Starbury

Chris Sheridan says yes. Brian Windhorst says no.

Chris Sheridan even makes up a trade:

Trade No. 1

Marbury, Renaldo Balkman and Fred Jones to Cleveland for Larry Hughes, Anderson Varejao and Damon Jones

The Knicks gain some perimeter defense and add a frontcourt player who can actually play a little defense. The Cavs get a true point guard along with an energy forward, Balkman, to replace Varejao, and they get rid of their $13.65 million obligation to Hughes for the 2009-10 season, allowing them to become major players in free agency the summer before James' contract expires.

Sheridan's Marbury trade has the Cavs giving up Hughes in return. Would you do a Marbury-Hughes swap? We know that if the Cavs are going get rid of Hughes, they'll probably have to pick up another team's problem child in return, right?

Of course, this trade is dumb. Why would the Cavs give up Varejao as well? What does that have to do with anything? I could see a Hughes-Marbury swap of guys who need a change of scenery but I can't see the Cavs tossing in Varejao for likes of Fred Jones and Renaldo Balkman (now, if David Lee is involved...). Also, Sheridan calls Marbury "a true point guard" which is so completely ludicrous that I can't even wrap my head around it.

But there's more to consider here. We all know that Marbury's teams improve after he leaves right? How much has this been tested? Does Marbury need to be here a certain number of years? Games? How much does he need to be involved before the Cavs can kick him to the curb and enjoy that post-Marbury bump? 5 games? A few months? A season or two?

I'm not exactly sure I really want to find out.