Delusion in NY

[Lurker]

Obviously D'Antoni doesn't think much of Kerr.  To believe that he would trade Diaw & Barbosa for Marbury who would play: backup PG?  And it wasn't even a Vescey story...

Mike D'Antoni wants to add favorite Suns, unload Stephon Marbury
Monday, May 12th 2008, 10:56 PM

One of the first plays Mike D'Antoni is expected to draw up as the Knicks' new coach is for Stephon Marbury to run up the Garden floor ... and out the door back to Phoenix to rejoin the Suns.

Once D'Antoni is formally named to succeed Isiah Thomas, he is expected to try to make a push for two of his favorite Suns - forward Boris Diaw and guard Leandro Barbosa, who reportedly have fallen out of favor with Suns management. According to a person close to D'Antoni, one of his first moves would be to get the Knicks to offer Marbury and his expiring $22 million contract as a central part of the deal.

Because of the Suns players mentioned in this scenario, no one will be surprised if D'Antoni starts lobbying Donnie Walsh today to call Phoenix president Steve Kerr to begin trade talks.

"He loves Boris and Barbosa and he didn't like Marbury when he had him," said the source. "So this is the type of move that can jump-start D'Antoni's program right off the bat. He went to New York with the notion that he will have input and help alter the roster to get his kind of players."

Although Marbury played only a handful of games for D'Antoni before coming to New York in January 2004, after two-plus seasons in Phoenix, D'Antoni doesn't view Marbury as a winning player or someone he thinks can play point guard in his system.

"D'Antoni and Marbury is going to be a bad fit," the source predicted. "He views Marbury as a shooting guard, anyway."

Suns owner Robert Sarver reportedly is looking to get out from under Diaw's contract that averages $9 million over the next four seasons. Barbosa, the 2007 Sixth Man Award winner, makes an average of $7 million over the next four seasons. For cap purposes, they make a combined $15 million, so it can't be a two-for-one. There would have to be another player or two coming from Phoenix to make the deal work.

Why would Marbury be attractive, coming off ankle surgery and an awful season? Sarver and the Suns could take his money off the books in July 2009, leading to future cap flexibility. And with D'Antoni gone, they're also going to want to revamp their roster to fit Kerr's vision.

In the meantime, Kerr still has Steve Nash, Amare Stoudemire and the human cap-killer, Shaquille O'Neal. Other than those three, Kerr is apt to start dealing off players who only help in D'Antoni's system.

The Knicks will be thrilled to get rid of Marbury, given all the losing and controversy he has been a part of. If they can trade him for players who have performed for D'Antoni, it's a win-win - unless Walsh is still making grandiose plans to free up significant cap space for the summer of 2010. Right now, he has very little space. But such a deal could derail those dreams, depending on who's left standing on the Knicks' roster in two summers.

At present, the Knicks will have $48 million on the books when LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Paul lead the NBA's best free-agent class in years. Obviously, the cap isn't going to increase much from its current figure of $56 million, so Walsh has to be careful what he adds to the Knicks' payroll (future first-round draft picks plus any mid-level free-agent signings). Diaw's and Barbosa's contracts run through 2012.

D'Antoni is going to have lots of clout in selecting personnel - he should, too, since he knows what kind of players he needs better than anybody else - so the whole idea of getting into a cap-friendly situation could go by the boards.

How will that make Walsh look, after he came into town talking about trying to land a marquee player in 2010? Just know that D'Antoni is about winning his way, doing it now and he probably isn't keen on waiting to see if Walsh can maneuver his way to cap freedom after two more seasons. But Walsh could overrule him and insist on going the free-agent route.

"D'Antoni's system is built for guys like Boris and Barbosa," the source said. "They can make plays. That's what he looks for in players: Versatility and the ability to score."

Which Knicks fit that description? Jamal Crawford. Maybe Nate Robinson. In other words, nobody of any consequence.

So the big cleanup could start with Marbury, soon enough.

And not a moment too soon.

mlawrence@nydailynews.com

[westkoast]

Mike D'Antoni is the Britney Spears of the NBA.  Before you think I am just pulling a reference out of my rear end take a look at the similarities...

