Well, the Stephon Marbury circus has found itself back in New York for yet another training camp.  As camp opens up, any positive emotions and excitement that should come with a new season have been mauled by the frenzy created by Marbury’s mere presence.  Donnie Walsh has made it clear that he is not going to buy out Marbury until all other options (and I mean ALL other options) have been exhausted.  While Marbury has no place on this team, Walsh would be stupid to cut Marbury before he absolutely had to do so.  

Most Knicks fans understand that despite Marbury’s talent (which has diminished in his time as a Knick), it is his attitude that has butchered the Knicks’ last few seasons.  There is always a story with him.  And that story never has a happy ending; not for Marbury, not for the Knicks, and especially not for Knicks fans.

I think everyone realizes that Marbury’s presence on the roster this season will deter the Knicks from heading into the right direction.  That is not really much of a question.  The question I have for everyone out there is a bit tougher to answer.  Training camp is supposed to be a time when the team begins to gel together and begins to progress as one cohesive unit.  The longer Marbury sticks around, the longer it will take for the glue of this team to dry.  So, has Walsh waited too long to rid the Knicks of this distraction?  Is Walsh too late?  Or when is it too late? 

Again, I believe that Walsh has to expend all other options before getting rid of Marbury.  All possible trade scenarios must be exhausted.  But by the time Walsh does that, will Marbury have already branded his negative impression on the 2008-2009 Knicks team?  How late is too late?

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David Lee knows what he has to do.

When I asked him what his feelings were, being one of the most productive players per minute in the NBA yet still having to sit behind guys that make more money, he was very clear.

“Those guys (Curry and Randolph) are veterans and I should be behind them. I was a late lottery pick. I came in here knowing Channing (Frye) was a lottery pick and was going to get the first crack (at the starting role). I just have to keep working hard night after night.”

Don’t let him fool you, he wants to start. He’s a winner and that’s a winner’s mentality. Tiger Woods has always had respect for Jack Nicklaus records, but knew in his heart he could win 50 majors. He’s being a good teammate, and quickly morphing into a leadership role in his 4th year.

Lee has plenty in his favor. We’ve heard that Donnie Walsh has settled on the idea of giving Lee a much-deserved extension, but he’ll have every opportunity to earn it. He will see plenty of minutes and I wouldn’t be surprised if he wins a starting forward spot out of the gate. He’s comfortable in this system, remember he played in Billy Donovan’s 40 minute pressing style at Florida.

He’s also ready to show fans how hard he’s worked on his jumper this off season.

“I think fans will be surprised, ” he told me. “It’s a confidence thing, and I’ve found it.”

If that’s the case, Lee won’t find himself on the bench very often, and he may find himself on the All-Star team.

What was apparent yesterday, the whole thing about the players being tired of Steph’s act was reiterated by the Bergan Record as well.

But was is more intriguing is that the window of teams who Marbury could go to seem to be closing fast. The Celtics re-signed Sam Cassell and word out of Miami is that the Heat are close to coming to terms with Shaun Livingston, the talented guard who’s year, and career, were damaged by a freekish knee injury.

Former Los Angeles Clippers point guard Shaun Livingston has patiently sought out a team to take a chance on his rehabilitated left knee.  Signs point to the Miami HEAT seriously considering giving Livingston their Bi-Annual Exception for two years, starting at $1.91 million.

Under the quirks of the Collective Bargaining Agreement, Livingston’s eight-figure cap hold needed to be off the Clippers’ books in order for the team to sign guard Baron Davis and trade for power forward/center Marcus Camby.

LA offered Livingston a guaranteed one-year minimum deal which would have restored Livingston’s Bird Rights next summer – and enable the Clippers to re-sign him to a high dollar deal should his play (and health) warrant it.

Livingston’s camp informed Los Angeles that they could do better elsewhere.  To date, teams like the Portland Trail Blazers and Minnesota Timberwolves ultimately passed on the still recovering guard.

