Report: D'Antoni eyeing Marbury trade
by FOXSports.com
New York shake-up
Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni met the media Tuesday, saying his team is ready to win now. Are more moves on the way in New York?
The new coach in New York wants to trade point guard Stephon Marbury as one of his first acts on the job, according to a report in the New York Daily News.
The report, citing "a person close to D'Antoni," said the coach would ideally like to ship Marbury to the Suns in an effort to bring some of his old players to New York.
Marbury is owed $22 million in the final year of his contract next season. That impending cap relief could be a huge asset to teams looking to make a splash in the loaded free agency markets on the horizon. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade are among the superstar names that could be available in the near future.
The Daily News report suggested that Boris Diaw and Leandro Barbosa would be the likely targets of a potential Knicks-Suns deal.
"(D'Antoni) loves Boris and Barbosa and he didn't like Marbury when he had him," the Daily News source said. "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."
D'Antoni was introduced as the 24th head coach in Knicks history Tuesday and pledged to adapt as necessary to make the team — which had little positive press in 2007-08 — competitive immediately, no matter what the personnel situation may be.
"I look at the roster and that's the roster I'm going to win with," D'Antoni said.
D'Antoni won at least 54 games each of the last four seasons in Phoenix and earned coach of the year honors in 2005. He is known as one of the NBA's top offensive minds, running a system that helped Steve Nash win two MVP awards and making the Suns one of the league's most exciting teams.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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