The Marbury Saga in China is over..?

Knowing Stephon Marbury, he’ll have plenty to say on all of this when he gets the chance.

Rafer Alston another candidate for China

The Chinese Basketball Association may not have the same draw as more prestigious European leagues, but what it does have is a type.

Massey out, Davis in, Marbury maybe..

Desperate times call for desperate measures.. Stephon Marbury in Spain?

Antoine Walker to play in Puerto Rico?

In between the Super Bowl and the NBA All-Star Game, you may have missed the following: Antoine Walker, who hasn’t appeared in an NBA game in almost two years, signed to play in Puerto Rico.

Stephon Marbury is considering playing overseas

Marbury, 32, has been talking to teams in three different European countries, including Italy, the past few weeks and is growing more intrigued if a strong NBA offer does not come along soon. The Celtics have told Marbury they are not going to re-sign him after netting Rasheed Wallace. Marbury has been using Players Association attorney Hal Biagas as his agent.

"If I have to give it overseas, I'll give it overseas," Marbury said. "I like the Europe option to bring the Starbury [sneaker] brand there and sponsor soccer players." As far as his NBA future, Marbury said he realizes he's not in solid bargaining position because of how little he's played recently. He joined Boston in late February after sitting out the entire season in a dispute with the Knicks.

"The Knicks put me in a really bad situation, a really bad spot, so I'm still waiting," Marbury said. "Teams are still shopping."

source : nypost.com

Iverson could move to Europe?

The rational among us never believed that the exodus of a dozen or so NBA role players to Europe last summer meant that we should start buying the hysterical stories about Kobe Bryant or LeBron James getting one-year overseas offers of $30 million or more.

Apart from the free-spending Angelopoulos brothers from Greek League power Olympiacos -- better known Stateside as the team that signed Josh Childress away from the Atlanta Hawks last summer -- pretty much no one has money to spend over there. Basketball simply isn't a revenue-generating sport in most foreign countries, where tiny, rundown arenas and a skeletal infrastructure are the norms.

It was always more likely, even before the global economic downturn hit European basketball harder than it hit the NBA, that the next big name to move abroad would be a former All-Star at the end of his career, just like we saw in the '80s (Bob McAdoo) or '90s (Dominique Wilkins).

Someone like Stephon Marbury.

Or someone like Iverson … assuming he's even interested in playing something other than NBA basketball.

One Eastern Conference general manager immediately tossed out the European option for AI, since there would be no shortage of shots, minutes and adulation if he went to, say, Italy, Spain or Greece. That GM, though, quickly caught himself, remembering how scarce money will be this summer for players seeking international work.

"It would have to be a Greek team," he said.

source : sports.espn.go.com

Olympiakos wants Pargo now?

The flirtation between Stephon Marbury and the Greek club Olympiacos appeared to end Friday, with a new twist to the story blowing in from Moscow.

Olympiacos is pursuing former NBA guard Jannero Pargo, who was expected to secure his release from Dynamo Moscow before the end of the weekend, sources told ESPN.com. At least three NBA teams and two Euroleague teams were in the bidding for Pargo, whose value in Europe is actually higher than Marbury's because teams have already seen him play this season -- and because he can be signed to a contract before Euroleague final 16 rosters are due Monday and Tuesday.

There was no contact Thursday between Olympiacos and Marbury, a day after Olympiacos contacted the New York Knicks as part of its efforts to find a replacement for American Josh Childress.

The club's pursuit of Pargo was an indication that it had cooled to the idea of pursuing Marbury, at least until Pargo's new employer is determined.

Pargo signed a one-year, $3.5 million contract with Dynamo last summer, but the club has struggled to make payroll and recently learned that it would not receive the subsidy it was expecting from the Russian military. Dynamo's financing problems also could impact the future of another of its big offseason signings, ex-Nets forward Bostjan Nachbar, who wants to return to the NBA

source : sports.espn.go.com

Note : There is a major financial recession to follow that will affect all the teams in Russia that have government funding as the government of Russian decide to stop all sponsoring of their basketball teams. The trend that will probably follow is a wave of contract dissolutions of the most expensive contracts that were signed this summer. This in effect will bring contract prices down all over Europe.

Marbury wants to hear what Olympiacos has to say

Stephon Marbury told The Post yesterday he's all ears as far as playing for the Greek team Olympiacos, whose owners have interest in bringing the point guard to Greece.

According to reports in Greece, Olympiacos owners have said they are interested in offering about $15 million - a development that has Knicks New York Knicks officials excited.

"I will listen to what they have to say," Marbury wrote in an e-mail.

Olympiacos is the same team former Hawk Josh Childress plays for. Contrary to a report, Knicks president Donnie Walsh claimed he had yet to hear from Olympiacos, but his European sources tell him the interest is genuine. The Knicks prefer Marbury playing in Europe.

Hal Biagas, representing Marbury for the players' union, told The Post he hopes to listen to their spiel this week, but has yet to be contacted by Olympiacos.

Two years ago, Marbury told The Post of his intentions of playing in Italy when his contract expired, but he does prefer to play in the NBA this season and has a commitment from at least one NBA team, believed to be Boston. That is why he recently put his $1M giveback on the table.

Knicks owner James Dolan supposedly has told WFAN's Mike Francesa he'd take the buy-out offer of $2 million less. But the Knicks may be able to get a lot more savings if Olympiacos' interest is for real.

"We'll proceed and see what they have to say," said Biagas, who is proceeding cautiously because of the recent hoax involving Real Madrid's interest when two people posing as Swiss investors connected to Real Madrid approached Marbury.

source : New York Post

Olympiacos eyes Marbury

Representatives of the Greek club Olympiacos contacted the New York Knicks earlier in the day in an effort to begin a dialogue on what it would take to get Marbury released from his contract, sources told ESPN.

Olympiacos recently lost Josh Childress for six to eight weeks after he returned to the United States for surgery to repair a sports hernia, and the club is seeking to acquire a replacement player in time for the start of the Top 16 phase of the Euroleague season, which begins Jan. 29 and runs through March 12.

Marbury has been exiled since early in the season by the Knicks, who have been unable to make any substantial progress in buyout talks with the former All-Star. Marbury is in the final season of his contract and is making $20.8 million to sit on the sidelines. He has offered to give back $1 million to secure his release, but the Knicks have asked for more. Also, Knicks president Donnie Walsh remains convinced that a viable trade opportunity involving Marbury could arise between now and the Feb. 19 trade deadline.

Marbury is aware of Olympiacos' interest but has had no contact with the club, according to a source close to the Knicks, who said he expected additional dialogue on the subject over the next few days. It would be highly unusual, but not unprecedented, for a Greek club to broker a buyout between an NBA team and a player. In the summer of 2007 when the Houston Rockets acquired the rights to Luis Scola from San Antonio for Vassilis Spanoulis, the Greek guard had grown so disenchanted with the NBA that he was willing to forego the $4 million he was due to be paid. Olympiacos' rival, Panathinakos, ended up paying the Spurs an undisclosed
sum to secure Spanoulis' release.

source : espn