Rhoden Defends Marbury

Huh?

 

Why is his the only expiring contract that has no value?

 

Mike D'Antoni.
Good. Merely.
And very, very limited. And, by all indications in this matter, really terrible at managing a team.

 

Nonsense. Has anybody noticed that the Marbury situation hasn't affected the Knicks in the least? It's an issue for media and fans only, because the players could not give less of a shit about Stephon Marbury. D'Antoni, who's supposedly so terrible at managing a team, has them at 8-8, which is remarkable considering their lack of big-time talent. Under most coaches this crew would be lucky to have three wins. If he can keep them halfway competitive and entertaining, who the hell cares about Marbury?

 

Apparently, the Knicks do.

 

D'Antoni will do fine in New York. As Broadway Joe pointed out, they're 8-8.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap?gid=2008112918&prov=ap

First 30-20 in 14 years. You'd think it would've been done at some point since then.

Edit: OK, I guess he was the first Knick to do it since Ewing.

Howard had 32-21 last night.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap;_ylt=Ajjh21BPVMGsqnGsuS2bu1u8vLYF?gid=2008112919&prov=ap

 

Because the Knicks won't take back contracts which expire later than the summer of LeBron. Plus, there aren't very many players on the market worth picking up this summer.

 

I'd like to read a story in SI or ESPN Mag or something breaking down exactly how, between now and 2010, a contract for someone like LeBron is being drawn up, discussed, designed. Because it'll take 18 months to hammer out the type of contract LeBron will demand, and have it ready for him to sign once he becomes eligible to do so. I think the teams who don't start the process now are going to be screwed.

 

I don't think the contract stuff would be that complicated. The maximum years and $$ that a free agent can be offered is very clear cut.

 

Not so much the that part, but the nitty-gritties of the process, and how the teams serious about going after LeBron are going to court him. I'm intrigued about the game plan of these teams.

 

I understand that, but you'd think that a 2nd tier team, who realizes they have no shot at the 2010 big names would try to clear space after this year and pick up everyone the big boys are ignoring.

 

As so should be David Stern. The NBA does have some quaint old rules about "tampering," and although landing LeBron in NY is probably among his secret wishes, he's got to be concerned about the appearance that several teams may be willing in effect to tank entire seasons in order to clear cap space.

With the NBA's credibility taking a major hit from the Donaghy deal, it won't look very good if several teams have all but admitted they're pulling the plug on multiple seasons at a time.