Enter the HEAT who have the relatively unproven Marcus Banks, Mario Chalmers and Chris Quinn at the point.  Banks does not appear to be in the team’s long-term vision and if healthy, Livingston has nothing but tremendous upside.

No deal has been announced but the buzz is that it could be close.  The second year is rumored to be a team option.

Should Miami fall through, don’t expect the Clippers to come calling.  After point guard Jason Williams surprisingly retired before camp, a spot arguably opened up on the roster but the team is comfortable with the tandem of Baron Davis, veteran Jason Hart and rookie Mike Taylor (non-guaranteed).

Should this happen, Donnie Walsh has a decision to make. Keeping Steph would tarnish what he is trying to build, unless he is comfortable tanking this season. Just ask Nate or Crawford, how they feel about #3′s presense.  Other options, aside from a buyout, would be to call Warriors GM Chris Mullin and ask about the availability of Al Harrington, who is said to be on the blocks.

A Marbury-for-Harrington deal straight up does not work, as both teams are over the cap, so a potential third team would have to be involved. The Boston Globe reported two days ago that fans should not be surprised if a blockbuster deal went down during the preseason with some notable names mentioned ( Iverson, Marion, Marbury, Vince Carter and Harrington.)

Who knows what will happen next, but one thing’s for sure, if Walsh wants to build something starting now he has to move Marbury, and the teams said to be destinations seem to be dwindling by the second.

I think Steph lasts a few days at camp and will be sent packing. Where we don’t know…

Update: The thing I take from this day is the awkwardness that filled the room. A lot of walking on egg shells. I think that it centers on Marbury, the players seem to want to move on, but can’t with the Marbury distraction. He obviously hasn’t talked with his teammates, and they don’t mind. Marbury left the room early without talking to any players as far as I could see.

Jamal Crawford is a leader. He always stands up and speaks openly, another year comes in and I find myself really rooting for him. I hope he becomes the complete player we all think he can be.

What’s not to like about David Lee? He simply wants to win. “We’ve had 75 years of drama in the last two years,” he told me. “But I want to be here when this thing turns around.” I hope he’s here too, I asked him about sitting behind Curry and Randolph despite being one of the NBA’s most productive players per minute and he told me “I knew I’d have to wait. I came in here sitting behind Channing Frye who was a lottery pick. I’ll just keep working hard night after night.”

Expect Houston to be a part of this team one way or another this year. He’s not here for a few weeks, he’s here to spread the word of Knick lore and feels very strongly about it. (By the way, if that picture above doesn’t tell you which direction the team wants to go in, I don’t know what does…)

“I can see it in the fans’ faces and I know what it was like to have success here, being a Knick means so much to me,” H20 told me.”I’m here to try and give these guys a feel of what it means to have success in this city and that it’s important to have pride in this jersey.”

************************************

12:30 Eddy Curry seems to be where the reporters are flocking to. He’s wearing his warmup but says he’s in good shape. He said with D’Antoni here it’s hard not to be in good shape. He doesn’t appear to have lost any weight.

Steph is next and as you can imagine is being mobbed. His tatoo is pretty cool. He seems a little touchy. He doesn’t seem real happy to be here and I can’t say I blame him He just wants to play, we’ll see where soon enough.

His response to whether he’s spent time with new teammates.
“Next question.”

Sat with Allan Houston who is absolutely the best. He’s here to spread and pass along what it means to wear the jersey, which is music to a fan’s ears.

Professionalism either on or off the court.

Spoke to Gallinari too and he’s still a ways away hasn’t done much conditioning due to his back, and he’s not sure when he’ll be back. His timetable has yet to be set.

Steph’s still at it…” I want to win a championship here in NY. I’m a knick until something else happens.”

Eddy Curry on defense:
“It’s a matter of pride.”

I have to say that the set up is pretty funny. All players sitting at tables like at a restaurant waiting for their dates to arrive. ZBo’s tucked away in the back corner.

