Cue the Zorba dance music.
Word on the street (read: ESPN) is that Olympiacos is looking at securing Stephon Marbury as a replacement for the injured Josh Childress. Marbury is cheering, Donnie Walsh is cracking open Courvoisier at Jay Z’s 50/50 club. However neither one is talking about it — both claiming that they have not had contact with the Greek club.
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.
Whilst from outside Europe this looks like a perfect solution: replace one NBA star with another, according to Jaime Martiínez Lafargue of solobasket.com (someone with a more intimate knowledge of the situation in Greece):
After spending lots of money during the last summer with the important signings of Nikola Vujcic, Theo Papaloukas and Josh Childress, Olympiacos does not want to see their dreams broken and is decided to spend even more money now. The Final Four and the Euroleague are the goals.
Childress will be out about one and a half months, so the team needs a replacement for him. The targeted player is Bracey Wright, who was fired by DKV Joventut early this week.
But the most surprising rumour is that one of the most promising young talents from the Balcans, Milos Teodosic, is about to be cut by the team. He is not performing as expected and Olympiacos wants to replace him as well.
The names of Mustafa Shakur, Ender Arslan and Milos Vujanic are among the candidates, but the surprise could arise if they sign a new former NBA star: Stephon Marbury.
So Marbury could well be on his way to a get-out from the gridlock of Manhattan and both he and the Knicks could be dancing the Zorba dance in celebration of a solution to the biggest drama of the season, this side of Eddy Curry’s driver.
