New York Knicks Blog – Page 165 – NBA Blog

LeBron and Jay-Z chillin out

The New York Daily News (Frank Isola) reports: Did you happen to see the photo of Jay-Z and LeBron James in last Friday’s Daily News? The Nets minority owner and the NBA’s second best player were together attending a fundraiser in Manhattan (and no, it wasn’t to help finance the Barclays Center in downtown Brooklyn.) These two guys are spotted together so often that Beyonce is starting to ask questions. At what point will the Cleveland Cavaliers start accusing the Nets of tampering?

InsideHoops.com editor says: Next thing you know, LeBron will start trying to wear his New York Yankees cap during NBA games, tape a picture of Brooklyn over his jersey’s team logo, and give shout-outs to Brooklyn during post-game interviews.

Marbury may be gone within days

New York Newsday (Alan Hahn) reports: It has been believed since Donnie Walsh took over the Knicks in April that Stephon Marbury’s tumultuous days as a Knick were numbered. Now the matter is days from being official, Newsday has learned. Several persons with knowledge of the situation have indicated that the Knicks are planning to part ways with Marbury by the end of the week. One caveat is the approval of Madison Square Garden chairman James Dolan, who must sign off on yet another multimillion-dollar payoff for his NBA team. Marbury is in the final year of his contract, which is to pay him $21.9 million. The Knicks will likely place Marbury on waivers and, once he clears, begin negotiating a buyout. Marbury will then be free to sign with another team; the Miami Heat have a desperate need at point guard.

Quick East thoughts

The season is approaching, folks. Training camps open in around one week (I’m in Prague right now, haven’t looked at a calendar in a while. Tuesday I’m off to hang out in Berlin for a week, then about 8 days in Amsterdam. I’ll be back in New York City right around the start of preseason.)

In the east, the Celtics remain the best of the conference, though I wonder if Ray Allen will drop off a bit this season. They also need to improve their bench.

The Pistons bring back last year’s team, with Rasheed Wallace and Chauncey Billups a year older.

The Magic still need to improve their backcourt.

The Cavaliers add scoring punch with the addition of point guard Mo Williams, but it’s still the LeBron James show with a supporting cast that will have to work very hard to carry their weight.

The Wizards must once again play without Gilbert Arenas for a while, though even with him they’re a lower-level playoff team.

The Raptors have to hope Jermaine O’Neal regains former All-Star form; it’ll be tough.

The 76ers added a star by signing power forward Elton Brand, and that should definitely raise them in conference standings.

The Hawks aren’t locks to return to the playoffs, but it’s good they kept Josh Smith.

The Bucks improved on paper, adding a pass-first point guard in Luke Ridnour, but more importantly, a legit good forward in SF Richard Jefferson.

The Knicks have the same talented yet flawed roster, but a new coach. Can Mike D’Antoni work miracles?

The Nets are rebuilding and aside from Vince Carter and young Devin Harris, everyone on the team who matters is young and in development.

The Bulls have the same team as the last few seasons, though Ben Gordon remains unsigned. Will they play like the good Bulls from two years ago, or the disappointing ones from last season? Flip a coin, because they’re capable of going either way.

The Bobcats have nice swingmen in Jason Richardson and Gerald Wallace, plus Emeka Okafor, but everyone else is young and in development.

The Heat could make a leap in the standings now that Dwyane Wade is healthy, plus Shawn Marion needs a new contract, and Michael Beasley doesn’t like losing. The supporting cast is still extremely weak, though.

The Pacers always do a bit better than expected. The bad news is, almost nothing is ever expected. Danny Granger, Mike Dunleavey and TJ Ford are very nice players, though. They may surprise a little, but not a lot.

I’ll share quick West thoughts tomorrow. Right now I’m off to hike up to the Prague castle. I’ll be right here in about an hour.

