Marbury on the move...
Thomas, the team president, for the first time this week admitted that the Knicks were in a rebuilding mode. He has traded one veteran (Kurt Thomas), might waive another (Allan Houston) and will unload two players with huge contracts (Tim Thomas and Penny Hardaway) by next summer.
Once committed to a win-now mentality, Thomas's priorities have clearly shifted, and his recent actions raise the possibility that he might trade his most prized acquisition, point guard Stephon Marbury.
Marbury is 28 and is owed $60 million over the next three seasons. The contract will make him difficult to move, but there are already indications that Thomas will try.
This week, a Western Conference team executive and a player agent each independently said that the Knicks wanted to move Marbury.
"There's a desire for that to happen," said the agent, who requested anonymity because he did not want to jeopardize future dealings with the Knicks.
There are no signs that Thomas has put any proposals on the table, but executives around the league say they will not be surprised if Marbury is offered in the weeks ahead.
A spokesman for the Knicks would not comment.
It would undoubtedly be a difficult decision for Thomas, who acquired Marbury in a celebrated trade with Phoenix 17 months ago. Marbury, a Brooklyn native, is popular with fans and is the team's best player. He has career averages of 20.6 points and 8.3 assists, ranking him among the best point guards in the league.
But Marbury has played for four teams in his nine-year career and has yet to win a playoff series. Although still young, he has a lot of mileage on his body, having entered the league at age 19. He often sat out practice last season because of knee soreness.
Once deemed untouchable by Thomas, Marbury no longer wears that mantle.
In April, after the Knicks completed a 33-49 season, Thomas was asked if he would trade Marbury.
"The way I feel right now, I'd trade my mother if the right deal came along," he said then.
This week, Thomas acquired a potential successor, the 5-foot, 9-inch Nate Robinson. The Suns took Robinson with the 21st pick in the draft, then traded him to the Knicks, along with Quentin Richardson, for Kurt Thomas. Knicks officials are exuberant about Robinson's potential.
A product of the University of Washington, Robinson is quick (he set a state record in the 110-meter hurdles in high school ), can dunk with both hands and is built like a linebacker. In fact, he was a two-way player in high school and spent a year in Washington's football program as a cornerback before deciding to concentrate on basketball.
Thomas said Robinson's height was the only reason he was not drafted higher than the three point guards taken ahead of him - Deron Williams, Chris Paul and Raymond Felton, who went three through five.
"I think if he was 6-2, he probably would have been the No. 1 pick in the draft or the No. 2 pick in the draft," Thomas said Thursday.
The Knicks also like Robinson's confidence and poise. Although Robinson might not be ready to step into an N.B.A. lineup immediately, the Knicks could groom him for the job while using Jamal Crawford, who played point guard for most of his career, as the starter if they trade Marbury.
Crawford and Robinson are viewed as good fits for a running team. Marbury, despite his quickness, is viewed as a half-court guard who is reluctant to push the tempo.
Thomas has visions of creating an East Coast version of the Suns, and his moves this week reflected that.
In Channing Frye, taken eighth in the draft, Thomas got a mobile big man who can spread defenses and run the floor. In Robinson, he got perhaps the fastest player in the draft. In Richardson, he got a 25-year-old shooter who has experience in an up-tempo offense.
Where that leaves Marbury is unclear. But as Thomas continues to restructure the Knicks around younger, quicker players with more reasonable salaries, the idea of dealing Marbury does not seem so far-fetched.
What is clear is that the Knicks are charting a new course. When he was asked on draft night if he was rebuilding Thomas said, "without question."
When he arrived in December 2003, Thomas said the goal was to win immediately. But this week, he said that the debilitating injuries to Houston forced him to re-evaluate.
"Our team is going to be totally different than the team you saw play its last game," Thomas said.
Ich denke der Artikel ist Seriös, denn er stammt nicht aus der Post, sonders diesmal aus der Ney York Times.
Allerdings denke ich, dass es für Marbury aufgrund dessen Vertrages wohl nicht allzuviel potentielle Abnehmer geben dürfte. 3 Jahre und 60 Millionen ist kein Zuckerschlecken. Zwar handelt es sich hier um einen der besten PG's der Liga, jedoch überlegt man da gerne schon 2 mal bei so einem Vertrag. Könnte als heissen, mann muss ne Menge reinballern wenn man was gleichwertiges zurückhaben möchte , sprich picks, oder aber man frisst ein wenig Schrott und auslaufende Verträge.
Für mich gibts eigentlich nur genau 2 Teams die für einen solchen Deal in Frage kommen.
1.) Memphis
Die können Marburys Vertrag locker abfedern mit eigenen Verträgen( Jason Williams+Wright).
2.) Celtcis
Pierce für Steph+First Rounder
Paule war nie billger als jetzt und die Celten brauchen ja eigentlich auch nen PG. Vielleicht legen sie ja noch Banks mit drauf und die Knicks einen talentierten Spieler aus ihrem Kader?
In jedem Falle scheinen mir diese beiden Teams die heissesten Anwärter für einen potentiellen Deal zu sein.
