FanHouse New York Knicks

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Desperation oozed from every pore. If New York-area basketball hasn't reached its nadir, it's only because the NBA has a silly rule that some team must win. Otherwise, who knows how low this charade might go? The players might be the ones slipping paper bags over their heads, to match the fans' embarrassment as they sit in the stands and try not to rubberneck.

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Chris Webber came to Detroit this January because he wanted to help his hometown Pistons win a title. If he accomplishes that feat, what will he do for an encore? If you believe him, he might just ride the storybook ending to retirement. From the New York Post:

Asked about his summer free agency, Webber said, "I'm not really looking at this summer. Looking at seeing if I can win a championship right now. Not thinking of next year. If I win one, I just might disappear. You know what I'm saying."

Asked if he meant disappear as in retire, Webber said, "I got to win a championship this year and I might then disappear. I don't even know."

Of course, that's easy to say now, but next summer when there's several offers from around the league on the table, it'd be just as easy to see him keep playing, whether he reports to camp a champion or not.

But where might he sign? If he doesn't return to the Pistons, the Knicks are a legitimate possibility -- C-Webb admitted to the Post that he asked his agents to try working out a trade to the Knicks this past summer. But while Webber's low-post passing would be a god-send next to the black hole known as Eddy Curry, would Thomas really risk stunting the development of guys like Channing Frye and David Lee by bringing in a veteran to start over them? Of course he would -- this is Thomas we're talking about.

Another possibility is the Lakers, a team that Webber admitted he probably would have signed with had he been a free agent at the beginning of the year, when he could've had a full training camp to learn the triangle offense. No matter what, though, even with the rest of his buyout coming from the Sixers, Webber almost certainly won't accept playing for the veteran's minimum contract yet again. The Post suggests he'll probably command most of the $5 million mid-level exception, which sounds about right for me.

Somehow, Stephon Marbury is ending his season on a high note. The Knicks may still miss the playoffs, but Starbury is dangerously close to being a star again. According to Newsday's Alan Hahn, the point guards numbers have taken a very encouraging jump:

In 19 games since late February, when the injuries started taking its toll on the team, Marbury has averaged 23.4 points and has taken almost six more shots per game than he did in his first 54 games of the season, when he averaged 14.1 points. His shooting percentage is up from 40.8 percent in his first 54 games to 42.9 percent in the last 19. Marbury has taken almost five more three-pointers per game in the last 19 games, and his percentage from three-point range has improved from 33.9 percent to 38.5 percent. He is averaging 42.05 minutes per game in the last 19, which is almost seven minutes per game more than he had been playing.

That's nice and all, even if, as Hahn notes, these trends may be responsible for Eddy Curry's slump. Marbury is also getting some of that old swagger back, as evidenced by his reaction to Isiah's recent fines:

Stephon Marbury said it "would be nothing" to help Knicks coach Isiah Thomas pay the $50,000 fine levied on him by the NBA for comments Thomas made on Marbury's behalf.

Okay, maybe he's kidding, but this can't make the NBA happy. There's a reason why fines are sometimes levied against individuals, and sometimes against teams; it's so that individual will clearly bear the responsibility for his actions. If Marbury is offering to chip in on Thomas's behalf, even in jest, this kind of undermines the whole point of individual fines. It should be interesting to see if I'm just taking this way too seriously.

It may have been overshadowed by 48 year-old Julio Franco yet again sticking in the majors, but 44 year-old Kevin Willis will apparently audition for a playoff roster spot with the Mavs. The Dallas Morning News reports that Avery is wiling to humor the ageless seven-footer:

Johnson said the team is looking for a big man – if they decide to sign anybody at all.

"Right now, it's kind of the best available person," he said. "I'm real leery about adding anybody right now. But if there's something that makes sense, we'll do it. But it's got to really make sense for us."

The Kevin Willis saga is indeed a strange one. He's one of only fifteen players to reach 16,000 points and 11,000 rebounds, and even capped off his career with a 2003 Spurs ring. Yet he was back as recently as 2004-05, when he made an appearance for the Hawks.

It's also being rumored that Allsn Houston might try and return to the league. Most assumed him a micro-fracture casualty, but apparently there's some life left in him. Who knows, maybe the Michael Ray Richardson fiasco reminded him of his own anti-Semitic glory days. According to The New York Daily News, though, there's a small problem:

At least two NBA coaches believe that Houston is planning to play again. Houston, whose contract expires this summer, retired in October 2005 with chronic knee pain. Until then, he remains the second highest paid player in the league at $20.7 million behind Minnesota's Kevin Garnett ($21 million).

You know, I'm sick of hearing that Garnett's contract brought on the league-mandated max. Seeing as everyone in the universe thinks KG is worth every dime, I think it's time we recognize Houston's mega-deal as the real culprit.

A severed human leg washed up on the property of James Dolan, owner of the New York Knicks. Dolan fished the leg out of his waterfront property, examined it, and turned it over to Isiah Thomas, who immediately offered the leg a 7-year, $48 million deal. The leg is expected to start at power forward for the Knicks Friday night in Dallas.

ZING.

Actually, it wasn't Dolan who found it at all. A landscaper was working on his property when a bag washed up on the shoreline. The gentleman opened the bag (bad idea), and found the leg. I'm sure that smelled wonderful.

Police seem to think the leg is connected (not literally, of course) to a human torso that was discovered three weeks ago in a suitcase on a Westchester County beach. Earlier in the week, a fisherman found a right foot and a leg bone elsewhere.

I apologize for the choppy video quality ... blame Windows Vista.