–Jeff

Brooklyn Nets arena may break ground in December

After what feels like 4,500 delays, the New Jersey Nets may finally break ground this December in Brooklyn, New York to build their future home arena. And as a New Yorker who would much rather take the subway to Nets games than have to keep going to Manhattan’s Port Authority to wait on giant lines for buses that then sit in traffic jams, I say the sooner the better. Here’s the New York Times (Charles V. Bagli):

The developer Bruce C. Ratner has told state and city officials that he plans to break ground in December on his long-delayed $4 billion Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, which will feature thousands of apartments and offices in 16 towers built around a glamorous basketball arena for the Nets. But it is unclear whether Mr. Ratner will be able to meet his own deadline to start one of the most ambitious projects in Brooklyn in decades, given the softening economy, the crisis in the debt markets, rising costs and a persistent group of opponents who have filed one lawsuit after another.

This isn’t sure to happen, though. Here’s more from the New York Times:

“There’s no way they’ll get control of the land they need, get the financing, end the litigation and break ground by December,” said Daniel Goldstein, a spokesman for Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn, the project’s primary opponent. Andrew DeSouza, a spokesman for the Treasury Department, declined to comment on whether a decision concerning tax-exempt financing for stadiums and arenas was imminent. The Internal Revenue Service issued proposed regulations in 2006 that would make it more difficult, if not impossible, for tax-exempt bonds to be used for private sports teams.

I agree with the guy above that getting this all done by December may be tough. But I disagree with him that this project is “destroying” Brooklyn. Aside from adding what will probably be some insane traffic jams, it makes Brooklyn better.

Patrick Ewing Jr to wear no. 6

NYKnicks.com reports: Patrick Ewing Jr, the son of the Knicks legend and Hall of Famer, will wear No. 6 when he suits up for New York in 2008-09, rather than don his famous father’s 33. “I’m going to wear No. 6,” said the 6-foot-8, 240-pound swing forward. “It was my dad’s Olympic number, and Bill Russell’s number, who was my favorite player.”

“My dad’s jersey’s hanging up there in the rafter’s for a reason,” said Ewing Jr. to NYKnicks.com. “The only reason I wore 33 at Georgetown is because they don’t retire numbers. I felt like I did 33 for him there, and now I can do six here and it’s another way to honor him.”

InsideHoops.com editor says: I approve of this decision. Number 33 belongs to the real Patrick Ewing, and that’s that.

Channing Frye out 8-10 weeks after surgery

The Portland Trail Blazers announced that forward/center Channing Frye underwent arthroscopic surgery today to remove bone spurs from his left ankle. A Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Saturday and Computed Tomography (CT) Scan today revealed the spurs.

“Channing underwent arthroscopic surgery today on his left ankle after recently experiencing discomfort,” said Trail Blazers General Manager Kevin Pritchard. “We expect him to make a full recovery in 8-10 weeks.”

Dr. Richard Ferkel performed the surgery at the Southern California Orthopedic Institute in Van Nuys, Calif.

Here’s the Oregonian (Jason Quick):

Frye was in the best shape of his career this summer, and was the most frequent participant at the team’s practice facility over the off season. A big man who can shoot, Frye was expected to enter training camp as the backup power forward to LaMarcus Aldridge, a valuable piece to a second unit that expects to spread the floor and play uptempo. Frye spent much of the summer trimming his frame and working on his three-point shooting.

This hurts the Blazers a bit, but they’ll still be OK. The main changes the team is ungoing are mixing Greg Oden, Jerryd Bayless and Rudy Fernandez into the mix. Frye being out weakens their bench.

Z-Bo almost went to Clippers in July

The New York Daily News (Frank Isola) reports: Donnie Walsh has been actively trying to trade Zach Randolph and nearly had a deal with the Clippers in July. It is still unclear why Walsh passed on a trade that simply would have involved moving Randolph and his contract to Los Angeles without having to receive a player in return. Once Walsh passed, the Nuggets stepped in and traded Marcus Camby to the Clippers. Randolph had a strong year statistically with the Knicks, averaging 17.6 points and 10.3 rebounds. However, his presence in the low post rendered C Eddy Curry useless and the Knicks feel that Curry is more valuable to the club.

