drive to the basket.

4 SUPER STOUDEMIRE Regardless of how the Suns remade their roster, one thing they couldn’t have counted on was the explosive development of Stoudemire. Easy fast break baskets courtesy of Mr. Nash have certainly helped. So has Stoudemire’s move to center, where his absurd quickness for a man of his size allows him to routinely beat plodding big men on drives from the high post.

Stoudemire’s biggest improvement, though, has been the lack of youthful mistakes that plagued his first two seasons. Last season, Stoudemire had one of the worst turnover rates in basketball, making miscues on 13.5% of the possessions he used. That number is down to a far more reasonable 10.7% this year. Also, his shot selection is greatly improved; thus, his field-goal percentage is over ten points higher. Stoudemire’s amazing .584 mark ranks second only to Shaquille O’Neal, and is more than eight points higher than any other 20-point scorer.

5 HEALTH Of all the reasons behind Phoenix’s emergence, the paucity of injuries may be the biggest. The Suns’ biggest concern this fall was their weak bench – a weakness masked thus far by good health. Phoenix’s five starters have yet to miss a game, a phenomenal stroke of good fortune considering the same five players combined for 51 absences a year ago. The top four subs haven’t missed any time either.

It’s difficult to overstate how fortunate the Suns have been in this regard. At any given time, most teams will have at least one of their rotation players injured. The Knicks, for example, have been without either Allan Houston or Jamal Crawford for nearly every game. Ditto for the Nets with Jason Kidd, Ron Mercer, and Alonzo Mourning.

In the big picture, it’s a bit unfair to pin Phoenix’s turnaround completely on Isiah’s deal for Marbury. The Suns have benefited greatly from rule changes, a superstar’s emergence, and an amazing run of good health. However, they still owe Isiah a tremendous debt of gratitude for this reversal of fortune, because they could never have done it without him. Knicks fans can only hope they’ll be able to say the same thing someday.