Stephon Marbury will be a free agent after the upcoming 2008-09 season. Multiple local New York newspapers have reported that the Knicks would like to either trade the point guard or get him to agree to a buyout, which typically means taking less money than is owed for the right to be a free agent now, and sign elsewhere.
(Quick shoutout to New York Newsday, who I think first caught my attention with this news. Not sure who reported what first, but it may have been them.)
I say they should keep Marbury and simply part ways after the season when the contract runs out. It makes no sense to throw away huge money to make him go away sooner. He’s not hindering anything substantial at this point, and I could see him have his best season in years under the coaching of Mike D’Antoni.
The New York post said that Marbury is in his best shape in years and, if I remember correctly, around or under 200 pounds.
If D’Antoni does try to install a run-and-gun type of offense, Marbury could be a success. And while he’s really a shooting guard in a point guard’s body, he’s a good enough passer to hit Knicks who actually cut. But barely any Knicks have cut in recent seasons, ever. They literally just don’t. You can’t hit a cutter who doesn’t exist.
I think Marbury, along with Jamal Crawford, could benefit more than any other Knicks under an uptempo D’Antoni offense.
The Knicks should keep Marbury this season, roll the dice on him, and if they’re going to throw money away on buyouts they should do it on guys who don’t have expiring contracts in the summer of 2009.
–Jeff Lenchiner, InsideHoops.com editor
