HoopsHype.com Columns

Marbury a steal
by Jason McIntyre / January 5, 2004

It didn’t take long, now did it?

In a New York minute, new Knicks president Isiah Thomas has not only lifted the spirits of Gotham hoops fans with a flurry of moves and trades, but most importantly, the buzz factor is back. People are interested; they’ll tune in, and buy tickets.

Monday’s blockbuster between New York and Phoenix in which the Knicks landed one of the league’s top-5 point guards in Stephon Marbury, and talented but oft-injured backup Anfernee Hardaway, clearly favors the Knicks.

At first glance, it looks like an outstanding piece of chicanery orchestrated by Thomas; upon further inspection, the Knicks may have mortgaged some of their future before even getting a glimpse of it.

Bottom line: The Knicks not only became more interesting, but better.

Barring major injuries, they will make the playoffs this season.

The enormous plusses are obvious – instantly, the Knicks have arguably the best backcourt in the East with Marbury and Allan Houston, two All-Stars capable of going for 30 on any given night. New Jersey (Kerry Kittles and Jason Kidd), Philly (Allen Iverson and Eric Snow), New Orleans (Baron Davis and David Wesley), and Detroit (Richard Hamilton and Chauncey Billups) are just as strong. But in terms of talent, the Knicks are right there.

Hardaway becomes a valuable sixth man, or he could be inserted at the small forward position, giving the Knicks a quick, high-scoring team. When they go small, with Keith Van Horn at the power forward, and Kurt Thomas at center – and in the center-deficient East, this will be frequent – the Knicks become a very dangerous team with scoring all over the place.

The deal also loosens up the logjam at power forward, opening the door for rookie Mike Sweetney to get some playing time. He was buried five-deep at the position just two weeks ago.

Appears great, right?

Sort of.

In no particular order, the negatives ...

1) Hello, salary cap. The Knicks were cuffed under the previous GM, Scott Layden, and this deal digs them a little deeper. For the next two years, Houston ($15.9 million this year, $17.5 next year), Keith Van Horn ($13.2, $14.4), Marbury ($13.5, $14.6), and Hardaway ($13.5, $14.6) will chew up the bulk of the salary cap. This puts pressure on these four to carry the team, and Thomas to make good decisions in free agency regarding the acquisition of role players.

2) How much is too much to give up? Gone is Maciej Lampe, one of those fundamentally-sound Euros who could either be the next Dirk Nowitzki or Primoz Brezec (Pacers took him in the first round in 2000 – don’t ask). Lampe never got a chance with the Knicks, and it remains to be seen how this 18-year-old 7-footer turns out. Then there’s supposedly-talented Serbian Milos Vujanic. Some have called him the best young point guard in Europe. That’s the problem – he’s in Europe. If the Suns can coax him into coming to the NBA, they should be in good shape.

Before you flip out over the Knicks losing two first-round draft picks, consider this: The Knicks weren’t horrible, and the pick would have likely been in the 12-21 range. In the last five years, the learning curve on players taken in that orbit has been about two years, and very few of them (of the 50 selected, only about 20 percent of them have become significant contributors) pan out.

3) The acquisition of Marbury stunts the growth of point guard Frank Williams, who scored in double figures three straight games to end December. Looks like he’ll be a backup as long as he’s in New York.

4) Can Van Horn and Marbury co-exist? They couldn’t in New Jersey – where they didn’t win – and what’s to say anything will be different here?

For Phoenix, it was clearly a salary cap-clearing deal, hoping to perhaps take a shot at Kobe Bryant next season. Howard Eisley is as good as gone, and Antonio McDyess and Charlie Ward are free agents and off the books after this season. Lampe they’ll definitely work with. And with a good nucleus of Shawn Marion and Amare Stoudemire, if the Suns land Bryant and Vujanic in the offseason, they could become a power out West.

But all of these are possibilities.

The Knicks don’t have to hope things fall into place – everything did with this deal.

Jason McIntyre is a a freelance journalist in New York City and a regular contributor to HoopsHype.com

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