David Lee felt for Mets fans and talked to David Wright yesterday. Lee wants to win and wants to be here,addressed the Memphis rumors and said Walsh told him that “we won 23 games last year and if I didn’t try to improve the team, I wouldn’t be doing my job. It’s flattering when teams call and ask for you.”

ZBo knows D’antoni’s system and thinks he’ll have plenty of chances to shoot jumpers and he has nothing bad to say about Marbury.

Zach claims to be in “okay shape.”

Caught up to my man Brandon Tierney who has these thoughts on Marbury heading into the year- “if I were running the Knicks I’d have a hard time keeping Steph because of what they are trying to build. But it looks like they are giving him a chance to succeed.”

BT has some great audio tonight so check out the radio show on 1050…..

I recently had the chance to sit down with Dan Isenberg, who runs an awesome new blog called Westcheddar, which highlights to goings on of people doin’ their thing and who are from Westchester County.

Check out the Q & A.

The New York Knicks have had a tough time winning ballgames the past few years.  It seems like forever since they were an actual threat to other teams in the NBA.  Tommy Dee, who covers the beat for SNY-TV’s theknicksblog.com, called a time out to tell us here at Westcheddar what to expect from our beloved Knickerbockers this season.  Check it out…

IP:  Ok, Tommy Dee, how bad are the Knicks going to be this year?  It’s been miserable trying to root for them lately.  Any hope?

TD:  This year? I would say no, but stranger things have happened. If they make the playoffs they lose a first round pick, and there are some solid point guards to be had in next year’s lottery in Ricky Rubio, who played on Spain’s Olympic team, and Brandon Jennings. Knick fans should hope for a competitive season without making the playoffs. Somewhere around 33 to 35 wins. more.

Editor’s Note- The Knicks have to finish with a top 7 record in the NBA this year in order for the Jazz to receive the 2009 pick. Next year they get it either way, unprotected. So the Knicks have plenty to play for this year…We apologize for the error.

We’ll be there tomorrow and judging from many reports in today’s papers, it’s going to be a madhouse.

Marc Berman is reporting Danilo Gallinari will be out most of preseason and is a candidate for the development league.

The Daily News grabbed an Eastern Conference president who agrees with us:

“Who cares if they have to eat $22 million and he goes to Miami? They need a fresh start in the Garden and that means Marbury needs to go.”

We’ve been looking forward to tomorrow, so check in for live real-time blog updates, like we did a the NBA draft and lottery, from media day.

This is a situation really worth paying attention to.

In a time of great financial despair, it would seem as if the Cablevision empire is still on relatively solid ground, so money continues to not be an issue for James Dolan.

However, Dolan mandated that there would be no buyouts under the Isiah Thomas mess, instead forcing Zeke to prove that his acquisitions were good ones. Now that Zeke is out and Donnie Walsh is in charge, does he have all the tools necessary to dump Marbury, Jerome James, and Malik Rose by just writing a check and saying goodbye?

“I don’t know,” Walsh was quoted as saying on Hahn’s blog. “I haven’t asked the question yet.”

“I was doing this in Indiana for a long time and I can’t remember buying out a contract,” he said. “I really can’t. I dealt with it with trades, I guess. I always tried not to do that. That isn’t good management if you have to do that.”

Good management or not, these aren’t Walsh’s guys. He likes Patrick Ewing Jr, and apparently Anthony Roberson, enough to sign him to a contract, as he also did with Chris Duhon.

Walsh knew going in that he had a full roster. So why add more players? I would make sense that it was a case of out with the old and in with the new.

But will he rid the old? There’s no need for Marbury on this roster. Give him a check for $21 million and be done with him, that seems logical enough. And Malik Rose? With ZBo, David Lee and Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari expected to see minutes at the 4, you can what’s the need for Rose? Obviously no team is interested in swapping for Marbs and Rose’s 28 million cap relief, at least there hasn’t been any nibbles to this point.

