look i didnt say it vescey did, so take it for what its worth.

Vescey: Knicks Look To Move Marbury
11th November, 2005 - 4:05 am
NY Post - Without citing any specific source, Peter Vescey says that Knicks' president Isiah Thomas and head coach Larry Brown have notified "certain teams ... with specific needs" that Stephon Marbury is available.

Vescey says the Knicks started the process about two weeks ago by putting out feelers in order to gauge interest.

The coach may not be entirely enamored with his star point guard's game and Brown’s may be the weightiest opinion at MSG these days.

"This is New York," Vescey writes, "where Thomas brought in Brown to save his job and [Brown] might wind up taking it."

Getting back equal value may be the tricky part but the Knicks may prefer to erase Marbury from the roster than worry about the particular talent swap they receive in return.

Vescey speculates on a return back to Minnesota for Marbury, possibly in exchange for Wally Szczerbiak. Miami is another potential destination mentioned by Vescey, with Jason Williams and Antoine Walker two pieces in the mix. Vescey also talks about Jalen Rose (but Marbury has two more remaining contract years than Rose, which may make such a deal unappealing to the Raptors’ management).

Vescey states that the Knicks' young gun rookies are untouchable for now




Hmmmm, i wouldnt mind that jason wiliams and antoine walker trade

Aaah, this is complete bollocks!


There is so much wrong with this article, it doesnt even deign Isiah to rebutt it. Larry Brown's not taking Isiah's job, even if he wants to, which is debatable. The Knicks arent firing Isiah any time soon regardless of record. He brings star quality and that means bums on seats, so the management dont care.
isiah may have made mistakes in the past, but there is no way he's going to trade Marbury after 4 games. Some reasons?:

A. Marbury is pulling his socks up. It may not look like much right now, but from small acorns grow mighty oaks. His D is unrecognizable from last year where he said he'd rather rest on D to preserve his O. In fact you might say quite the opposite is occuring, and maybe his game is suffering as a result. This is a short term by-product to the betterment as a player of Stephon.

B. Jamal Crawford, while he has also been trying to become the PG/Off guard the LB wants him to be, has less talent and a longer contract then Marbury. If there was anyone in the backcourt that the Knicks wanted to get rid of, IMO it would be Jamal. Don't get me wrong, I personally think that Jamal will get better as he adjusts to not being able to throw it off the backboard and express himself. Once he gets Larry's fundamentals down, he will also grow in leaps and bounds. But he is young, talented and more tradable then a player with a larger contract would be in his situation, and that IMO spells trouble for him.

C.Antoine Walker?!?! Jason Williams?!?!? Why? What purpose on gods green earth would it serve to trade for those two? Toughness at the 4? Uh, no. Fundmentals and defens at the PG spot? Yeah right! Also bear in mind that if we do trade Marbury for those two, we would still have Jamal, who would start at the PG before J-Dub. Walker at the 3? Maybe. It's a thought, but he's no pure shooter thats for sure. I mean yeah, jacks them up with the best, but that doesnt mean they go in does it? Now Udonis would be a different story. He fills a need for us. But the Heat arent trading him.

This story is a load of unmitigated garbage that has no basis in reality. Steph's going nowhere. And if he does wear out his welcome, it will be at the deadline, not at the start of the season. Heck, Larry's season hasn't even started yet! He's just trying all the clothes on to see what fits right now. Once he picks the right outfit out of the dross, then we'll see the real LB coaching.

Phew! I'm done now. I think.

[Edited by - firefly on 11-11-2005 04:53 AM]

Even if it's true, MArburied has to get traded.. He's poisoning this team!!! Everywhere he goes, he just doesn't fit into a system..

HE shoulda stayed with GArnett and Saunders in Minny.. None of this over his last 6 yrs would've happened..

You people make me laugh when you say he's the best pg on our team.. First off, he really isn't a pg, secondly he plays no defense whatever...

Guaranteed you, once Marburied is moved, the Knicks will get themselves on a winning note.

Pg to possibly pick up: Andre Miller, Earl watson.



[Edited by - WOODMANNyK on 11-11-2005 09:08 AM]

ISIAH SET TO DUMP STEPH


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STEPH INFECTION: With the Knicks off to a sputtering start, it appears Stephon Marbury will soon be dealt. Peter Vecsey's sources say the Knicks put the word out two weeks ago that Marbury was available.
Photo: AP

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November 11, 2005 -- ISIAH Thomas, Larry Brown and Stephon Marbury, of all people, had to know it would come to this.
They had to know the arranged marriage between the consecrated coach and the self-ordained "best point guard in the NBA" would end in a messy divorce. They had to know the perfectionist teacher, as impatient of dumb mistakes, slow learners and individualist inclinations as you'll find in any classroom, and a player yet to confirm he's concerned more about the standings than his own standing, would collide head-on. If Marbury's genuinely cared about winning he never would have forced the up-and-coming Timberwolves into a trade with the Nets; the reason being Kevin Garnett was the man with the mega-salary and Stephon was destined to ride shotgun, poor dear, for the league-lowered max.

