With Marbury out, Walsh moves Knicks forward
By Anthony Olivieri
PA SportsTicker Pro Basketball Editor
(C) 2009 PA SPORTSTICKER, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
At least, it’s a start.
When team president Donnie Walsh came to the New York Knicks, he promised a few things to the fans.
Left unsaid was the removal of poisonous guard Stephon Marbury from the roster.
Mission accomplished Tuesday, when the Knicks and Marbury agreed on a buyout just days before March 1. If Marbury hadn’t been freed up to sign with another team by then, he would not be eligible for the postseason.
It was rumored that Walsh was going to hold on to Marbury until after that date, just to spite the embattled point guard.
Tuesday’s meeting changed that when Marbury changed his mind, apparently agreeing to waive the $400,000 grievance he filed against the Knicks, who fined him that amount for allegedly refusing to play when the team was shorthanded after making two trades in November.
Neither Marbury nor Walsh commented on the specifics of the agreement but said that it encompassed the grievance and will allow the former All-Star to be available for contenders during the stretch run.
For once, the Knicks and Marbury were on the same page.
“A comprehensive agreement was made this afternoon between the New York Knicks and Stephon Marbury,” the team and Marbury said in a joint statement. “Under its terms, the grievance has been resolved and the Knicks have requested waivers on Stephon. No additional terms will be disclosed.”
Frankly, no one cares how they did it - as long as they did.
And that’s what Walsh has been doing this season, making good on his promises.
He banished Isiah Thomas. Check.
He traded perennial losers Zach Randolph and Jamal Crawford. Check, check.
Someone took Jerome James off their hands. Scratch that one off the list.
Along the way, the team has remained competitive, entering Wednesday’s play just 2 1/2 games behind eighth-place Milwaukee in the Eastern Conference. Chalk another one up.
Now, here comes the important one. Walsh has positioned the Knicks for the all-important summer of 2010, when - as it currently stands - just two cumbersome contracts definitely will be on their books.
That does not count those of emerging forward Wilson Chandler and rookie Danilo Gallinari, who will be facing team options.
The shortsided signing of Jared Jeffries ($6.8 million) and the cringe-worthy deal owed to Eddy Curry ($11.2 million) - both player options - remain, but Walsh isn’t a miracle worker, right?
Instead, he has just been a straight-shooter. A novel concept in the wake of the Isiah Thomas era.
Coach Mike D’Antoni, himself arriving with a fist full of promises, also has followed through. Vowing to make New York interesting with the implementation of his fun-and-gun style, D’Antoni has guided the league’s fourth-highest scoring team.
All with little incident - Curry’s soap opera notwithstanding - and lots of excitement.
Granted, Walsh will have some decisions to make regarding the futures of Nate Robinson and David Lee, both of whom will be restricted free agents after the season.
To the credit of both Walsh and D’Antoni, the aforementioned pair will command a lot of money in the free-agent market. The Knicks and their young players, in a relative sense, do matter again.
Robinson, increasingly one of the league’s most popular players, and Lee - one of its hardest-working - have put the Knicks in a good light.
Whether the Knicks can actually make the playoffs or build a championship team has yet to be determined.
And there are other questions.
Could they have handled the Marbury situation better? Of course. Is the roster perfect or is the defense even close to sound? No on both accounts.
So yes, there have been roadblocks along the way, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel - even if the Knicks don’t land LeBron James.
The team is in the hands of two capable men, who have played the promising players (Robinson, Lee, Chandler), purged the useless ones (James, Malik Rose, Tim Thomas) and not compromised its salary cap along the way.
It’s really not that hard, Isiah.
Unfortunately for the Knicks, arriving at last Thursday’s trade deadline was the (eventually) expiring contract of Larry Hughes, a selfish player who has admitted that winning just isn’t the most important thing.
In fact, Cleveland fans immortalized him at heylarryhughespleasestoptakingsomanybadshots.com.
Walsh, though, has made a plea to the Knicks’ fans - notoriously callous but recently numbed by the losing - who have had little to smile about in recent seasons.
No, they aren’t the Boston Celtics. They aren’t even the Atlanta Hawks.
For a once-proud franchise and its fans, Marbury’s exit has given them a chance to feel good once again.
And if they need a place to express that joy, try heystephongoruinanotherteam.org.
Question or comment? E-mail anthony.olivieri@pa-sportsticker.com.