They both use their voice for a living.  Britney claims to use hers to motivate young women to better themselves.  Mike claims to use his to motivate young women to better themselves on the offensive end.

The "skills" they possess in their respective fields should really be credited to others (producers, Steve Nash is the maestro behind the Suns)

Both were headed to the top but had people pulling them down (Kevin Federline is to Britney what David Stern is to Mike D'Antoni)

Britney sang 'Oops I did it again' and Mike D'Antoni covered the song after losing to the Spurs yet again

Last but not least....Most recently they both have lost their F'in minds.  Britney had a mental break down where she had multiple personalities.   D'Antoni has completely lost it by not only going to New York but to actually think the Suns would take Stalebury and get rid of Barbosa, Diaw (only bright spot in the playoff series IMO), and maybe one or two other players?  What's next?  The paparazzi gonna get an upskirt of Mike jumping out of Dolan's Bentley Phantom?

[Randy]

wk, I couldn't disagree more.

If Nash was so good, why didn't he look this good in Dallas?  Nash was a very good player but he looks GREAT in D'Antoni's system -- Nash was the perfect player for D'Antoni's system and Nash was smart enough to recognize it (it didn't help that Cuban was an IDIOT by offending Nash and making him go away). 

D'Antoni saw the writing on the wall -- he was getting the blame (from others AND from Kerr) for not finding a way to deliver a championship to Phoenix with the arrival of Shaq.  Hello, there wasn't a person out there (other than Rick) who thought that Shaq's arrival was anything other than a quicker way out of the playoffs.  I really thought they would find a way to challenge the Spurs but they couldn't even do that.  Kerr was getting more and more involved in the coaching in Phoenix and D'Antoni understood what that meant -- it's almost like Kerr is looking over his shoulder like Isaiah Thomas did to Brown "I can do that better" -- Kerr can't. 

I'm not a huge D'Antoni fan but I can understand why he left Phoenix.  It's was unfair of Kerr to expect the arrival of Shaq -- who changed the ENTIRE Phoenix offense -- to bring in a championship. 

All that said, D'Antoni has got to be kidding himself if he thinks that Phoenix would EVER take back Marbury.  Every team that has traded him would never take him back again.  I understand that he WANTS them -- he just should understand that this kind of trade is ridiculous and even Kerr is smart enough to know it won't work. 

The Knicks need to phase out their current contracts -- develop some young talent -- trade for young talent and draft picks, when possible and rebuild.  Unless Walsh finds a sucker, he isn't going to get someone for nothing -- that only happens once in a couple of decades (and the Lakers already got it this decade).

[westkoast]

wk, I couldn't disagree more.

If Nash was so good, why didn't he look this good in Dallas?  Nash was a very good player but he looks GREAT in D'Antoni's system -- Nash was the perfect player for D'Antoni's system and Nash was smart enough to recognize it (it didn't help that Cuban was an IDIOT by offending Nash and making him go away). 

Well for one he had a big guy who can run the pick and roll that ATTACKS the rim in Amare Stoudamire.  You pair Nash's play making ability with Dwight Howard and you get the same result.  Heck Kenyon Martin from his Nets days would have been better suited for Nash's passing skills then Dirk.    Instead of running a pick and pop for Dirk he was able to deliver bounce passes to a guy who can jump up to the roof and come back down. 

Second..the Mavs were about as successful as the Suns were.  Great regular season teams, not so great in the playoffs. Neither won the title.  Neither were able to get out of the WC under Nash.

D'Antoni saw the writing on the wall -- he was getting the blame (from others AND from Kerr) for not finding a way to deliver a championship to Phoenix with the arrival of Shaq.

I don't disagree with him leaving PHX.  I disagree with him passing up the Bulls for New York.  Mainly because the players in Chicago are closer to the types of players he wants then guys like Zach Randolph and Eddie Curry.  On top of that if he was upset about getting blamed for things why in the hell would he move to New York where the media is rabid, fickle, and down right nasty at times?


