no it wasn't a bad move. i'm thinking that they still have a shot at the playoffs. it's just that it's a bad move in the LONG RUN. i'd like to perceive GMs as guys who actually think both ways (short and long term) but this deal has short term written all over it. It's a blessing to NY fans that they actually have something that resembles a team rather than the group they came in with at the beginning of the season. BUT there's a lot of things (financial) that COULD hurt the organization if this deal doesn't pan out like it should. BUT then again, the East is the Guard Conference and i'm pretty sure Marbury can will the Knicks into the playoffs. Kenny Thomas signed a 7 year 40 mil deal. so i'm pretty sure Kurt thomas would be asking for simliar or even higher amount of money
That's a good point. New York definitely is a playoff team in the East, but those are good question marks when figuring out whether they could win the conference. The East is thin, so the Knicks don't need homecourt advantage to win the conference, but they do need strong contributions and good team chemistry to do it.
Two lottos this year, if Knicks don't jel. Plus lotto-esque Lampe and Milos. Lots of young talent and $ to grow into greatness with. However, how often does that work out? Knicks are back! KVH is on the clock...
As I stated earlier, the Knicks are rumored to be offering KVH a buyout on the $30M left on his contract. If this is so, he will be a free agent shortly after Marbury arrives -- so he can trash Marbury on the way the door!
CARRIED? Hardly... In the 7 games last April (not counting the last two games of the season when the starters were mainly rested after the Suns clinched a playoff berth), Marion led the team in scoring 6 times, Marbury only once. Marion averaged 26 per game, 8 points above his season average, While Marbury averaged 20, slightly below his season average, and 8 assists, which was right at his season average. He played well, but I'd hardly call it putting the team on his back. He also disappeared the final two games in the Spurs series. Marbury hasn't "carried" anything. ...and carrying a team to 44 wins isn't exactly saying much, considering McGrady carried the Magic to 42 wins with much less talent around him
I wonder... If you went to the Rockets locker room a week ago, and told Moochie that within 10 days he was gonna be playing with Stephon Marbury in New York.. I wonder what his reaction would be? -- droxford
i mean isnt he playing? why wouldnt he pass a physical? if you can play in the nba, i think you could pass a physical definitely not saying hes even half of what he was but he cant suck as much as OU... sorry i just remembered the game last night. haha
MISLEADING stat A-Train. If you watch the phoenix games, everything revolves around Marbury. He sets the table for Phoenix's scoring, including Marion's. You cannot look at points alone in that small 7 game window. Can you do the same for the last 20-25 games instead? You can dress it up with your pretty stats all you want...it just shows you that you didn't watch much of Phoenix the last 20-25 games last year. I can recall at least 10 games of the last 25 games or so that phoenix played last year where he just dominated and carried them, including the playoffs.
It's not that rare for a player to flunk a physical and kill a deal. Remember, you don't have to pass physicals to stay on your team or come off the IL. That knee isn't right, and I don't think it ever will be. Point though is, Suns didn't trade for McDyess, they traded for his contract. Just like Atlanta traded for Brandon this summer. I'm pretty sure no physicals were taken. Evan
The Suns can dream all they want but they're not getting Kobe. I mean, sure Kobe hates Shaq and all, but he's going to leave LA's spotlight, style and money for... Arizona? I just don't see it happening. I'd say he goes to the Spurs before he'll go to the Suns.
I agree. In fact I would argue that Kobe would go to the Clippers if not the Lakers. He would be the star of the team with nice seconds in Brand and Maggette. And he would STILL be in LA and could stick it to the Lakers every day! That would be a very interesting scenario! And the Clippers DO have the cap room this summer to sign him!
I was looking at the Lakers' site and I found this: jack Haley was saying he was joking with kobe before the game and kobe took a clipper jersey pretended it said bryant and and he told him "you never know I might be clipper next year" jack said kobe might very well become a clipper next year.
I guess Marbury gets his wish... but lets start it off with the dumbest quote of the year "To make that type of analogy actually just shows stupidity. You've got to realize, this is the same guy who said he wanted to play in Madison Square Garden because of the aroma. He meant 'aura' but he said 'aroma.' So you've got to put everything in perspective." -- Flip Saunders, on Stephon Marbury saying that Amare Stoudemire is better than Kevin Garnett.