So as we head into training camp, Walsh has 17 players for 15 spots, so two won’t make it out of Saratoga.

Or two could have a nice fat check waiting for them with a note saying, “Don’t let the door hit ya…”

It’s a question he HAS to ask.

Today Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni payed a visit to WFAN’s Mike Francesa. Besides the usual cliché, “I’m real excited to get going” and “We just gotta play hard”. D’Antoni did share somethings that were somewhat interesting:

D’Antoni stressed that Stephon Marbury won’t be a distraction. he said, “When you win only 23 games most players on the roster know there will be changes”.

He added, Marbury and Zach Randolph still being here in NY doesn’t change his overall plan. They and other players on the team have talent and can fit in this or any system. ”My philosophy is something I will keep. Some will fit and other’s might have some adjustments to make, it shouldn’t effect most of the players, that’s why we have coaches”….”Definitely anyone can fit in this system. Shaq did, Kurt Thomas did.”

He said he has realistic expectations and if “they play hard”, “wins will follow”, “excitement will follow”… ”Part of me gets real excited with what I see but I can’t put a number (wins) on it”. I know, I know, I said besides the usual cliche’, but, I had to fit at least one or two in.

When asked about Danilo Gallinari D’Antoni said “He will probably be a little slow coming out of the gates because of his back issues. We will be cautious and we will go slow with him because he’s only 20 years old. But I expect around Christmas time he’ll get a head of steam and by real good for us”.

D’Antoni also said that Patrick Ewing Jr. was a little better offensively than people give him credit for and that he’s looking forward to working with him.

Walsh was also on and had some interesting things to say about Marbury.

- Reported by Peter Wade

ESPN.com columnist John Hollinger, a good friend of TKB, and the lone intelligent voice on that website, described his self-developed Player Efficiency Rating (PER) as “summing up a player’s positive accomplishments, subtracting the negative accomplishments, and returning a per-minute rating of a player’s performance.”

Simple enough, right? Still, many teams, scouts, and “pundits” don’t buy into the mathematical analysis. First and foremost, many talent evaluators will place athleticism over production at the college level. Obviously a 6’5″ power forward who averages 19 points a game in a mid-major won’t be able to adjust to the professional level. But, after a while, shouldn’t teams pick up on the fact that role players who knock down open jumpers and play sound defense are more valuable than high-flying swingmen who can’t shoot? Or say, overweight centers?

The prime example is none other than the San Antonio Spurs who last season, started two undrafted players in Bruce Bowen and Fabricio Oberto. And, as one scout noted, “If they went to the NBA Pre-Draft camp this summer, neither of them would have had a chance of getting selected.”

It’s no surprise that the majority of the Knicks do not fare very well in this statistic considering the team finished 29th out of 30 last year in team efficiency. Here are the individual numbers from last season, with the player’s ranking among his position in parentheses.

PG
Stephon Marbury PER 13.84 Minutes Per Game 33.6 (26/70)
Chris Duhon PER 11.13 Minutes Per Game 22.6 (55/70)
Mardy Collins PER 5.89 Minutes Per Game 13.8 (70/70)

SG
Jamal Crawford PER 15.99 Minutes Per Game 39.9 (21/67)
Nate Robinson PER 15.38 Minutes per game 26.1 (23/67)

SF
Wilson Chandler PER 11.70 Minutes Per Game 19.6 (48/65)
Quentin Richardson PER 8.54 Minutes Per Game 28.3 (58/65)
Jared Jeffries PER 7.95 Minutes Per Game 18.1 (60/65)

PF
Zach Randolph PER 18.04 Minutes Per Game 32.6 (13/62)
David Lee PER 18.01 Minutes Per Game 29.1 (14/62)
Malik Rose DID NOT REGISTER

C
Eddy Curry PER 15.08 Minutes Per Game 25.9 (25/60)
Jerome James DID NOT REGISTER

Newcomers: Anthony Roberson, Allan Houston, Dan Grunfeld, Danilo Gallinari, Patrick Ewing Jr.