 

Hello, there wasn't a person out there (other than Rick) who thought that Shaq's arrival was anything other than a quicker way out of the playoffs.  I really thought they would find a way to challenge the Spurs but they couldn't even do that.  Kerr was getting more and more involved in the coaching in Phoenix and D'Antoni understood what that meant -- it's almost like Kerr is looking over his shoulder like Isaiah Thomas did to Brown "I can do that better" -- Kerr can't. 

His style of basketball is not going to win a championship.  It'll put butts in the seats but it won't win the title.  I don't agree with Kerr trying to play coach from the GM spot ala Pat Riley in Miami.  At the same time changes did need to be made.  Getting Shaq wasn't the answer obviously.

All that said, D'Antoni has got to be kidding himself if he thinks that Phoenix would EVER take back Marbury.  Every team that has traded him would never take him back again.  I understand that he WANTS them -- he just should understand that this kind of trade is ridiculous and even Kerr is smart enough to know it won't work. 

Why would the Suns go out of their way to help D'Antoni?  Just doesn't make sense.

The Knicks need to phase out their current contracts -- develop some young talent -- trade for young talent and draft picks, when possible and rebuild.  Unless Walsh finds a sucker, he isn't going to get someone for nothing -- that only happens once in a couple of decades (and the Lakers already got it this decade).

D'Antoni doesn't develop young talent or a bench.  Before someone shouts out Barbosa, D'Antoni def put his mark on him, he's excellent in the regular season and goes bye bye in the playoffs 

[Skandery]

Before someone shouts out Barbosa, D'Antoni def put his mark on him, he's excellent in the regular season and goes bye bye in the playoffs 

Unless he's playing the Lakers.

[westkoast]

Before someone shouts out Barbosa, D'Antoni def put his mark on him, he's excellent in the regular season and goes bye bye in the playoffs 

Unless he's playing the Lakers.

Hay if you want to give him credit for developing Barbosa by all means go ahead.  I just don't think blowing by Smush Parker in 3 games  means all that much LOL

[Skandery]

Hay if you want to give him credit for developing Barbosa by all means go ahead.

No, I don't.  Just wanted to zing ya.


Actually its what I think is hilarious. 

NY Front Office--Hey you know that coach that said, and I quote, "I'm NOT HERE to develop players" a couple weeks ago, why we don't give him $24 Million to develop our players.   

[WayOutWest]

The Knicks need to phase out their current contracts -- develop some young talent -- trade for young talent and draft picks, when possible and rebuild.  Unless Walsh finds a sucker, he isn't going to get someone for nothing -- that only happens once in a couple of decades (and the Lakers already got it this decade).

The Suns could be in fire sale mode very quickly.  The Suns will begin to completely crumble when father time hits Nash, Bell and Shaq to the tune of 20+ missed games (Shaq came in with a built in 20 game break).  They will fall out of playoff contention and the Suns will look to dump salary to stop the bleeding of money.  IMO D'Antione in NY puts NY at a disadvantage in regards to taking advantage of the Suns demise.

The Lakers and Mavs have blown their "expiring contract" wad so NY would seem to be the front runner with a 22 mil expiring contract.  The Suns are going to have to change up personnel in order to fit into the vision of Kerr, with Shaq they can not pick up talent for nothing, they are going to have to trade 2 or more good versatile players for 1 player that fits the new vision and most likely carries a big fat contract with him.  The only other option is to trade for expriing contracts, like Stephon, and reload through the FA market.

[Joe Vancil]

Folks,

I think Marbury COULD be headed to Phoenix for Diaw and Barbosa.

Phoenix has gone cheap several times in the last few years.  The expiring contract of Marbury will help them unload the inflated contract of Diaw and Barbosa is the incentive for New York to do it.

It's ridiculous, yes, but that's kind of what I've come to see from Phoenix the last few years.  Giving a draft pick to Seattle, so that their top adversary - San An - could end up with a Suns player - Kurt Thomas - that Phoenix needed in order to deal with that adversary? 

Phoenix has a dumb and cheap front office.  Perhaps not Memphis dumb and cheap, but dumb and cheap nonetheless.

[jn]

I'm with Joe on this.  It's not out of the question that Phoenix will do this as strictly a salary cap move.