Have you seen Penny Hardaway play lately? There's a reason Li'l Penny isn't on TV any more. And it's not just because those ads sucked. There is also a reason Starbury is on team #4 or 5 in his tour of all the league's franchises. The good news is, there's no one currently on the Knicks who can complain about him hogging the ball.
Marbury, one of the league's best point guards, is averaging a team-high 20.8 points for the Suns, who are in last place in the Pacific Division. He signed a four-year extension, worth approximately $76 million, earlier this season that kicks in with the 2005-06 season and runs through 2008-09. Counting this season, he has six years on his contract and will make $14.625 million next season, then a yet-to-be-determined figure in the first year of the extension. Hardaway, a former All-Star, has been coming off the bench for the Suns. He has three years left on a deal that will pay him $13.5 million this season, $14.625 million in 2004-05 and $15.75 million in 2005-06. The contracts of McDyess and Ward expire at the end of this season, and Ward has a buyout clause that can be exercised before Jan. 10. As actor Jeffrey Jones said in Amadeus, "Well, there it is." This is all about the Suns realizing that they can suck with or without Marbury and Penny, and the Knicks realizing they needed to do something big. Phoenix will now be in position to fundamentally build its team around its young studs (plus the ones they acquired in the deal), while New York can go two rounds deep and then get knocked out without reaching the finals. Although I think Lampe will be a good player and Vujanic might be a great one, the salary cap room and the $20-$25M saved in luxury taxes by Jerry Colangelo make this a strong deal for the Suns.
Damn, I hadn't realized that Penny makes that much. He may be an effective role player, but for that kind of money, you could have 3-4 effective role players or 1 or 2 potential stars. Depending on how the new Knicks gel and what the playoff matchups wind up being, the 'bockers could get to the East finals, which is much much further than they would've before this trade, but at what cost? I'm still looking forward to Stephon playing in MSG though. He'll bring some fire (and revenue) the likes of which the Knicks haven't seen since the Starks/Ewing days.
This is Marbury's fourth team. He wanted out of Minnesota because he didn't want to be in KG's shadow. Then he wanted out of New Jersey because he wanted a better supporting cast. Minnesota didn't improve, per se, but they haven't been hurting without him (and this year's squad might be the best yet). New Jersey improved immediately after getting rid of Marbury and replacing him with Kidd. Phoenix has become the worst team in the West. And now he goes to New York to try to turn a sub-.500 team into a playoff contender? What makes anyone think he is capable of doing this?
Every sub-.500 team is already a playoff contender in the East...
Nath? What?!? This is a stunning deal for the Knicks. How can you say otherwise? I think Kurt Thomas now stays. Fucking Leastern conference better watch out. Suns get cash, picks, and a whole lotta cap room. Safe to say they weren't going to win this year and now can play with all them free agents. Oh and Ward will be released to sign with the Clippers or something. Apparently that was pre-arranged.
I think it's better for the Knicks, sure, because now they don't have a glut of 6'7" - 6'10" players, and actually have capable guards. However, I don't think they're going to actually play much better, and in a few years Marbury will be tired of it and be ready to go somewhere else, because there's too much pressure being at home or he doesn't like his supporting cast or something. Marbury's a fine player, but there's a reason he keeps finding himself on bad teams.
I don't think they're going to actually play much better I can name three reasons off the top of my head why they will play better: 1. McDyess, an inferior player to Kurt Thomas, is sent packing, restoring playing time to Thomas. 2. Howard Eisley and Charlie Ward are out, replaced by Marbury, at least a top-5 point guard. 3. Penny Hardaway is better-than-average (which is better than Shandon Anderson, who is very average).
Something we haven't touched on: Does this trade officially solidify D'Antoni's tenure as Suns Head coach? D'Antoni is a basketball legend in Europe, and he's helped the NBA make great inroads in scouting European players. The Colangelo's hadn't seriously dipped into the "Euro-pool" until this past summer when they drafted Zarko. They liked what they saw. With noted international players Barbosa, Lampe, Carbakapa, and soon Vujanic, will the Suns be banking on D'Antoni to meld these players? Or will he merely be an interim coach who gets say a year or two to play with?
Cool. Those sound like good reasons to me (but basketball is a distant third in terms of sports I profess knowledge of). I just wouldn't expect much. The playoffs aren't out this season (if only because a team could probably make it in the East by winning 35 games), but I wouldn't expect much more than a few years' worth of first-round exits. Then Marbury becomes unhappy again. I think his biggest problem is that he's way too selfish to be a real point, and prefers to toss up shots like a 2 (and maybe he should be one; that's what they did to Iverson and that worked pretty well, after all). I can't imagine him distributing the ball enough to keep Houston or anyone else happy.
last, belated note: I checked it out and Marbury's never played more than 2 1/2 years anywhere in his professional career. And there's always a reason he wants to move on (or at least, reasons given why he'll be better at his new location): In Minnesota, he wanted to go back home (or at least to Jersey) and wanted to run his own team. In New Jersey he wanted a better supporting cast (and get away from the pressures of performing at home). I don't know what he wanted to get out of Phoenix, but I think they're just the latest team to figure out they can lose just as easily without Marbury as with him.