They had to know this wasn't going to work because it already hadn't worked in Athens. Because of Larry Brown's burgeoning relationship with Isiah Thomas, who passionately pitched Marbury for one of the 12 spots, the Olympic coach pressured the selection committee to choose him. By the time they reached Europe for exhibition games, the relationship had curdled. Soon after, two sources substantiate, Brown wanted to send Marbury home.

He wasn't the only one. Brown also wanted to distance himself from Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony, validate sources. I'm not sure who he had in mind as reinforcements. It's not as if the National Guard was on call with several suitable replacements.

At any rate, Anthony — like LeBron James — was unreceptive to Larry's purist precepts inside and outside his cathedral. Iverson's sin, it's disclosed (a non-revelation if there ever was one) was being late by a minute or two, no more, for a team meeting in Turkey, his second misdemeanor; the first got him benched for a game in Florida with Tim Duncan sitting beside him in civvies for the same infraction. Intriguingly, Duncan was late as well for the Turkish meeting, beating Iverson into the room by 15 seconds or so, testifies my source, yet there was no talk about getting him on the next plane to America.

In any event, Thomas had to know importing Brown to become the Knicks' latest savior would ultimately lead to Marbury's deportation. Even Isiah Lord Thomas can only cater and curtsy to one franchise person at a time. Stephon had his way and sway for 11/2 seasons. Now Larry has all the juice.

This isn't Detroit, where Joe Dumars "fairly effectively" handles the affairs of the Pistons' front office (along with John Hammond) and isn't really all that interested what personnel his coaching staff would prefer to manage. This is New York, where Thomas brought in Brown to save his job and might wind up taking it.



When Thomas dealt Michael Sweetney to the Bulls as part of the package that secured Eddy Curry, he dispensed with the last remnant traceable to previous team president Scott Layden. In less than two seasons Thomas dumped every single player. Now it's time for Brown to start dumping Thomas' players.

Not all of 'em, mind you. For the time being, it appears, the young guys are off limits, odd since none of the acceptable building blocks will ever be mistaken for a foundation. Marbury may not be the first expulsion but he's positively the primary priority. He's also the thorniest and most challenging, especially if there's any intention of recouping a resemblance of star power.

In reality, the process began a couple weeks ago when feelers were put out there. Certain teams (I can't get more specific without risking sources) with explicit needs were notified by Thomas and Brown they wouldn't be averse to moving him.

Why give up so soon on trying to reform Marbury, by far the team's most explosive offensive player? Because Brown has seen this movie enough times during the Olympics and training camp to believe it's played out.

Either Thomas truly feels the same way or it's a case of, "whatever Lola wants, Lola gets." One way or the other, Thomas is telling people he's still Marbury's biggest fan, BUT "the guy's almost 29 (Feb. 20) and it's obvious his habits aren't suddenly going to change at this point."

Allen Iverson and Chauncey Billups, Brown's last two imperfect, playmaking pupils, were able to adjust relatively quickly to Brown's style of passing three or four times per possession before hoisting one up. Meanwhile, Marbury continues to struggle during his second brief tour of duty under Brown's exacting tutelage. Wednesday night in Portland was his worst performance of the infant season. He melted in the pivotal third quarter, committing three of his five turnovers, and scored only 13 points in 38 minutes on 3-8 shooting. According to an eyewitness report, Stephon was conspicuously lifeless on both sides of the sphere.

On the surface Marbury is virtually untradable because of his seamy salary, $15 million this season, then $17M, $19M and finally, $20.98M. So it seems, anyway. Still, in case you've forgotten, this is the NBA, where nobody is untradable, no matter how much they're on the books for or what beast of baggage they're toting.

If there were a taker for the Cavaliers' Shawn Kemp and the Sonics' Vin Baker then there's certainly a team out there willing to provide the right atmosphere, coach and complementary cast to bring out the best in Marbury, a team ready to take a gamble he's been misunderstood and not utilized all these losing (exempting Phoenix) seasons.

As Blazers GM John Nash is fond of saying, "I can trade anybody in this league. You just might not like what you get for him."

