nycballer
10-16-2008, 10:48 AM
It's cheaper for Knicks to keep Marbury
Shaun Powell
October 16, 2008
He's a former All-Star and designated savior who no longer has the skills to match his healthy ego or inflated self-worth. His value to the team is falling almost as fast as his spot on the bench, and there's always a fear that his attitude, while surprisingly cooperative right now, could suddenly turn sour by the hour.
Obviously, then, with the season fast approaching, the Knicks really only have one choice with regard to Stephon Marbury and what to do:
Keep him.
Yes, this will come as a bigger shock than Eddy Curry suddenly sporting a size-34 waist. Marbury may be on the outs with the new regime, and the reputation he made for himself around here will permanently stick to him like that tattoo on his head. But the strange and simple and somewhat sad fact is this: Marbury is more valuable to the Knicks in uniform than out.
They can't trade him, and even if they could, they'd better not. Another team will only offer an old pair of Chuck Taylors and some Lehman Brothers stock for him. And if you're an expert on the history of the Knicks, you know this team historically doesn't come out ahead when trading disgruntled former stars with one year remaining on their contracts.
Yeah, you know how that Patrick Ewing deal turned out.
Donnie Walsh was the general manager of the Pacers then, and his reaction to Ewing being traded was instant and understandable.
"Good."
That's good, as in riddance, since the Pacers were bitter rivals in an era where Ewing dropped too many fadeaway jumpers and sweat pellets on the Pacers than Walsh cares to recall. But Walsh is now running the Knicks and his reaction, in hindsight, is the exact opposite. Put it this way: Walsh is here in part because of the Ewing trade, a disaster that still haunts the Knicks, seven years later.
Rather than keep Ewing and cope for one year, the Knicks accepted a bunch of bad contracts in return in a trade. All they had to do was grimace through six months, then shake Ewing's hand, thank him for the memories and use his salary to begin an earnest rebuilding project. Instead, they're still digging out from the disastrous sequence that followed. They're still sweeping up the mess caused by the decision to dump a contract with one year left and exchange it for contracts that seemed to run longer, and feel more exhausting, than the Bush administration.
"That trade didn't work out too well," said Walsh, understating the obvious.
Marbury has a year left, a year that will not exactly break the Knicks. They're not going anywhere special. They're not bracing for a championship journey. There's no precious and delicate "chemistry" at risk here. If anything, this is a year to throw away, a year that'll serve as a free pass for Walsh and coach Mike D'Antoni, no matter how many games they lose.
Knicks fans know better than to invest emotionally in this season. They're saving their deposit for 2010 and beyond, and if a trade of Marbury were to either postpone or ruin plans for the future, there would be hell to pay. So keep him.
They won't buy him out. Would you write someone a check for $21 million to do nothing? In this economy? No, they should keep him primarily because this is the year to keep someone like Marbury. He's in his walk year. It's in his best interest to play hard when his number is called and shut up when it isn't. Marbury wants another contract and another chance with another team next season, and while he's been accused of being a weirdo over the last 18 months, he ain't crazy. He knows this season, basically, will be spent auditioning for his next paycheck.
Keep him, and if he does feel compelled to go nuts, the Knicks can suspend him without pay, citing insubordination. That's a win-win for the club, the best scenario possible.
This season, the last for Marbury in a Knicks' uniform, will test everyone involved. No doubt. Already, Marbury is wrestling with subbing in for guys he used to eat for breakfast. "I'm a starter, period," he said after playing 20 minutes off the bench in the home preseason opener against Philly on Tuesday. "It's not my choice to be in this situation. It's the coach's choice."
We all have tough choices in these uncertain times, but the one facing the Knicks, when it comes to Marbury, is the easiest they'll see all year.
SOURCE: NEWSDAY
Shaun Powell
October 16, 2008
He's a former All-Star and designated savior who no longer has the skills to match his healthy ego or inflated self-worth. His value to the team is falling almost as fast as his spot on the bench, and there's always a fear that his attitude, while surprisingly cooperative right now, could suddenly turn sour by the hour.
Obviously, then, with the season fast approaching, the Knicks really only have one choice with regard to Stephon Marbury and what to do:
Keep him.
Yes, this will come as a bigger shock than Eddy Curry suddenly sporting a size-34 waist. Marbury may be on the outs with the new regime, and the reputation he made for himself around here will permanently stick to him like that tattoo on his head. But the strange and simple and somewhat sad fact is this: Marbury is more valuable to the Knicks in uniform than out.
They can't trade him, and even if they could, they'd better not. Another team will only offer an old pair of Chuck Taylors and some Lehman Brothers stock for him. And if you're an expert on the history of the Knicks, you know this team historically doesn't come out ahead when trading disgruntled former stars with one year remaining on their contracts.
Yeah, you know how that Patrick Ewing deal turned out.
Donnie Walsh was the general manager of the Pacers then, and his reaction to Ewing being traded was instant and understandable.
"Good."
That's good, as in riddance, since the Pacers were bitter rivals in an era where Ewing dropped too many fadeaway jumpers and sweat pellets on the Pacers than Walsh cares to recall. But Walsh is now running the Knicks and his reaction, in hindsight, is the exact opposite. Put it this way: Walsh is here in part because of the Ewing trade, a disaster that still haunts the Knicks, seven years later.
Rather than keep Ewing and cope for one year, the Knicks accepted a bunch of bad contracts in return in a trade. All they had to do was grimace through six months, then shake Ewing's hand, thank him for the memories and use his salary to begin an earnest rebuilding project. Instead, they're still digging out from the disastrous sequence that followed. They're still sweeping up the mess caused by the decision to dump a contract with one year left and exchange it for contracts that seemed to run longer, and feel more exhausting, than the Bush administration.
"That trade didn't work out too well," said Walsh, understating the obvious.
Marbury has a year left, a year that will not exactly break the Knicks. They're not going anywhere special. They're not bracing for a championship journey. There's no precious and delicate "chemistry" at risk here. If anything, this is a year to throw away, a year that'll serve as a free pass for Walsh and coach Mike D'Antoni, no matter how many games they lose.
Knicks fans know better than to invest emotionally in this season. They're saving their deposit for 2010 and beyond, and if a trade of Marbury were to either postpone or ruin plans for the future, there would be hell to pay. So keep him.
They won't buy him out. Would you write someone a check for $21 million to do nothing? In this economy? No, they should keep him primarily because this is the year to keep someone like Marbury. He's in his walk year. It's in his best interest to play hard when his number is called and shut up when it isn't. Marbury wants another contract and another chance with another team next season, and while he's been accused of being a weirdo over the last 18 months, he ain't crazy. He knows this season, basically, will be spent auditioning for his next paycheck.
Keep him, and if he does feel compelled to go nuts, the Knicks can suspend him without pay, citing insubordination. That's a win-win for the club, the best scenario possible.
This season, the last for Marbury in a Knicks' uniform, will test everyone involved. No doubt. Already, Marbury is wrestling with subbing in for guys he used to eat for breakfast. "I'm a starter, period," he said after playing 20 minutes off the bench in the home preseason opener against Philly on Tuesday. "It's not my choice to be in this situation. It's the coach's choice."
We all have tough choices in these uncertain times, but the one facing the Knicks, when it comes to Marbury, is the easiest they'll see all year.
SOURCE: NEWSDAY