Time to Put Lipstick On...

Well, McCain has "suspended" his presidential campaign to further dress up negotiations in Washington. A recent Jill Greenberg photo shoot as reported by BuzzFeed catches him looking dapper.



And of course in Knicksville Stephon Marbury is quoted as saying, "They're going to give me all my money."

It takes a lot of lipstick to make that sound pretty. I'm assuming he has a great year.

Memphis, Memphis, Memphis

As longtime readers know I would far prefer keeping Zach Randolph than Eddie Curry.

And no I don't buy into the premise that Zach is a troublemaker. Portland was a troubled franchise and traded Zach for a promising 4th round pick and Steve Francis who later proved to be truly washed up. So no, IMO, ZBo is both talented and a highly productive player.

Now, are there chemistry problems on the Knicks? Yep. But giving Randolph away doesn't solve a thing.

That brings us to the Memphis trade scenarios. I warmed to the idea of trading Zach for Darko, straight up with the Knicks getting a trade exception. It's a good trade for both teams. Memphis gets a guy who will transform their front-court, maybe even make a contender of the team.

The Knicks get closer to cap space and get a guy who could improve under D'Antoni enough to block shots and relieve Eddie when Eddie sucks (which is a lot).

But as time went by the trade -cough- evolved. Suddenly the Knicks were to acquire Jaric in addition to Darko. Okay. Jaric is superfluous and adds no value but okay. No big deal. Advantage in the trade now is overwhelmingly to Memphis.

Next, Memphis wants some cash. By now this writer is sighing because this is becoming a shakedown. But OKAY. It's the cost of doing business but in the back of my mind I'm remembering the Gasol *trade* in which Memphis got anally raped and said thank you to LA. But OKAY, its a few bucks.

But as a Knicks fan I'm getting uneasy. Jaric is a fifth wheel. But in looking around, the Warriors need a spare guard, they have a large contract to lose (Harrington), a Jaric for Harrington deal works. The Knicks bloat the payroll a hair this year but Harrington expires nicely, and his pickup is a great excuse to lose Jerome James once and for all. For GS, Jaric is a much cheaper contract than Harrigton, and Monta's absence is covered.

So there are possibilities.

But today, I read Memphis wants a first-rounder as well. Memphis has gone too far.



A first-rounder! are they sure they don't want to move to Brooklyn as well. I mean, c'mon, a FIRST-ROUNDER, ZBo, $3M, Headlines that the Knicks got raped, Charles Barkley sarcastically saying "I told you" so all season long, AND A FIRST-ROUNDER for, for...
Darko and his sidekick Marco!

Let's step away from the ledge and not do this trade.

Is Marko heading elsewhere?

The delay in the Zach trade may be because the deal is expanding.

Everybody wins if Marko heads to GS and Al Harrington goes to NY.

GS gets their temp PG, New York gets a shorter contract.

Crawford's Epiphany

Jamal Crawford has a blog on Newsweek and I have added it to the blog list column here.

I have been a critic of Crawford's for about a years or so and have called for his trade . In his blog he addresses the well-known criticisms many of us share. I must say that I'm impressed with his ability to confront the criticism.

Here's some of what I like in his initial post.

THAT I'M NOT A WINNER: First off, you win as a team and you lose as a team...but I do understand that the better players and leaders on your team have to provide more then a younger player would. No, I've never played on a winning team since college. BUT this year I'll be playing for my ninth coach in nine seasons.

I've had a few disappointments along the way in Chicago and New York and also bad timing with injuries. I thought my best chance was two years ago, but then injuries to myself, David Lee and Q-Rich happened. What other team could lose basically three starters at one time and still have a chance to get to the playoffs? Then last year was a total mess. We never recovered from all that off the court stuff that happened! And that's not an excuse, that's just a fact. I still tried to come to play every single night. I didn't always play without making mistakes, but I was there every single night.

I know I have this label and I don't want it. I don't think I've ever been the kind of player who looked satisfied with losing.

New Minnesota sport

Lindsey Beyerstein's Flickr photo exposes latest street sport in Minnesota; watching protesters get hammered.