Well, Stephon Marbury just played his first game as a Knick after the much-ballyhooed trade that brought him to New York along with Penny Hardaway in exchange for the Knicks' immediate and long-term future. In order to get Marbury, the Knicks didn't so much give up talent, though they did trade Antonio McDyess and the rights to Milos Vujanic, considered to be the best point guard in Europe. What the Knicks gave up, essentially, is financial freedom. NBA economics are no fun to explain and really not that entertaining to discuss, but know this: being under salary cap, good. Knicks' financial situation, bad.
Those willing to overlook the fact that new Knicks' President Isiah Thomas made an insanely short-sighted move just to put some tooshies in Madison Square Garden's seats are saying that Stephon Marbury makes the Knicks into an "instant contender." Call me Mr. No Fun Poopy Pants, but I just don't see it. Don't get me wrong, I like Marbury a lot. I was in attendance at his very first Georgia Tech home game and will never forget the excitement he brought to the building that night. Furthermore, I don't doubt that he'll bring the same excitement to The Garden. With that said, I watched a whole lot of Nets' games during Stephon's tenure in New Jersey, and while Marbury is electric, he can't power a whole team (yeah, that was kind of a lame analogy, but I think I'll leave it in there). You get the point. Stephon played on some bad Nets teams with some decent players (Kenyon Martin, Keith Van Horn, to name a few), but he ultimately couldn't carry those teams himself, because few players can. And now, guess what? Stephon is once again in the Tri-State area, once again playing on a bad team with some decent players (hey, look, Steph, it's your old buddy Keith Van Horn again!), and in that sense very little has changed. Because, just like those Nets teams, the Knicks have decent players, nothing more. Let's not get too excited just because you recognize every name in their starting lineup. All of these guys, save Marbury and perhaps Keith Van Horn, one of the NBA's biggest enigmas, are on the wrong side of their prime and are deeply flawed in some way (my apologies to Dikembe Mutombo, perhaps the most horribly flawed of the bunch in that he must be about 56 years old, but all in all a very entertaining fellow to have around).
Probably my favorite part of this trade that no one is talking about is something I alluded to a moment ago: old "buddies" Marbury and Van Horn are reunited. And why people aren't talking about this, I don't know, but if this doesn't qualify as a cruel chemistry experiment, I'm going to have to go revisit some old Mr. Wizard episodes to see what chemistry is all about. I don't get it. Are we just giving Isiah Thomas a free pass here? Yeah, he got Marbury, which makes the Knicks immediately watchable, which I suppose is a huge victory in and of itself, but is Isiah not aware how much Van Horn and Marbury hate each other? Is he not apprised of the fact that Van Horn plays like a total sissy when Marbury is running the show? (Actually, Van Horn plays like a sissy all the time, so scratch that). The funny thing is, I think Isiah knew exactly what he was doing in reuniting Marbury and Van Horn, which I guess makes it all the more fun for the rest of us.
By the way, the Knicks lost tonight, but for the first time in a long time, I found myself interested enough to watch.
I guess for that, whether I like the economics of the trade or not, I have to say a reluctant "thanks" to Isiah Thomas.
Come to think of it, economics are kind of lame anyways.