ESPN Insider's Take on the Trade. Suns clear cap, will they come after Kobe? By Chad Ford NBA Insider Monday, January 5 Updated: January 5 2:23 PM ET A supernova just hit Phoenix. The Suns are blowing up again. Suns GM Bryan Colangelo read the writing on the wall. His team, once considered the best young squad in the NBA, was floundering. Attendance was dwindling. The luxury tax was looming. The chances of making the playoffs dimmed by the day. What to do? Trade away problem child Stephon Marbury, get Penny Hardaway's millstone off your neck and try again next year. The prize? Enough cap room to make a run at the Lakers' Kobe Bryant, the rights to the best young point guard in Europe, Milos Vujanic, and a chance to to go from a being a good team to a great one next year. The trade, which sources told Insider would be completed today, sends Marbury and Hardaway to the Knicks for Antonio McDyess, Charlie Ward, Howard Eisley, Maciej Lampe, the rights to second-round pick Vujanic and two first-round picks, including New York's unprotected first this season. Of all the players the Suns are getting, only Eisley and Lampe will be on the books next season. McDyess and Ward are vehicles by which the Suns can slash a $66 million payroll this season and turn it into roughly $10 million in cap room next year. How? McDyess' $13.5 million, Ward's $6 million (the Suns will buy out Ward this week, saving another $3.6 million) and Tom Gugliotta's $11.7 million all come off the books at the end of the season. Add in the $6.4 million Eisley is slated to make next season and the Suns are looking at around $36 million in guaranteed salaries next season. Add in cap holds for the two first-round draft picks they own, and that number swells to $39 million. Sources in Phoenix claim, however, the Suns are probably not done dealing. The team will try to move a pick or two along with a salary to get closer to that $35 million number. If the cap comes in at around $45 million next year, and the Suns are $10 million under, the Suns are suddenly right in the middle of the hunt to land Kobe. And at first glance, they'd have to be the odds-on favorites. Kobe has been hinting that he wants out of L.A., but before today's trade, his best option appeared to be the Clippers. While the Clippers aren't a bad option for him if Donald Sterling is willing to pay, the Suns would be better. Combined with Amare Stoudemire and Shawn Marion, along with young players like Joe Johnson, Zarko Carbarkapa, Lampe and Milos Vujanic, the Suns would have as formidable of a team as any in the league. Phoenix has always been a premier free-agent destination because of the weather and the way the Colangelos run a first-class organization. Having Italian coach Mike D'Antoni couldn't hurt things either. Yes, Kobe would have to take a decent pay cut to play in Phoenix. He's due $14.6 million next year in Los Angeles, and the Suns would probably be able to offer him only around $10 million. But for Kobe, the change of scenery, and the chance to win a championship without Shaq, may be worth the salary hit. Even if the Suns can't land Kobe, the serious cap room will help them land a top-flight player. The acquisition of the two young European prospects -- Lampe and Vujanic -- also bodes well for the Suns' future. Lampe stunned scouts when he slipped from a projected lottery pick to the first pick of the second round. The 7-foot native of Poland slipped when rumors that his team, Real Madrid, wouldn't let him out of his contract spread the day of the draft. The Knicks were able to secure a buyout and Lampe played well in the summer league for the Knicks. Lampe has a typical European game. He's a good ball handler and excellent outside shooter for his size. Unlike other top European big men, however, Lampe has a body built to play in the low post. The Knicks quickly found that he was too slow to play the three in the NBA, but found a lot of success using him as a high-post five in their offense. The Suns were very high on Lampe during the draft, and would've selected him had Zarko Carbarkapa not been on the board. Given the Suns' lack of true big man, Lampe may be a perfect fit in coach Mike D'Antoni's system. He can run the floor, stretch the defense and is tough enough to go in and grad a rebound. He'll never be athletic enough to play the three, but he could definitely help at the five. They also landed the rights to Serbian point guard Milos Vujanic. Vujanic, 23, is widely regarded as the best young point guard in Europe. Vujanic averaged 25.7 ppg and 3.2 apg for Belgrade's Partizan team last year. This season playing for Euroleague powerhouse Skipper Bologna, the 6-foot-3 is averaging 12.8 ppg and 2.0 apg on 59 percent shooting from the field. While those numbers won't wow NBA observers, they are considered very solid considering that the Euroleague credits assist differently and that Vujanic is on a team stacked with talent. Insider actually traveled to Belgrade last winter and watched Vujanic light up one of the top teams in Europe, CSKA Moscow, in front of the home crowd. Here's an excerpt from that scouting report. At first glance, his game is eerily reminiscent of Steve Nash's, with one or two differences. Both players are fantastic shooters (Vujanic goes 4-for-9 from beyond the arc tonight). They both love to push the ball up the court, and always keep their cool even under pressure. Vujanic, however, is a better athlete and a tougher defender. The NBA's best point guards all have one thing in common -- the ability to split defenders and get the ball to the basket. Jason Kidd is the master of this, and Vujanic isn't far behind. One second he's shooting 3s. The next he's pushing the ball on the break and dishing a perfect behind-the-back pass to a trailing teammate for the jam. The next time down, he's battling for offensive rebounds, and then he's flinging himself into the stands for a loose ball. Vujanic has a killer jump stop and can pull up on a dime and sink the open jumper. CSKA has no answer for him. At times they triple-team him, but he always makes them pay. He is putting on a show tonight. Of all of the players we've seen on the trip, he is by far the best. His stat line at the end of the game tells most of the story: 28 points on 7 of 14 shooting, seven assists, three rebounds and three steals in 36 minutes. Most important, Partizan scores a huge upset over CSKA. Vujanic opted not to join the Knicks last season and instead signed on with Skipper Bologna. Vujanic and his agent were concerned that with the Knicks' logjam at point guard that he'd be mired on the end of the bench. Vujanic decided he'd be better off getting more experience playing for one of the top teams in Europe. With a clear opportunity to come in and start for Phoenix, expect Vujanic to be in a Suns uniform next season.
nice trade for the Knicks, if they were not going to re-sign McDyess then they have basically given up this years first rnd pick and last years first rnd pick (lampe) for Marbury. hope the suns have a plan, as it doesn't appear that clear right now, looks like the build around Marion and Stoudamire, both of which i reckon need someone reasonably skilled and creative to get them the ball in good spots to score Assuming they let McDice go and waive Ward before Jan 10 then there roster next year would look something like this C- Lampe PF - Stoudamire SF- Marion SG - Joe Johnson PG - Eisley Bench Barbosa Cabarkapa Suns 1st Rnd pick Knicks 1st rnd pick Jacobsen Voskul White Williams not really that scary So basically the jury on whether this trade works for the Suns, depends on who they draft this year with those two picks, sure their's will be fairly low but the Knicks pick will be probably be mid to late teens pick and then if they can sign a quality player with the cap-space Dice and Ward's contracts give them.
interesting this point guard Milos Vujanic he averages 2 asst a game and 1.5 turnovers but he is GREAT Rocket River he seems a score first type point guard
In Lampe they get a big man (who at 18 hasn't stopped growing) and a John Stockton class point guard. Drat!