Stephon Marbury hit a game-winner against the Cavs last night ... the ball molested the rim in all varieties of ways, but it did eventually drop, and the Knickerbockers get a quality win over the Cavs.

That capped a 4th quarter in which Ed Curry scored 13 of his 25 points to bring the Knicks back. There was a bit of bad news for the Knicks -- actually, we'll just call it a bit of news -- Steve Francis rolled his ankle in the first quarter. X-rays were negative.

ESPN.com's John Hollinger, in a recent Insider column (sorry), lists the NBA's 25 worst contracts. He breaks them up into four categories: Guys who were already waived, guys who are still stuck with their teams, Knicks, and former Knicks.

Four categories, two of them dedicated to the Knicks alone. I know it's not news to mention that the Knicks have given out some bad contracts, but I find it hilarious that one organization has two entire categories on this list devoted to them. Given their relative (just a game and a half out of that 8-seed, get the parade ready) success lately, it's easy to lose sight of just how bad things are.

This year alone, the Knicks are spending $72.6 million ($36.3 million in salary, equal that on the dollar-for-dollar luxury tax) on guys who no longer play for them. Two are out of the league, one is riding the pine for the Suns, and one, bless his soul, is doing TV work for the Knicks.

And back in the category of current Knicks (of which there are four, Steve Francis, Stephon Marbury, Jerome James, and Malik Rose), the closest any of them are to expiring is two years from now.

Bravo, Knickerbockers. You almost have to sort of begrudgingly respect what they've done ... sure, they've crippled their franchise for years, but at least they picked an ethos -- in this case, massive overspending -- are they remained dutifully committed to it, at all costs.

Randolph Morris, formerly (like yesterday) a Junior at the University of Kentucky is now a member of the New York Knicks. Not in the near future. Not in some wink-nod deal. Not waiting for the NBA draft. Now. As in, he signed a free agent deal with the Knicks today.

Randolph Morris entered the NBA draft back in 2005 after his freshman season. He did not sign with an agent, and went completely undrafted. Morris was able to return to Kentucky -- after Tubby Smith happened to find the missing paper work a few months later in a desk drawer -- the NCAA had him sit out the 2005-06 non-con portion of the season but resume playing for Kentucky.

Morris played very solidly this past season, but an oddity of the latest NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement made Morris ineligible for the NBA Draft -- instead he was a free agent. He could have signed any time this season with a team and left Kentucky.

After Tubby Smith left Kentucky for Minnesota, Morris decided to leave for the NBA. The Athletic Director of Kentucky implored him to wait on that decision until the Wildcats had a new coach. Considering Kentucky has indicated that they are not going to rush the decision, Morris apparently saw no reason to wait around to see what happened. He took the money now, though it is not clear when he will be suiting up for games with the Knicks.

Previously on Fanhouse:
How to Beat the NBA Draft

Stephon Marbury gained a lot of positive press for selling and wearing his line of $14.98 sneakers through discount apparel store Steve & Barry's. One of the most vocal fans of the shoes has been Mark Cuban:

"They're aren't many things we will do in our lives that will have an impact on culture and social change. To be able to send a message to kids and sell millions of shoes so the message gets through saying, save that extra $85 and buy your kid a guitar or some clothes. That is huge.

"You can look at NBA cares all you want. You can look at the things I've done for charity all you want. The NBA has never done anything as impactful as what he has done."

That's high praise, and it actually comes across sincere and without hyperbole. And from the sounds of it, Marbury has finally recruited another NBA star to join his movement to change America's mind that "cool" has to equal "expensive." From an email from Steve & Barry's public relations firm:

We are preparing to launch our Spring collection of Starbury ... Stephon Marbury's line exclusively with Steve & Barrys. But this is a much bigger story then another sports figure endorsing another sneaker. Starbury is revolutionizing the sneaker industry each $14.98 sneaker at a time. Of course that fashion aspect of the line is that we have really cool sneakers for men, women and kids that retail for $14.98 and are still considered cool among the sneakerheads of the world. And now Ben Wallace is joining the Starbury team. He believes as strongly in this "social movement" as Steph does.

I've always thought it strange that Ben Wallace doesn't have a shoe deal -- even last year, on his way to his fourth Defensive Player of the Year Award in five years, he was buying his own kicks. Now that he has the biggest contract of his life, he's going to be wearing gear he could have bought with paper-route money. Personally, I love the move, and I think it's a coup for Steve & Barry's, who are getting not only an extremely recognizable player but also one known for his blue-collar image. Kudos all around.

(via Larry Brown)

St. Patrick's Day is coming up -- it's March 17th for those of you to whom this is not a particularly big deal -- and that's come to mean five things. 1) Booze, 2) Booze, 3) Booze, 4) NBA teams were unsightly green uniforms, and 5) Booze.

The NBA actually seems to be looking at St. Patrick's Day as more of a "season" than a one-day event. From the 11th through the 13th, the Bulls, Celtics, and Knicks will be wearing special commemorative St. Patrick's Day uniforms.

I don't really get why the NBA does this. Not that I'm opposed to it, because I'm not ... it can be a fun, quirky little thing. But really, why does the NBA care so much about St. Patrick's Day? Certainly, they don't actually sell a lot of these green jerseys, do they? Who's buying those things? I don't get it. Why not the same treatment for other holidays?

If we're going to do this, why not have the Bucks take the court wearing antlers on the first day of deer-hunting season? Why not have the Spurs take the court reeking of tequila and wearing sombreros on Cinco de Mayo? Let's have the 76ers play in top hats and fake Lincoln beards on Presidents Day, let's make the Wizards play in bunny suits on Easter, and let's have the Timberwolves play in uniforms made entirely of leaves on Arbor Day.