The difficulty, impossibility, perhaps, as Nash notes, is getting something or someone of consequence in exchange. Realistically, the knucklehead Knicks aren't remotely in position to make any demands for a player whose value is rapidly diminishing and can capsize a budget almost by his lonesome. Logically, Brown will have to put up with Marbury's leisurely learning curve and hope better days will come, or accept the sweetest smelling refuge being offered.

Then again, the Raptors might want to swap Jalen Rose (comparable salary, two years shorter), but I suspect Marbury might as enthused about joining Toronto as Alonzo Mourning was when the Nets exorcised him.

Who knows, the Sonics are staggering; how ironic if Marbury wound up playing alongside Ray Allen, the guy he was originally traded for on draft day '96. The Hawks definitely can use help, but they've already invested big in 6-8 Joe Johnson; the league limit is one over-handling point guard.

Are the Magic open to dealing Steve Francis? Sources say yes, but not for Marbury, I submit; surely Orlando's sights are higher.

The Nuggets? They've already got a surplus of point guards and if Brown can't coach Marbury, what makes anyone think George Karl would like to try? How about reuniting Garnett and Marbury in Minnesota? It's a thought; the T'Wolves might be tempted to give up Wally Szczerbiak, but they seem satisfied with free agent addition Marko Jaric.

I've got one more; Thomas tried to get Jason Williams last summer when he was with Memphis and White Chocolate, er, Milk Dud, certainly isn't untouchable now that he's in Miami. Thomas also tried to get Michael Doleac ($2.6M, $2.6M, $3.1M) back after trading him two All-Star Games ago; he's exceedingly available as well. Problem is, the Heat would have to kick in either Antoine Walker, James Posey or Udonis Haslem in order to conform to salary cap rules, and I don't see that happening. But you never know.

If I were a skeptic, I'd remind you, while Next Town Brown's current crowd is 0-4, his previous pit stop is 4-0, the league's last perfect play station.

Who says Brown and Marbury have nothing in common? Both have the unique ability of making their old employer better.

Posted by Knight:

The writing is on the wall people. Deal with it. The best thing for Marbury and the Knicks at this time is to move on.

It sucks that we have to trade this guy. I really like him. He is a good player and a good point guard. Wish he got the chance to play with a big time low post threat for a lot of seasons. I would love to have seen what he could do!

If we have to trade him, we have to trade him. I hope we get equal value back! It would be bull**** if we just get Andre Miller in return. Steph is better than Andre Miller.

With this now out in the open, it is very clear to me that until Isiah comes out and convincingly denies this rumor then we will not come together as a team. If our team leader is known to be on the way out, there is no way this team settles in and functions as a cohesive unit. Isiah needs to refute this rumor or trade Marbury as soon as possible so this team can move forward.

I think the Knicks need to move Crawford to Toronto, and the Raptors may do it because they are in need of some talent to go with Bosh, Graham, and Villeneuva.

I think we should really see what we can do with Atlanta because they have no idea how to run a team, if we can do the deal that was proposed over the summer in order to get a little cap relief it would be highly beneficial.....

The Hawks could have a Marbury, Joe Johnson backcourt with Childress, Smith, and Za Za, which isn't bad.....

I would also look to see if we can get Mark Cuban to get into the bidding, Seatle is also a possibility if we can possibly get Ridnour I would look into it......

The team is really going no where and although Steph is the best we have, its time to start clearing this roster up.....

How about a Joe Johnson for Marbury trade? That would be pretty nice if the Hawks were that stupid (Which I have a feeling there franchise might be).

I tend to think I've seen Marbury's defense get better in these last four games.

While there might be truth to this story, I don't think Larry, astute basketball mind, would give up this quickly on someone as arguably talented as marbury.

Now. perhaps Isiah is thinking long term and looking at when players like Frye, Curry, Lee, Crawford & Ariza are going to hit their peak, and are realizing Marbs might be a washed up, over the hill 34 year old has been & that between now and then, we're not competing and its a waste to have him rot on this particular team.

Thus, I think if he were traded, its for youth and picks- not some wally z or jalen rose kinda deal...

Seriously, is there any possible way the Hawks would part with their marquee summer acquisition in JJ? He's a great, tall SG with range, that plays great D. He has all the tools I like in a player. He's quick and smart.

Posted by realhiphop:

Seriously, is there any possible way the Hawks would part with their marquee summer acquisition in JJ? He's a great, tall SG with range, that plays great D. He has all the tools I like in a player. He's quick and smart.

Doubt it will happen but a backcourt of Craw and JJ could be interesting.