As you can see, none of the Knicks other than Randolph and Lee really fared well in this statistic. Again, this is a stat that I find to be incredibly important. I understand the critic’s point of view who will say that the game is played on the court and not on a calculator. But, when you see LeBron James, Chris Paul, Amare Stoudemire, Kevin Garnett, and Dirk Nowitzki as the five most efficient players in the league, you realize that this is not some arbitrary formula.

If you look at the significant minutes played by inefficient players such as Richardson, Marbury, and to an extent Crawford, you wonder how much of an improvement the team would have if they were to just give the most minutes to the five best players. Seems logical that over the course of the season, if your five most efficient players lead your team in minutes, then your number of wins will increase.

This is where Mike D’Antoni comes into play. While in Phoenix he was notorious for having an incredibly well-conditioned team and a very short player rotation that varied anywhere between 7 and 9. (Albeit, much of that was due to the makeup of their roster). He owes no duty to any of Isiah’s guys, whereas Isiah felt compelled to play his acquisitions in an attempt to justify the reason.

Should training camp and the preseason prove that one of the team’s five most efficient players is an unlikely source such as Chandler, Gallinari, or even Roberson or Ewing, Jr., I feel that D’Antoni will have the cajones to sit a high-priced player.

Berman tracked down Stephon yesterday, who had a couple of very telling things to say, and why I believe there is no chance he will suit up for the Knicks when the regular season starts in November.

On if it’s about the money:

“”It can’t be about the money. If you feel you’re better without me, just let me go. If not, let’s get down to the business of playing basketball. We shouldn’t be talking about me getting waived or not. We should be talking about bringing playoff life back to the Garden like when I got here (in 2004-2005).”

Like when you got here? Steph just doesn’t get it. In his mind he’s still the best point guard in the NBA. If he were, why would they have signed Chris Duhon?

On not wanting to be a distraction:

“We need to concentrate on how we’re going to win, not whether I’m getting waived or if I’m getting all my money,”

Absolutely correct. But then he follows with…

“I’m not coming off the bench here in New York”

What happened to the “we”? Steph, you need to understand that you weren’t brought here by Walsh, and D’Antoni has a history with you. When new coaches/management comes in there is an evaluation process, meaning you have no say in the matter. If they think you’re better off coming off the bench, you come off the bench. This last quote shows me that Steph is still very selfish, and that he won’t be around much longer.

He thinks he has leverage. What leverage can a guy have that’s won nothing?

Do you honestly think D’Antoni and Walsh are going to pencil Steph in the starting lineup? More importantly, do you think that they’ll put up with his BS if he’s on the bench?

The Knicks have announced the signings of Dan Grunfeld and Allan Houston today, and both will be in camp in Saratoga starting Tuesday.

“Signings” or invites, will continue to stir speculation that, with such a cluttered roster, Walsh will have to trim some dead weight. Maybe Walsh is telling us his plans ahead of time in flooding the roster, you know, the actions speak louder than words thing?

He has already shot down rumors of a Marbury buyout, but that doesn’t mean they won’t cut him. Same goes with Jerome James and Malik Rose, who’s due $7 million dollars this year and is in the final year of his contract.

The Knicks have been trying to get James to retire, claiming that he’s not healthy enough to play at the NBA level. We’ll see what comes out of that.

As we’ve stated, we think Walsh has a plan for Patrick Ewing Jr. and he should make the team, and if Houston shows anything at all, you can bet that his presence will be wanted in the locker room, and why not? The guy is one of the great pure shooters when right.

This is going to get REAL interesting.

Also, nice grab by Bruce Beck with the Steph interview, where Marbs confrimed he’s “not taking a penny less that what he’s owed. Does Dolan just send Steph on his way? This is an important note, because as much as we know Donnie Walsh has autonomy to make decisions, does he have a blank check with Dolan’s signature?

