Marbury gets a boot
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- January
- 14
Stephon Marbury knows better than most how to deal with bone spurs.
It’s not the only nagging issue he’s dealing with.
No matter what they say about their relationship, I can’t help but notice the increasing tension whenever Isiah Thomas and Marbury interact. They will probably never get back to the way things used to be.
And maybe that’s a good thing.
I needed a camera the other night to capture the expression Marbury wore during the unfinished comeback against Toronto. He stood with hands on hips staring down court where a busy Thomas was holding court with Jamal Crawford.
That used to be Marbury over there in front of the bench, plotting away with the head coach.
Marbury seemed to be a little annoyed, like somebody had stolen his seat at the dinner table. When he didn’t suit up last night, that’s all I could think about.
There is a very good chance Marbury is really hurting. We ask constantly about the ankles, which have a checkered past. Something’s been keeping him from attacking the rim of late.
“If the doctor says that I have bone spurs in my ankle and he says I need surgery, I’m going to get it,” he said. “I’m not going to wait or hesitate, because that’s my career.â€?
For now, the medical opinion is on hold.
Marbury was examined this afternoon by Dr. William Hamilton, who placed him in a walking boot. There was inflammation around the ankle, which sometimes prevents a clear picture. Marbury will go for an MRI on Thursday and be re-evaluated.
Surgery would result in a layoff of at least eight weeks.
There are plenty of people on both sides of the locker room door who believe that might actually benefit the Knicks. It would eliminate one distraction. Of course, I remember a lot of people who believed the organization would be a lot better off without Patrick Ewing.
Marbury keeps talking like he believes a trade is coming.
“I love New York and I love the Knicks,” he said. “This is where my heart is at. This is business. In this business trades do happen. I’m not going to say that I’ll be mad about that. I don’t want that to happen. But for myself, I want to finish my career here.â€?
The contract expires after next season. A contending team might be interested in renting a capable scorer, but the way Thomas keeps bringing up the bottom line, it’s possible the plan is to let the contract expire and move on.
You can blame Ewing for that, as well.
Remember the millions and millions in bad contracts they had to accept to make that deal a reality?
Think it over carefully before demanding a trade.
This entry was posted
on Monday, January 14th, 2008 at 5:56 pm by Mike Dougherty.
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Blame Ewing? I would hope that this organization learned from their mistakes and is attempting to get under the salary cap.
Marbury should not be traded unless the players coming in expire after this season or after the next. We shouldn’t be adding to the payroll now that we are in a position to get under it with a few trades that keep the salary in mind.
Marbury/Rose will take $29 million off the books after next season.
Richardson/James will take $16 million off the books the season after that.
Randolph/Jeffries should be traded for contracts that end in 09 or 10 to coincide with Marbury’s expiring or Richardson’s expiring year.
That would give us some much needed cap flexibility to sign a big free agent… Lebron James perhaps?
PS. Isiah should not be allowed to make anymore trades. He may put us in a worse position than the one we’re already in.
giaps,
I agree don’t let Isiah do anything. From what I’ve read there are 2 trades where the Knicks would be screwed. They are:
1 – Marburry, Lee, and #1 for Artest, Raihem, Thomas
2 – Zach and Balkman for Villannuva, Simmons and Gadzuric
NO, NO, NO. Do not let him do anything. Don’t let him touch Lee, Balkman or our #1. Don’t let him get rid of Marburry expiring contract. And don’t let him give up Randolph unless it involves an expiring contract.
Doesn’t Artest expire after this season? I’d like to see him in an NYK uniform but not at the expense of cap space or Lee. Maybe they’d be dumb enough to take Randolph or Marbury. Maybe I’d give up Balkman as insentive in that kind of deal. He seems like he’s not in Isiah’s good graces. I didn’t see Detroit but I’m amazed a how little he’s played. Did anyone notice how exasperated he was with Jamal in the 4th quarter against the Raptors? Jamal missed him with a clear path to a dunk and he literally threw his hands in the air. Jamal lost some esteem in my eyes on that play.
I’ve been away from posting for a while now, just no words anymore. Still, I’m watching every game and reading every post. And while I like that Marbury may be out for the chemistry of this team, I never thought he was as much of a problem as others make him out to be. All that ‘promise’ they showed last year on the 21-17 stretch or whatever it was, Steph was monumental in making that happen.
If Steph is out for the year, we are for sure going to be a 20-23 win team. The only chance for this team ever making a run is with Steph in the lineup. My opinion, he is still the best player on the team.
That being said, there is probably no need for these Knicks to make a run. They can’t make the playoffs, nor do we want them to. So I guess Steph shutting it down and the Knicks getting 23 wins is good, considering it could usher in the Derrick Rose era.