George O'Brien
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There is little doubt that Thomas initiated the talks, that led to Stephon being traded, soon after being named GM of the Knicks. The Suns management had a long time to think about it.
It was clearly a difficult decision. Marbury is a bona fide star and team leader. But it is not clear the Suns really had much choice.
From the beginning of training camp, it was clear the Suns had a problem. Independent of the injuries and coaching difficulties, it was increasingly clear that the Suns lacked the talent to be a potential championship team.
Basically, the Suns had/have two holes. At center, they have two journeyman guys who are capable backups, but not NBA starter quality players. Some people complain that White is not worth his salary, but they started the season with Voskuhl and Googs at the #5 position. Williams had some good games, but is getting ready to retire.
At shooting guard, the Suns had Joe Johnson who is inconsistent on offense and Penny Hardaway who was inconsistent on defense. Neither is having an especially good year.
These two problem areas hurt the overall dynamic of the team. Shawn Marion has a great all round game, but is not a "go-to" guy on offense. Marbury was double teamed constantly and forced to shoot and miss jumps shots. Amare was subjected to continuous double teaming because the Suns ccouldn't hit jumps shots.
Even if the Suns were healthy, this situation was not promising.
What were the team's options:
1. Wait. Unfortunately, it was not clear that the Suns had the young talent able to eventually solve their problems. JJ may never become a consistent shooter and it is unlikely that White will ever be a top player.
2. Trade Marion - Due to issues of base year contracts, he really could not be traded until summer. He has an expensive contract and it is not certain that he could be traded for a top player even if it included a draft pick.
3. Draft - The Suns should get a good player in the draft, but it far from certain that they will be able to solve their problems.
4. Free Agency - The Suns were projected to be at $55 million at the end of the season, which would certainly be above the luxury tax limit. This would mean that a mid cap exemption free agent would cost upwards of $10 million on a $5 million player. Since virtually every teams has a mid cap exemption, it would be difficult to sign a star.
The killer in the free agency market or in multi-party trades was the Penny Hardaway's salary. With two more years after this at $14.6 and $15.7 million, the Suns were never going to get out of cap trouble until 2006/07.
Prior to the season, the Suns signed Marbury to a long term extension to his contract. They were concerned that he might leave at the end of this season. Unfortunately for the Suns, Jason Kidd was subject to a heavy bidding war that pushed his contract to an enormous level. The Suns were put in the awkward situation of claiming that Marbury was as good as Kidd, but then trying to low ball Stephon. The result was an expensive contract which further reduced the Suns ability to go after free agents.
Did the Suns have another "real" option than trading Marbury in order to unload the contracts of Hardaway and Trybanski? Was there another way? Without knowing what the other general managers positions were, it is impossible to know.
The development of Barbosa may have convinced the Suns management that he could be their star of the future.
Should they have simply sat tight and hoped for the best? Sometimes that is the best choice, but obviously the Colangelos concluded that it would not work.
It was clearly a difficult decision. Marbury is a bona fide star and team leader. But it is not clear the Suns really had much choice.
From the beginning of training camp, it was clear the Suns had a problem. Independent of the injuries and coaching difficulties, it was increasingly clear that the Suns lacked the talent to be a potential championship team.
Basically, the Suns had/have two holes. At center, they have two journeyman guys who are capable backups, but not NBA starter quality players. Some people complain that White is not worth his salary, but they started the season with Voskuhl and Googs at the #5 position. Williams had some good games, but is getting ready to retire.
At shooting guard, the Suns had Joe Johnson who is inconsistent on offense and Penny Hardaway who was inconsistent on defense. Neither is having an especially good year.
These two problem areas hurt the overall dynamic of the team. Shawn Marion has a great all round game, but is not a "go-to" guy on offense. Marbury was double teamed constantly and forced to shoot and miss jumps shots. Amare was subjected to continuous double teaming because the Suns ccouldn't hit jumps shots.
Even if the Suns were healthy, this situation was not promising.
What were the team's options:
1. Wait. Unfortunately, it was not clear that the Suns had the young talent able to eventually solve their problems. JJ may never become a consistent shooter and it is unlikely that White will ever be a top player.
2. Trade Marion - Due to issues of base year contracts, he really could not be traded until summer. He has an expensive contract and it is not certain that he could be traded for a top player even if it included a draft pick.
3. Draft - The Suns should get a good player in the draft, but it far from certain that they will be able to solve their problems.
4. Free Agency - The Suns were projected to be at $55 million at the end of the season, which would certainly be above the luxury tax limit. This would mean that a mid cap exemption free agent would cost upwards of $10 million on a $5 million player. Since virtually every teams has a mid cap exemption, it would be difficult to sign a star.
The killer in the free agency market or in multi-party trades was the Penny Hardaway's salary. With two more years after this at $14.6 and $15.7 million, the Suns were never going to get out of cap trouble until 2006/07.
Prior to the season, the Suns signed Marbury to a long term extension to his contract. They were concerned that he might leave at the end of this season. Unfortunately for the Suns, Jason Kidd was subject to a heavy bidding war that pushed his contract to an enormous level. The Suns were put in the awkward situation of claiming that Marbury was as good as Kidd, but then trying to low ball Stephon. The result was an expensive contract which further reduced the Suns ability to go after free agents.
Did the Suns have another "real" option than trading Marbury in order to unload the contracts of Hardaway and Trybanski? Was there another way? Without knowing what the other general managers positions were, it is impossible to know.
The development of Barbosa may have convinced the Suns management that he could be their star of the future.
Should they have simply sat tight and hoped for the best? Sometimes that is the best choice, but obviously the Colangelos concluded that it would not work.
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