Editor’s Note: The following article was submitted to TKB by Knick fan Bill Obenauer. As always we encourage opinion pieces to be submitted.

With reports widely publicized that talks regarding Zach Randolph between Donnie Walsh of the New York Knicks and Chris Wallace of the Memphis Grizzlies are dead, many Knick fans are concerned as to how this will affect the future of the club. While having Randolph on the team’s roster at the start of the season may cause a logjam in the front court that hinders the development of some of the younger players, it may not prohibit the team’s long-term plans of landing a marquee free agent as some have suggested.

First of all, if there’s one thing we did learn from the talks between New York and Memphis, it’s that Walsh may be willing to add a contract worth $7.6 million (i.e. Marko Jaric) in 2010-2011 if it meant unloading Randolph’s $17.3 million that year. Had that taken place and the Knicks had signed David Lee to an extension that would presumably be worth $7 million per year, the team would have hardly shedded any salary cap space for the summer of 2010. For this reason alone, trading Randolph for Mililic and Jaric would have actually hurt the Knicks’ free agency plans more than keeping Zach around for a while.

Having said that, if Walsh was willing to add Jaric’s $7.6 million in 2010-2011, there’s no reason to hesitate on signing Lee to an extension at this point. He’s a workhorse with a positive attitude who practically averages a double-double in less than thirty minutes a game. Basically, he’s the kind of guy that star players like to have on their team. Locking him up will make the Knicks a more appealing destination for any free agent.

If they do lock up Lee, however, that would give the Knicks approximately $52 million on the books for 2010-2011, leaving very little room to sign James, Wade, Bosh etc. That’s okay because the possibility of trading Randolph is at its ultimate low right now. The Knicks are coming off a season where their roster simply did not work and other GM’s are biting at the chomp to see what the Knicks are willing to dump. People expect to see Walsh make his mark on this franchise (which he has been doing by showing that he will not be taken advantage of) and as long as the perception is that Randolph is unwanted in New York, the Knicks won’t receive a good offer for him. The fact of the matter is, however, for as untradeable as Knick fans are fearing that Randolph is, the team has already received offers for him from two different teams this summer.

The closer Randolph comes to the end of his contract, the easier he becomes to move, but he will also be very marketable mid-season. In a wide open Eastern Conference, the Chicago Bulls have a glaring hole in their frontcourt. If they can reach a contract agreement with Ben Gordon, Larry Hughes becomes very expendable and should the Bulls find themselves in the mix come mid-season, John Paxson may be willing to ship him out and take a chance on Randolph.

Though the Cavaliers may not want to help the Knicks clear cap space to go after their top free-agent in 2010, Cleveland could also be a sensible destination for Randolph. Should the Cavaliers struggle with the vastly improved Philadelphia 76ers, whom they will face twice in the preseason and then two more times before the trade deadline, a tweak in the frontcourt may become imminent. While a rapidly declining Ben Wallace may seem more likely to contain Elton Brand than a defensively invisible Zach Randolph would be, Randolph may actually have a better shot at slowing down Brand by wearing him out with his offensive pressure.

While there could be several other trading partners out there, including Sacramento (with the recent retirement of Abdur-Rahim) and Houston (if Tracy McGrady’s chronic back problems were to get even worse), there is still the possibility that Randolph could be on the Knicks’ roster come 2010, but if that were the case, it would make the Knicks a prime sign-and-trade partner. Though a Randolph for LeBron James trade may seem to make no sense, it would be better for the Cavs than losing James to the Nets for nothing, especially if the Knicks threw in some cash and a draft pick. Consider the fact that the Detroit Pistons were practically forced to send Grant Hill, who was widely regarded as the league’s best player at the time, to Orlando for the little-known Ben Wallace and Chucky Atkins in August of 2000 and using Randolph in a sign-and-trade doesn’t seem so unrealistic.

