The fine is a Cubanesque figure, and it came from a team, not the league. All of which makes Latrell Sprewell's $250,000 punishment Monday one of most sensational dockings in NBA history.

But then it probably punished the New York Knicks more than Sprewell.

	Sprewell

Spree is appealing the fine through the NBA Players Association and, even if an arbitrator rules that he has to pay it, the penalty represents just 2 percent of his $12,375,000 salary. Not a hit anyone would want to take, but not a crippler.

Not so for the Knicks, though. A fine of some degree was a must after Sprewell's failure to report his broken hand to team personnel as soon as it happened. But the whole incident -- not necessarily the dollar amounts involved -- takes another whack at Spree's trade value.

Sprewell and Kurt Thomas are the only two players on New York's $90-plus million roster who have any trade appeal. Yet it was limited appeal all summer and now it'll be tougher to get something meaningful for either one, after Thomas' recent domestic arrest and Sprewell's hand flap.

By all accounts, Sprewell was less than untouchable in trade talks over the summer. What the fine amount does suggest is that he's even more available now … albeit with Spree generating his worst publicity since the P.J. Carlesimo incident at Golden State.

Knicks president Scott Layden argued that he had to take serious action, saying the approach to previous Sprewell transgressions (letting them slide, that is) "has not been effective." Layden is apparently optimistic that waiting a week to meet with Sprewell face-to-face and then zapping him a quarter-million will do better.

Perhaps Portland would take on Sprewell if the Knicks were willing to absorb Damon Stoudamire's bigger contract. Maybe Indiana, with Austin Croshere and Ron Mercer surplus to requirements, could be enticed by the gamble, to finally rid itself of Croshere's deal. Unless Layden really believes that the punishment is going to take Sprewell back to his 1999 NBA Finals best, he might not have more enticing options.

Marc Stein is the senior NBA writer for ESPN.com. E-mail him at marc.stein@espn3.com.