Starks
Starter
IT WAS A POWER MOVE, WE NEEDED IT AND WE GOTTED IT.
WHATS UP TALK TO ME
Reported today:
"One of the first plays Mike D'Antoni is expected to draw up as the Knicks' new coach is for Stephon Marbury to run up the Garden floor ... and out the door back to Phoenix to rejoin the Suns.
Once D'Antoni is formally named to succeed Isiah Thomas, he is expected to try to make a push for two of his favorite Suns - forward Boris Diaw and guard Leandro Barbosa, who reportedly have fallen out of favor with Suns management. According to a person close to D'Antoni, one of his first moves would be to get the Knicks to offer Marbury and his expiring $22 million contract as a central part of the deal.
Because of the Suns players mentioned in this scenario, no one will be surprised if D'Antoni starts lobbying Donnie Walsh today to call Phoenix president Steve Kerr to begin trade talks.
"He loves Boris and Barbosa and he didn't like Marbury when he had him," said the source. "So this is the type of move that can jump-start D'Antoni's program right off the bat. He went to New York with the notion that he will have input and help alter the roster to get his kind of players."
Although Marbury played only a handful of games for D'Antoni before coming to New York in January 2004, after two-plus seasons in Phoenix, D'Antoni doesn't view Marbury as a winning player or someone he thinks can play point guard in his system."
So much for that