The other consideration that can’t be neglected is that the hype around the summer of 2010 is based upon speculation that every player with the opportunity to opt out that summer will. Perhaps, the Cavaliers commit to James that they will land another marquee player in 2010 if he doesn’t opt out, and he chooses to stick around one more season and see how it plays out. Or, maybe, Chris Bosh decides that he doesn’t want to hit the free agent market going up against James and Wade. Also, Kobe Bryant becomes a free agent in 2011 and although he will be 33 at that time, that’s no older than Michael Jordan was when he won his final three NBA Championships. Whatever the case may be, if the Knicks can’t position themselves well for the summer of 2010, they currently have not a single contract on the books for 2011 where we should see some good opportunities for free agent signings as well.

In all reality, the Isiah-Era has created the most negative attitude that New York basketball has ever seen. Fans are angry, disgusted, frustrated, scared, and ashamed. The media has taken these emotions and used them in the case of the Zach Randolph situation to create panic and sell newspapers. The reality is that fans should be happy that Walsh rejected Wallace’s offer for Randolph. It shows that the team president is no longer flying by the seat his pants, and it’s not as critical to the franchise’s future as the media would scare you into believing.

Thanks Bill. One has to wonder if Walsh was hesitant with the Jaric contract. That and the said first round pick inclusion made it a no-brainer to turn down. I think that Walsh would have traded the first round pick had Memphis included Antoine Walker. I’m not sure he would have pulled the trigger on Darko and Jaric. Darko would have had an audition here, but you could have replaced his contract with Lee’s extension.

If heard a lot of rumbling over Ben Wallace, and I keep asking myself “would Ferry help the Knicks salary situation at the price of winning games this year??”

Kudos to our boy Alvino who was all over the Ben Gordon situation all summer and it turns out he was right, according to the Daily News.

“Marbury will earn $21 million in the final season of his contract this year, which makes trading him difficult. Over the summer, Walsh talked to the Chicago Bulls regarding a sign-and-trade for free agent Ben Gordon, but Chicago had little interest in Marbury.”

They are reporting Donnie Walsh was interested in dealing for Gordon, who is in a contract stalemate, and offered Marbury’s contract. The talks then stopped.

This goes to show my point of Steph being the least wanted franchise salary in league history. So many players with this type of deal have value. That said, teams may put up with Steph from the trade deadline on, increasing his value.

I am skeptical of the report, however, in the sense that they would have to match salary, and the Knicks don’t have the roster space to take on more than 2 players. You’d have to think Larry Hughes would have been part of the deal.

The Post’s Marc Berman, who is very close with Stephon, is confirming the Daily News report that Marbury will be at camp next Tuesday in Saratoga. Interestingly, he mentions that Marbury could still be gone before the end of camp.

“Meanwhile, Knicks president Donnie Walsh last night denied a report Marbury will be waived by week’s end. Walsh said through a spokesman, “He is coming to training camp. We have not approached Stephon about a buyout.”

However, there’s a strong possibility Marbury could be released during camp, which would give Houston a better chance of making it. The Knicks will have 17 players, two over the maximum. Houston, who hasn’t played a regular-season game since the 2004-2005 season when microfracture knee surgery cut short his career, would need to beat out Marbury and, ironically, his former teammate’s son, Patrick Ewing Jr.”

Donnie Walsh is adamant about the fact that talks of the team parting ways with its moody point guard are premature.

For me it makes little sense to keep the guy around, but maybe Dolan is playing hardball in not wanting to pay Steph every cent to just go away. But, he’d have to pay him anyway to play.

With Marbury and now Allan Houston coming to camp the team has 17 players competing for 15 spots. The team is serious about keeping Houston but it won’t be at the expense of Patrick Ewing Jr., who Walsh loves. It makes sense for Walsh to see what Houston has before aggressively moving on Steph.

That would mean two players won’t make the opening season roster. Will they cut Anthony Roberson? Doubtful.

In the end I’d be shocked if Marbury and Jerome James are on the opening night roster.

Stay tuned.