Fan Poll Results: 8 East playoff teams

InsideHoops.com ran a poll for the last week asking fans to pick the eight Eastern conference teams they feel will make the playoffs in 2008-09.

The voting for the first four teams was pretty close, with the Celtics (592 votes), Cavaliers (588), Pistons (582) and Magic (578) taking the home-court seeds.

The Raptors (504) came in 5th, though from our experience Toronto fans, being very enthusiastic, tend to bump their team up slightly higher than tends to be expected. Though, if new Raptor Jermaine O’Neal can stay healthy and play anything like his old former All-Star self, this is a very reasonable prediction.

One vote later, coming in 6th, was the 76ers (503), who played better than expected last season and now add star power forward Elton Brand, who is returning from injury, to their mix.

The Wizards (459) came in 7th. They welcome a healthy Gilbert Arenas back.

And now, a dropoff.

Fans feel that last year’s #8 seed, the Hawks, won’t do as well in 2008-09. Rather than pick them to return to the playoffs, fans went with the Heat (294 votes). This is reasonable. Miami welcomes a healthy Dwayne Wade back, alongside Shawn Marion, who needs a contract, and superkid rookie Michael Beasley. The supporting cast is still weak, but slightly improved from last year.

The Bulls (195) finished 9th, just outside the playoff seedings. The Hawks (180) were 10th.

Here are the complete final results:

1) Celtics 592 votes
2) Cavs 588 votes
3) Pistons 582 votes
4) Magic 578 votes
5) Raptors 504 votes
6) Sixers 503 votes
7) Wizards 459 votes
8) Heat 294 votes
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9) Bulls 195 votes
10) Hawks 180 votes
11) Bucks 83 votes
12) Nets 68 votes
13) Knicks 53 votes
14) Pacers 53 votes
15) Bobcats 43 votes

Opinion: Knicks not for Allan Houston

If Allan Houston truly is attempting another comeback, as New York Newsday today reports, I don’t see why the Knicks make any sense for him. Considering his age and how long he’s been out of the league, at this point the best H20 could be is a poor man’s version of what he was before, and not contribute much more than nailing open outside shots.

Even in his prime, back in the 1920’s, perimeter shooting was the only truly exceptional aspect of Houston’s game.

If he’s going to join a team in 2008-09 he should join a winning team who can use a gunner for a few minutes off the bench to come in, shoot two or three 3-pointers, hit one or two of them and sit down. The Knicks are a team of the future. They need to worry about finding a legit superstar or two to build around and don’t need a player like Houston now.

Still, all the best to H20. I liked him a lot in his prime and hope he does find what he’s looking for now.

–Jeff

Cousin says Marbury is selfish

A good way to sell a book is to write interesting details about someone famous. And when you’re actually related to that famous person, you probably have some decent stuff to share. Stephon Marbury for a long time has been known as a “me-first” kind of guy, and that’s probably sometimes been unfair. But his own cousin has joined in and shared stuff that helps solidify that reputation. Here’s the New York Daily News (Mark Lelinwalla):

Stephon Marbury has carried the stigma of being a selfish player for the majority of his 12-year NBA career. Now, his older cousin is saying Marbury is even more self-centered off the court and is dishing details on the Knicks point guard in his autobiography, “The Beautiful Struggle,” the Daily News has learned. The book, due out in late September from Xlibris Publishing, has former NBA pro and current overseas player Jamel Thomas alleging that Marbury ruined a potential deal for him with the Minnesota Timberwolves. In it, Thomas includes a conversation that he allegedly had with Kevin Garnett, in which Garnett tells him how Marbury’s presence on the team spoiled his cousin’s chances of signing with Minnesota.

For all you fans who watch every basketball movie that comes out, you’ve seen a little of Jamel Thomas already in the Sebastian Telfair documentary “Through the Fire,” which I really liked. Anyway, as someone who covers the NBA for a living who is also a New Yorker, I’ll definitely be checking the book out and will let you know how must-read it is.

–Jeff