| Stephon Marbury To Atlanta? Authored by Patrick J. Austin - July 6, 2005 - 3:30 pm
Chad Ford of ESPN is reporting that the Knicks and Hawks are in discussions about a blockbuster trade involving Stephon Marbury and Al Harrington. Of course, this is Chad Ford we’re talking about so there may not be much validity to it.
Though let’s say, for discussions sake, that talks were actually occurring. Would this be the right move for us to make? Would Stephon Marbury accept being dealt to Atlanta? What kind of impact would this have on our cap space? These are all important questions that I’ll try to answer.
The deal would include Al Harrington, Tony Delk, and Jason Collier heading to New York in exchange for Marbury. If this went down, our cap space would not be affected. We’d still have over twenty million dollars to spend on free agents.
It’s our future cap space that would be damaged. Taking on Steph’s gargantuan contract would limit our financial flexibility over the next three years. In the final year he’ll be paid over twenty-one million dollars.
Is Steph worth that kind of financial commitment? Some would say yes while others say no. Personally, I’m torn. You can’t argue with his numbers—21ppg, 8apg, & 3rpg. He’s definitely a top-ten point guard in this league who’s more than capable of taking over games.
On the flip side, he’s widely considered to be a selfish player who doesn’t make his teammates better. Furthermore, every team that’s traded him has enjoyed major success afterwards. Minnesota continued to make the postseason after he was gone; New Jersey achieved consecutive finals appearances without him; most recently, Phoenix made it to the Western conference finals less than a year after moving Steph to New York.
Could this be legit? Is Marbury just a good stat player who doesn’t make a team better? Maybe. But I believe it’s more of a coincidence than anything else.
With the T-Wolves, you can’t discount the proliferation of Kevin Garnett to superstar status and the addition of Wally Szczerbiak.
In New Jersey, the team was decimated by injuries while Marbs ran the show. When Kidd arrived, he had the benefit of a healthy Kenyon Martin and Kerry Kittles.
Finally with the Suns, they actually played worse after dealing Marbury. Their real improvement came in the offseason after signing Steve Nash and Quentin Richardson.
So should the Hawks take a risk on Steph? Personally, I say go for it.
We’ve been cost off into NBA exile. Something needs to happen; a move needs to be made in order to get the franchise back on the map. Acquiring Marbury would do exactly that. He’d help attract more fans to Philips and is well liked in the Atlanta area (played his college ball at Georgia Tech). As stated earlier, he’s a top-ten point guard and the Hawks are desperate for a talented floor general. It makes perfect sense.
Will it happen? Who knows. It could just be a baseless rumor or the definitive ’05 summer mega-trade. In either case, it’s fun to talk about. |
