Marbury needs to go.

Marbury is a great player. But he doesn’t fit this team. Moving him is a tough task because of his $$$ ($76mm over 4yrs) and his negative rep. I looked and looked for a good fit, but it doesn’t make sense for most teams to add his contract to their payroll. Indiana, Houston, Sac Town, Minny, etc, etc. They either have established or up-and-coming young PGs, or they already have 2 superstars commanding high $ and adding another would be salary cap suicide, and so on.

But then there is Toronto. Raptors and Knicks have similarity in that they are both young teams and they both stink real bad. But the one major difference is that Toronto is not a franchise many players like to be a part of. High tax, cheap & incompetent management, lack of big fan base, awfully cold winter and so on may be some of the reasons. Vince and Zo’s displeasure being there is still fresh on our memory. Who’s next? Bosh? There is talk that Bosh may not want to resign with them after the next season. This makes it important for Raptors to bring in better talent to please Bosh so that he maybe persuaded to stay in Toronto.

So how about this trade?

NY moves:
Stephon Marbury
Antonio Davis

Toronto moves:
Jalen Rose
Morris Peterson
Mike James
Aaron Williams
2006 first round Denver pick + future 2nd round pick

Toronto L/U:
Calderon/Martin
Marbury/E.Williams
Graham/Bonner/E.Williams
Bosh/AD
Arujo/CV/Woods

Why for Raptors:
• Add a star in Marbury to please Bosh and hopefully bring more fans to the games
• A team of Marbury, Graham, Bosh, CV, Calderon ain't bad. Maybe add Rudy Gay from the draft?
• Payroll:
05-06: $61mm -> $64mm
06-07: $52mm -> $45mm (below cap)
07-08: $6.8mm-> $26mm


NY L/U: waive Aaron Williams & Penny (if he hasn’t been already moved)
Mike James/Nate
Craw/Q
Mo Pete/Ariza/JRose
Frye/Taylor/Malik
Curry/JJ
Inactive: Lee/QDog/Butler

Why for NY:
• Be free of Marbury’s big contract
• Payroll:
05-06: $124mm -> $120mm
06-07: $101mm -> $108mm
07-08: $52mm -> $32mm
• This move may not make the team better right away, but we will be able to sign a major FA in the summer of 2007 with close to $20mm cap room. By then, we have removed ourselves of Marbury, AD, Penny, JRose, Taylor, Mo-Pete, Aaron W, Houston & Shandon’s contracts.
• Perimeter defense improves with the addition of Mike James
• We improve at the SF position
• Draft Marko Tomas with the Denver pick. At 6-8, he’s a great shooter, passer, decent defender, limited TOs. 20yrs old.
• Our future: Curry, Frye, Marko Tomas, Craw, Nate, Lee, Butler, Ariza, and a stud superstar FA (Lebron James anyone?)

Thoughts?

Only good thing about this trade is the pick. Hope your right about those contracts running out in 07. Mo-Pete should be better than he is. Don't watch Raptor games enough to figure why he's only scoring like 9pts a game. James is okay for a team that just wants a stop-gap PG while it rebuilds. Not bad, but I would still check Houston first, before I send him to Canada.