Marbury may head to Boston

By Marc Stein
ESPN.com
Archive

The New York Knicks and Stephon Marbury were nearing a buyout agreement Tuesday afternoon that would clear the way for Marbury to sign with the Boston Celtics, according to sources close to the situation.

Marbury
Marbury

Sources briefed on the state of the talks told ESPN.com that the Knicks and Marbury are on the verge of finalizing a separation package that will make Marbury eligible to play in the playoffs for another team because his release from New York would come before the league's Sunday deadline.

The New York Times first reported on its Web site Tuesday afternoon that "all indications were that the two sides had reached agreement on a contract buyout that will free [Marbury] to join another franchise for the stretch run."

Said one source to ESPN.com: "Look for Steph to get bought out today."

Another source close to the process indicated that Marbury and the Celtics have already commenced discussions on a contract.

It's believed that Marbury will be forfeiting in excess of $2 million from his $20.8 million salary this season, which would net the Knicks twice that much because of the luxury-tax savings involved.

Marbury would then be in position to recoup roughly half of what he's surrendering in his buyout from the Celtics. As ESPN.com reported Jan. 1, Boston has been hoping to sign the wayward point guard to bolster its thin bench if Marbury -- who turned 32 last week -- could manage to extricate himself from the Knicks

Marbury hasn't played in an NBA regular-season game since Jan. 11 of last season, but the Celtics have been concerned about their depth all season after the offseason departures of James Posey and P.J. Brown. Boston has since lost star forward Kevin Garnett to a knee injury for the next two to three weeks and reserve swingman Tony Allen to a thumb injury expected to sideline him for eight weeks.

Earlier Tuesday, Boston signed center Mikki Moore, who was waived by Sacramento after last Thursday's trading deadline. The Celtics opened two roster spots last week by trading away veteran guard Sam Cassell and little-used center Patrick O'Bryant.

Last week, ESPN's Stephen A. Smith reported that multiple Celtics players had recently reached out to Marbury, urging him to forfeit some salary in his long-contentious negotiations with the Knicks to prove to skeptics that he could make an impact with a championship-caliber team.

Other contending teams such as Dallas and Miami are expected to at least inquire about Marbury's availability, but the widespread belief among NBA executives is that Marbury is Boston-bound now that he will be waived by Sunday's deadline. Had the buyout talks stretched past March 1, Marbury would not be eligible to appear in the playoffs for any other team.

"It sounds like it's pretty much locked and loaded," one rival team official said Tuesday of Marbury joining the Celtics and reuniting with his former Minnesota teammate Garnett.

The Times reported that Tuesday's hearing in Manhattan, stemming from a grievance Marbury filed in an attempt to regain more than $400,000 in docked salary from the Knicks, was apparently brief and quickly moved into buyout negotiations.

Buyout talks had been stalled for some three months since Marbury stormed out of a Dec. 1 negotiating session after just 15 minutes.

Participants in Tuesday's hearing -- the first face-to-face talks between the sides since the early December meeting -- included Marbury and NBA Players Association lawyer Hal Biagas as well Knicks president Donnie Walsh and coach Mike D'Antoni.

It was initially assumed that Garnett would resist a reunion with the controversial point guard after Marbury broke up their Minnesota partnership following less than three seasons together by forcing a trade to New Jersey. But after the January report about Boston's and Marbury's mutual interest, Garnett and Marbury both spoke publicly about their willingness to play together again.

Earlier this month, Boston's Ray Allen told ESPN.com that the defending champions would have little trouble integrating Marbury into their locker room in spite of Marbury's reputation for causing chemistry problems.

"The great thing about this locker room is that Doc [Rivers] can coach," Allen said. "The coaches can coach. They don't have to manage this team. The [veteran] players do a great job making sure that we are all prepared to play every day and we keep whatever grumblings down."

Marc Stein is a senior NBA writer for ESPN.com. Senior NBA writer J.A. Adande contributed to this report.

imo it would be a terrible move for them...SO DO IT BOSTON!!

Looking at Boston's roster "four max salary players" and the salary cap dumps so many teams executed before the trade deadline, it just goes to show the lengths the NBA is willing to go to assure high ratings for their nationally televised games. Cleveland, Boston and Orlando are just a couple of the teams that got stronger despite the salary cap restrictions which were supposed to ensure parity among the leagues teams.