The Rochester Knighthawks are good enough.

That was the opinion of the rest of the National Lacrosse League owners who last week shocked and angered Knighthawks owner Steve Donner by taking away the No. 1 overall pick in next month's league entry draft and giving it to the Albany expansion team.

"They didn't want Rochester to have the first pick because we were so strong last year," Donner said yesterday of his fellow owners. "It came down to a punitive decision. It was one of the most unprofessional things I've ever been associated with in any of the teams and leagues I've been involved with."

When the Knighthawks traded superstar Paul Gait to Syracuse two years ago, they received the Smash's No. 1 draft choice in the 1998 and '99 drafts. Because Syracuse finished last in the league both years, that pick turned out to be No. 1 overall.

Last year, Rochester grabbed Casey Powell, and when this year's draft is held on 21 September at Buffalo's Marine Midland Arena, the Knighthawks were poised to choose John Grant Jr., a University of Delaware standout who has extensive indoor experience and is far and away the best available player.

With expansion always a possibility in the NLL, the league's owners decided on a format for their drafts. All non-playoff teams from the previous year would pick in the order they finished -- the last-place team choosing first and so on -- and then the expansion team or teams would be slotted in before the playoffs teams.

Instead, the league owners chose to ignore their charter -- mainly because the Knighthawks advanced to the NLL championship game last year and were deemed to be an already strong team -- and decided to award the No. 1 overall pick to the expansion franchise in Albany.

"They used the philosophy that we've changed our minds, we have Albany coming in, we should have the pick go to the expansion team," said Donner. "If we want to have credibility as a league, we can't make decisions on the fly. We have to do them properly and not change our minds based on what happened in the playoffs last year."

Donner appealed the vote, which was unanimous against him, and he lost there as well.

Unwilling to give up, though, Donner and general manager Jody Gage went to work. They have put together an attractive trade package that they think will procure the No. 1 pick and the chance to draft Grant. "I believe we are in a very good position to get him, we have as much depth as anyone in the league," said Donner. "We feel we're in the hunt, the bad news is we're probably going to have to give up one or two quality players."

Albany will partake in an expansion stocking draft Wednesday, picking one player from each of the seven NLL team's unprotected list.

The trade package for Grant will likely include one or two players from Rochester's protected list, which includes goalies Steve Dietrich and Pat O'Toole as well as forwards Powell, Cory Bomberry, Ted Dowling, Mike Hasen, Jeremy Hollenbeck, Duane Jacobs, Darris Kilgour, Curt Malawsky, Dan Teat and Regy Thorpe.

"Our goal all along was to have the two best young outdoor lacrosse players -- Casey Powell and John Grant Jr. -- as the nucleus of our NLL team for years to come," said Gage. "I believe we have the most depth in the NLL and are in the best position to trade with Albany for the draft rights to Grant. We have discussed names and Terry is impressed with what we have to offer. Two players from our protected list, perhaps this year's No. 2 overall pick and a flip-flop of our second-round picks could get the job done. We're very close to getting a deal."

Donner and Gage refused to divulge what players may be included in the trade. Dietrich and O'Toole probably aren't involved because, as Gage said, "Goalie is the most important position in indoor lacrosse because there are so many scoring opportunities, and we think we have two of the league's five best goaltenders in Chugger and Pat O'Toole." Among the forwards, Albany coach and general manager Terry Sanderson is known to be enamored with Teat, as are the Knighthawks, and Dowling's place could easily be taken by Grant.

Rochester's unprotected list includes Tim Soudan and Randy Mearns as well as Dean Cecconi, Kevin Dance, Derek General, Rusty Kruger, Brad MacArthur, Pat McCready, Corey Quinn, Josh Sanderson and Casey Zaph. Because Terry Sanderson is Josh Sanderson's father, it seems likely that he will choose his son and therefore Soudan, Mearns and the others will return to Rochester.

The Outsider's Guide contributed to this article.