The long goodbye
-
- July
- 5
It’ll be a sad day for the blogs when Stephon Marbury is gone.
The number of comments will decline in a hurry because no other player on this roster sparks the kind of debate he’s responsible for. What are we going to do? Knicks president Donnie Walsh has not come out and stated what he intends to do with the controversial playmaker, so we are stuck interpreting clues and reading between the lines.
Remember the rumors about MSG chairman James Dolan ordering Marbury to the bench last November?
This probably goes well beyond what Walsh and Mike D’Antoni want. I’m pretty sure the Knicks overpaid for Chris Duhon, and I’m guessing the owner doesn’t have any problem with the move. He was ready to move on before last season blew up.
In the locker room, there were no obvious signs Marbury was disliked by teammates. When a teammate did whisper, the conversation seemed to center on whether his approach would ever help an organization win. A spotty record only helped fuel the negative.
There is a risk of upsetting all kinds of apple carts if he stays.
And there is a chance to save about $11 or $12 million if Marbury is bought out, which justifies spending a little extra to bring in Duhon.
Who knows what the roster is going to look like when training camp opens? Walsh has a few ideas, but there’s no way to predict whether he can bring it all together in a couple of months. Jamal Crawford might be gone. David Lee could be headed out. Nobody is untouchable following a 23-59 season.
Fire away …
(AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
This entry was posted
on Saturday, July 5th, 2008 at 11:18 am by Mike Dougherty.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
Print This Post
| 
Email This Post
I really hope they don’t move Lee. Is there really any situation where it makes sense to move a solid young guy like that?
I like lee too. He will want a 10m p year contract extension though and the knicks mau be unwilling to do it bc of trying to get under the cap. The knock on him is that he does not have enough offense in D’s system. But he is my favorite player for all that he brings.
Its a shame that such a talented player like Marbury is such a headcase that he has ruined his own career. I will be glad when they turn the page. Maybe they can trade him for an expiring with 2 years & keep the ‘10 plan in tact. Any ideas of big contracts coming of the books in ‘10? I can’t see any team doing an expiring for expiring…maybe Rasheed but they don’t need a disgruntled point. How about Miami?
I wish we’d wait until training camp to see if it’s worth buying out Marbury. After not having played much at all last season, I’m sure he doesn’t have a lot of wear and tear and can most likely be very productive next season.
For all his faults, Marbury has always shot a better percentage from the field than Crawford. I wonder if the Knicks would be well served starting Duhon at the point and Marbury at the 2-guard spot. It’s definitely a tough call because Crawford just came off a season of averaging 21 ppg. After all these seasons, I still want to see how good a pairing of Marbury and Crawford can be at the 1 and 2. They’ve never been able to play a full 82 game season together, one of them has either gotten an injury or has had other issues to deal with.
A lot of us always felt that the one thing holding Marbury and Crawford back was having a decent pass-first point guard backing them up to take the pressure off. Now we finally got one, but it feels like the move was made two years late.
Marbury is a disaster. If we can finish this season with him, then his contract comes off the books and the franchise can start to move on. I’m also hoping that the Knicks can pull off a Jerome James for a bag of balls trade.
I think the James idea is a pipedream, the deal he got was ridiculous, I can’t see anyone touching that.
Thanks Isiah!!!
Marbury has the worst body to brain ratio in the history of the NBA. Talk about a guy who had all the gifts physically.. Strong, explosive, fast, quick, handle, jump shot, ability to finish, wrap around passes, you name it he could do it. When it came to basketball IQ, he flunked every damn time. Plus he has an ego that could humble Michael Jordan.
I’ve tried time and time again to like Stephon but he always was 1 step foward, 2 steps back.
Ultimately, Its going down to the best defensive player that can play up and down the court. Don’t be shocked if D’Antoni finds the same type of players he had in Phx to rn his new attack. I like that he may drop Gallo to the Shooting Guard at times. He may play Wilson Chandler because of his athleticism. Jamal is going to have to prove that he become a consistent scorer again. If not then the Knicks will live with Duhon and Gallo as their sharp shooters this year. Lee, Balkman, and Nate are energy guys. I see the two of the three would stay. Lee will traded if there is a trade that will not kill cap and give us a legitamate shot at winning allot of games this year.
It will be a good day when Starbury is no longer part of the organization. I said this last year and had many call me an idiot.
Yes he has talent and can score, but is a terrible point guard. Perhaps they can get something for him. Someone may be stupid enough to take him. Perhaps Zeke will get a GM job someplace we can trade him to.
This team is old and gimpy filled with players who do not like to play D.
It is a new day and hopefully the new boys in town have the guts to clean house. There are useful players here, but all can go if need be.