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The Knicks' Stephon Marbury (3) would have to clean up his act considerably, but if New York were to buy out his contract, the point guard might be a good fit with the Celtics, writes msnbc.com contributor Michael Ventre.

Michael Ventre

While numbers were being bandied about in the Alex Rodriguez matter — he won’t get the $350 million agent Scott Boras had initially requested, but A-Rod will eat some of the finest crow ever sampled in professional sports — the figure in the Stephon Marbury mess is less impressive but almost as significant.

That number would be $42 million.

That’s how much the Knicks’ tempestuous point guard is owed by that teetering Titanic of a franchise through next season. While it is theoretically possible that an imbecile exists who might try to obtain Marbury in a trade and assume that financial burden, the more likely scenario is that club executives around the NBA will use the Knicks’ predicament as a continued source of laughs.

The Knicks really only have two options: Keep the guy, or fork over $42 million and buy him out.

In recent days, it has been revealed that the relationship between Marbury and coach Isiah Thomas is being conducted with the same spirit of cooperation as the one between Boras and Hank Steinbrenner. It was reported by the New York Daily News that Marbury bragged about having dirt on Isiah, and another report said the two came to blows on the team plane. That was denied by the club, although if the Knicks denied it you can assume they came after each other with knives.

The Knicks would love to unload him. It isn’t just that he is a problem child, but also one who can’t play defense or lead a team. Therefore, he has no market value.

If the Knicks buy him out — $42 million is slightly less than four sexual harassment awards for them, which is petty cash really — then he might become attractive to some team as a novelty act.

The club that comes to mind first would be the Lakers. From a basketball standpoint, it makes almost no sense for him to go there. The Lakers are getting solid point-guard play from Derek Fisher and Jordan Farmar. However, neither of those two is a superior defender, and therefore bringing in Marbury would not solve a need. Even his ability to penetrate and score is suspect these days, although some of that may be due to toiling on a putrid Knicks team with a coach who is draining his confidence with every outing.

But from a public relations angle, signing Marbury would say, “Hey look, we signed Stephon Marbury!” which might help to satisfy Kobe Bryant’s desire for marquee help and quiet some of the detractors who supported Kobe’s rants against the front office. Those people never really understood that bringing in Jermaine O’Neal or Jason Kidd, but giving up two or three key players to do so, would constitute an absurd spinning of the wheels. Yet if the Lakers could get Marbury for a pittance, what the heck?

Chances are, though, that Marbury will pull a Chris Webber. Fresh from a buyout by the Sixers last January, Webber eschewed the L.A. glitz and instead signed with the Detroit Pistons for a prorated contract for the veterans’ minimum, about $650,000. His deal was similar to Marbury’s in that he was owed about $43 million for about a season and a half by Philly.

Webber went to Detroit partly because it represented home but also because of the promise of playing time on a good team. A Marbury free of contractual obligations will likely also choose the situation that gives him the most of everything.

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