For the first time this season, the Knicks have a problem that other teams might actually envy.

With guards Quentin Richardson and Nate Robinson returning to active duty for tomorrow night’s game against the Sixers, the Knicks have more talented players than they do spots in their rotation. The key to solving the problem involves finding enough minutes for rebounding machine David Lee and limiting the amount of shots from the backcourt. With everybody on the opening day roster available except guard Steve Francis, who is out for a while, the Knicks will be playing from a full deck. The team is on pace for a 10-win improvement over last season’s debacle; with the right rotation, they could be in the mix for a low playoff seed down the stretch.

Lee is averaging 10.7 in both points and boards, while playing 30 minutes a game and shooting 61.5% from the field. He’s a big reason that the Knicks are the top offensive rebounding team in the NBA right now. The Knicks grab an average of 32.8% of their own misses, and Lee’s hustle accounts for numerous second and third shots, an especially good thing for a team that ranks 18th in the league in Effective Field Goal percentage, a stat that accounts for the different risk/reward ratio of three-pointers.

The Knicks’ poor shooting also highlights the team’s primary offensive quandary. The team’s most efficient scorers are in the frontcourt: Lee, center Eddy Curry, and fellow power forward Channing Frye. But the backcourt takes the lion’s share of the shots. In Richardson’s absence, Lee was often played at small forward, a poor fit generally for a player who is 6-foot-9 and 235 pounds. He struggled defensively against smaller, quicker opponents, and on offense he was often called to position himself well outside of his shooting range (which to be fair isn’t much more than five feet away from the rim).

On one possession during Thursday night’s 99–81 rout of Portland, Lee was at the three and found himself spotted up at the top of the three-point arc, as an attempt to space the floor and punish teams for double-teaming Curry who has been playing some of the best ball of his career lately. Curry passed out of the double team — something that in and of itself would have warranted front page headlines earlier in the season but now feels routine. The ball rotated around to Lee who had an open three-pointer.

Lee received the pass, squared his body to shoot, then immediately thought better of it and began to dribble in for a closer shot. That allowed the Portland defense to get back in position, and Lee was forced to shuttle the ball to Jamal Crawford who jacked up a long miss just before the shot clock expired. With Richardson back at the three, the same possession results in an open three for the Knicks best outside shooter — Q nails 38.5% from behind the arc.

Because of Curry’s stellar play, he’s seeing many more double teams, and Richardson’s return should enable the Knicks to punish teams for them. Lee’s inability to play the wing makes him best- suited either to start at power forward or backup Frye and Curry inside. That would still enable him to get his 30 minutes a game. And when the Knicks need to go to a lineup with their three bigmen on the floor at once, Frye should play the three in the offense; the second year forward from Arizona has shown excellent range with his outside shot (his 21-foot jumper at the end of the second overtime versus Detroit served as a potent reminder). Frye may struggle on defense against a smaller opponent, but he won’t hurt the offense.

With Frye and Curry starting upfront, and Jared Jeffries at the three for defensive purposes, that leaves Richardson at the two and Marbury at the point (his defense against Ray Allen on Friday was a revelation; if he commits to that level of intensity, it will create a mid-career renaissance).

This lineup — Curry, Frye, Jeffries, Richardson, and Marbury, with Lee, Crawford, and either Balkman or Rose — coming off the bench would create the best rotation for the Knicks. By moving Crawford to a reserve role, it puts some reins on the Knicks loosest cannon. Marbury’s commitment to feeding the post lately might even make former coach Larry Brown smile, but Crawford is still launching too many low percentage shots — 38.7% from the field this season — for the Knicks to be effective. This would leave Robinson at the end of the bench, not as punishment for his role in the brawl, but rather because he needs to learn that as a guard his first priority has to be working the ball into the higher percentage shooters, 1.5 assists per 20 minutes per contest is not encouraging.

A low playoff seed in the Eastern Conference isn’t much to shoot for, but since Chicago owns the right to switch draft picks with the Knicks, slowing the Bulls ascendance isn’t the worst goal in the world.

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Tomorrow’s game against Philadelphia will be the Knicks first against the Sixers since Brown stepped on board as executive vice president (some say that he okayed the Iverson deal, but no team executive in their right mind would turn down the package Philly got for its superstar headache, er, guard).

If Brown is to believed that he’s not interested in coaching the team, which is a good thing since the Sixers are aiming to get younger and Brown’s track record with the Knicks’ youth last season wasn’t good. I just want to know whether Executive VP is now his dream job.

mjohnson@nysun.com