Ewing’s Free-Agency Bid Is Denied by Arbitrator : Basketball: Ruling finds Ewing has fourth-highest NBA salary, in line with his contract with Knicks.

An arbitrator ruled in favor of the New York Knicks on Monday, denying center Patrick Ewing’s bid to become a restricted free agent and kicking off the next phase in their long-running test of wills.

The decision by arbitrator Daniel G. Collins, announced in New York, found Ewing to be among the NBA’s four highest-paid players and bound him to the Knicks for the last four seasons of his contract.

Ewing had a clause in the contract, signed in 1985, making him a free agent if he was not in the top four on June 1, 1991.

Collins said that Ewing’s $3.18-million salary for the coming season ranks behind only Cleveland’s John Williams ($4 million), Houston’s Hakeem Olajuwon ($3.5 million) and Chicago’s Michael Jordan ($3.25 million). Boston’s Larry Bird will get $7.1 million this season, but Collins ruled that $4.6 million of Bird’s money was a signing bonus and didn’t qualify under the terms of Ewing’s contract.

Ewing and his agent, David Falk, issued a brief statement that gave no hint of their next move. Ewing said: “I am very disappointed by the ruling of the arbitrator. I feel he made the wrong decision. But I know in my heart that I made the right decision to fight for what I believe in.”

Ewing’s reaction is being watched closely amid reports he might try to force the Knicks to trade him. Falk has said he may file collusion charges against the Knicks and other NBA teams.

Several teams, including the Clippers, pursued a deal for Ewing last winter. There has been recent published speculation in New York that if the Knicks felt obliged to trade Ewing, they would talk to the Lakers because new Coach Pat Riley is familiar with their players.

A source says Riley has been unable to woo Ewing over to the new program. They met soon after Riley was hired in June, but rather than moderate his demands afterward, Ewing continued to press for free agency.

New York reportedly has offered a six-year, $33-million deal, which Ewing turned down.

“We don’t have to sign him to anything,” Knick President David Checketts said. “He’s signed for four years now. . . . We are not planning to put another offer on the table. Patrick is bound by the remaining four years on his contract. I don’t have any incentive to offer him a new contract.”

If his contract is not changed, he will make $14.2 million over its final four years.

However, a source said the team is expected to continue negotiations. The New York Daily News, quoting unnamed sources, says the team will offer Ewing $4.4 million for this season.

Negotiations have been going on all summer. Checketts was optimistic at first, but less so when Ewing demanded to present his case to an arbitrator.

There were also reports that the Golden State Warriors were considering restructuring Chris Mullin’s contract to push Mullin over Ewing’s $3.18 million and trigger the free-agent clause, a move the Knicks consider tampering. A source says NBA Commissioner David Stern took the reports seriously enough to ask Warrior management about it.

The Knicks say they don’t want to trade Ewing and were trying Monday to put the summer’s wrangling behind them.

“The relationship with Patrick has been a very professional one throughout the arbitration, and we’ve tried to maintain that,” Checketts said. “Patrick will continue to be an important part of our team.”