Nets and Knicks Show Togetherness in Working Out Draft Prospects "There is nothing unusual about the Knicks' working out draft prospects at this time of year. There is nothing unusual about the Nets' doing the same. But the Knicks and Nets working out their players together? Now that's unheard of. Until now. The Knicks and Nets evaluated four potential draft picks on Tuesday here at the Knicks' training facility. They will meet again on Wednesday at the Nets' training facility to work out four more players. This union will be repeated regularly until the N.B.A. draft on June 28. ''No poker faces,'' Nets General Manager Ed Stefanski said when asked about operating on enemy territory. ''We just watched workouts. I think workouts are good but I think it's just a piece of the puzzle. All year long you've been out there with scouts looking at players. I think that's the body of the work. Now you'll interview these kids and see how they're made up.'' Until this season, N.B.A. teams were allowed to work out college seniors any time after the Final Four. They always did so on their own. But the league changed the rules so teams can no longer evaluate players until after the annual predraft camp, which ended on June 1 in Orlando, Fla. Tuesday was the first day teams were allowed to conduct workouts, which are not open to the news media. The rule change, which was made to increase attendance at the predraft camp, leaves teams with only three and a half weeks to evaluate players. With their coaching staffs and front-office personnel in attendance, the Knicks and Nets brought in Derrick Byars of Vanderbilt, Sammy Mejia of DePaul, Demetris Nichols of Syracuse and Curtis Sumpter of Villanova. Stefanski called the first day of the new partnership a resounding success. However, he acknowledged that the Nets might not always be as interested in a particular player as the Knicks, and visa versa. ''Everybody was in the gym together,'' Stefanski said. ''There was no certain section for the Nets to sit and certain section for the Knicks. Although I had an obstructed view. Did they do that on purpose? I had a pole in front of me.'' The Nets own the 17th pick in the first round; the Knicks have the 23rd. Neither team has a selection in the second round. ''Why it works, too, is the proximity of the draft picks,'' Stefanski said of the Nets' arrangement with the Knicks. ''If we were at 12 and they were at 28, it would not make sense.'' When Sumpter arrived at the Knicks' training facility Tuesday morning, he was greeted by twice as many faces as there would have been under the old rule, including Isiah Thomas, the Knicks' coach and president for basketball operations; Rod Thorn, the Nets' president; and Lawrence Frank, the Nets' coach. ''It was a little nerve-racking at first,'' Sumpter said. ''You see Isiah. You see Rod Thorn. You see the coach of the Nets. You see just everybody together. It's like, wow, everyone's eyes is on you.'' PRO BASKETBALL"