Isiah Thomas vs Stephon Marbury: From bad to worse

Aside from the potential ramifications (I have Stephon Marbury in my Yahoo! NBA Fantasy team coincidentally named (prior to the draft) Starbury) the latest feud between Knicks point guard Marbury and New York Knicks President of Basketball Operations and Head Coach Isiah Thomas.

It's an ugly situation with both sides (as well as that of the media) vacillating between confirming Marbury's approved absences to ignoring questions on the subject altogether.

It got even worse when Marbury spoke out against Thomas today and threatened to "tell all."

Not that any revelations at this point would make President/Coach Isiah Thomas any rosier in the wake of testimonies of Stephon Marbury and Madison Square Garden Chairman, James Dolan which contributed to his demise in the Anucha Browne Sanders sexual harassment case. It's old news.

Now to the Knicks. You guys have already heard it all--the horrific signings and trades that have most likely set back the New York Knicks till the next decade (e.g., Stephon Marbury, Eddy Curry, Antonio McDyess, Jerome James, Jared Jeffries, etc.), the disgraceful Anucha Browne Sanders sexual harassment case, and least we forget the laughable Knicks Win-Loss record over the last couple of years despite sporting the league's highest payroll.

How bad can it get?

Daily News Sports Writer Frank Isola had this update which sheds some light on the Marbury-Thomas showdown:

"According to a person close to the team, Marbury's air rage began when Eddy Curry, following a conversation with Isiah Thomas, told Marbury that he and Marbury were being pulled from the starting lineup against the Suns.

Upon hearing that he would back up second-year guard Mardy Collins, Marbury marched toward the front of the plane to meet with Thomas. Five minutes later, an enraged Marbury told his teammates that if he wasn't starting he wouldn't suit up for the game. But it was something else Marbury said that stunned his teammates in the back of the luxury plane.

"Isiah has to start me," Marbury fumed, according to the source. "I've got so much (stuff) on Isiah and he knows it. He thinks he can (get) me. But I'll (get) him first. You have no idea what I know."

It is unclear if Marbury made the same threat directly to Thomas, whose first big move as team president was trading for Marbury. But clearly, the Marbury-Thomas war is officially underway and it promises to get uglier. Early yesterday, Marbury and a friend boarded a plane and returned to New York. Marbury, 30, could conceivably fly to Los Angeles today and rejoin the Knicks for tonight's game against the Clippers. Marbury faces a fine and suspension for every game he misses."

Come on! Mardy Collins (who incidentally left the Suns game after playing 5 minutes with a foot injury)! Nate Robinson! Despite all of his shortcomings and inadequacies (and $42 million greenbacks guaranteed for the next two seasons), Stephon Marbury is the most viable option at the point guard position for the New York Knicks.

The reported benching of Knicks center Eddy Curry also doesn't help matters much.

It is certainly a plethora of madness that will last long after (should it eventually happen) Isiah Thomas' term as President of Basketball Operations/Head Coach expires.

After all, (should the Knicks decide to cut their ties with the aforementioned Thomas and/or Marbury) it would be: a) nothing new; and b) what is another couple of million?

Isola added:

"A buyout is a possibility since Dolan has given lucrative severance packages to Scott Layden, Don Chaney, Lenny Wilkens, Larry Brown, Shandon Anderson, Maurice Taylor and Jerome Williams."

There is a precedent to this line of thinking.

Stay Tuned...

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Making Cap sense out of the NBA Cap

The dollar-for-dollar NBA Luxury Tax is a term that I am very sure NBA team owners dread. To my understanding, "the Cap" is simply this: when the amount of the NBA Salary Cap is determined sometime during the off-season (a complicated process based on player salaries and team revenues from ticket sales, apparel, merchandise, etc.), team are mandated to spend a certain amount to run their respective franchises. But should their spendings exceed the cap budget, they will be penalized with a dollar-for-dollar fine that will be collected and distributed to the 29 other NBA teams.

For example, The New York Knicks, who are Luxury Tax alumni, used their mid-level exemption (see below) last year in order to sign Washington Wizards guard-forward Jared Jeffries to a 5-year, $30 million dollar deal despite being over the cap. How were they affected? Well, instead of spending $30 million, they actually spent $60 million with half that amount going into the luxury tax pool.


Sun-Sentinel's Ira Winderman, a Miami Heat insider, broke down the specifics of cap space and excemptions recently in his blog:


"...you can either use cap space or exceptions during the same free-agency period. You cannot use cap space and then spend an exception. It's one or the other, which is why if you're within mid-level space, you might as well use the exception, bypass space, and try to re-sign your own free agents with Bird rights."

"The (Larry) Bird Rights" that Winderman is referring too is the ability for an NBA franchise to exceed the NBA's mandated salary cap in order to resign their own free agents. The Boston Celtics and the Legendary Larry Bird, were the first to exercise such an option.

*Whew*

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At least Jared Jeffries didn’t have to give #20 back!

Not long after Jared Jeffries joined the New York Knicks last year as yet another one of President of Basketball Operations Isiah Thomas’ $30 million dollar projects,
Jeffries sought out then-retired Knicks guard Allan Houston in order to request if he could use Houston’s #20 for his tenure with the Knicks. Houston, humbled by the younger Jeffries request, gave this blessing.

On October 10, 2007, things got a bit interesting as the booked camp of the New York Knicks added yet another body by signing Houston to a contract. Houston, who was attempting to come back from a knee injury that forced him to retire two years earlier, had a lot of factors going against him: playing rust, stamina, and competition for a roster spot in the Knicks’ final lineup.

At this point, I wondered if I would hear Jim A. Lovell’s classic line, “Houston, we have a problem.” This of course pertaining to whether or not Houston would again don his familiar #20.

Seven days later, Houston answered by question by sporting #7 in the Knicks drubbing against the Boston Celtics (101-61). Houston played a 6 insignificant minutes in that contest and only attempted one shot.

On the 20th of October, Houston had this prepared statement:

"While my body and my knees, in particular, feel fine, I know what is required for me to be truly effective in the NBA again, and it involves a timing and progression that would not be fair to Isiah and the Knicks right now," Houston said in a statement released by the Knicks. "With the season opening less than two weeks away, I think it is best for the team to move on without me. I appreciate the opportunity that Isiah and the Knicks have given me, and I wish the team nothing but success."

Ok…so much for that comeback attempt. Premature, but at least, Allan Houston got to go out on his own terms…with yet another contract at that!

Thanks Isiah!

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