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STEPH MAKING HIS POINT

MARBURY KEEPS PLANS TO ATTEND KNICKS' MINICAMP

By MARC BERMAN

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<= /A>=20

Last updated: 7:01 am
July 8, 2008 =
Posted: 4:09=20 am
July 8, 2008

Despite reports of his impending doom, an unfazed Stephon Marbury = said he=20 will not change plans and is heading to Las Vegas Friday to work out = with Knicks=20 veterans at a voluntary minicamp coinciding with summer league.

New hire Chris Duhon and Marbury's potential point-guard successor is = also=20 expected to work out with Marbury in Vegas, where the Knicks = summer-league team=20 will hold its first practice Friday night. Can you say awkward?

Marbury was in the Bahamas vacationing with his family on July 4 when = Duhon=20 agreed to terms with the Knicks on a two-year contract, after which his = agent,=20 Kevin Bradbury, labeled Duhon the Knicks starting point guard.

Knicks: MORE: Knicks Blog

That further fueled speculation Marbury's Knicks' career was over. =

"We will see how everything plays out in time," Marbury wrote in an = e-mail to=20 The Post yesterday from Los Angeles, where he is training in the = Hollywood=20 Hills.

A source aware of Marbury's status claims a decision won't be made on = his=20 future until August, at the earliest, after Knicks president Donnie = Walsh plays=20 the trade market. The Knicks want to see what more they can do before = deciding=20 whether to waive Marbury.

Walsh also wants to evaluate disappointing second-year point guard = Mardy=20 Collins and combo guard Nate Robinson during summer league.

Walsh told a confidant last week he wants Duhon to push Marbury in = training=20 camp. But Walsh, a lawyer, has made misleading statements before during = his=20 brief Knicks reign.

"It's premature," one source said of Marbury's release. "That hasn't = been=20 decided. There are other things that can happen."

Despite the company line of evaluating the roster in August, this = doesn't=20 reek of a basketball decision. Marbury is better than any PG the Knicks = have,=20 but it seems the team wants Marbury back only as a last resort.

Marbury will perhaps become the scapegoat for last year's sexual = harassment=20 defeat, or his exit could become a symbol of next season's "fresh = start."

Despite attempts, it's unlikely Marbury can be traded because they'd = have to=20 take back $21 million of contracts that expire before 2010.

Jamal Crawford, being shopped because his contract goes into 2010, = could be=20 traded, creating a stronger need for Marbury, whom Mike D'Antoni hasn't=20 discounted playing alongside Duhon.

His friends say Marbury isn't worried about future employment if = released.=20 The Celtics would be on his radar, considering they need point-guard = help and=20 former teammate Kevin Garnett respects his game more than anyone. But on = another=20 level Marbury would be devastated at not getting a chance to reverse a = tragic=20 2007-08 season where he played in just 24 games. Marbury lost his = father,=20 Donald, and lost his father figure, Isiah Thomas, in a feud that started = in=20 November, and his health, succumbing to another ankle surgery.

The Post reported last month Thomas sent Marbury home from Phoenix to = be=20 bought out of his contract. Sources believe Thomas turned on Marbury, = irate at=20 his overly blunt testimony during the trial regarding his affair with a = club=20 intern.

marc.berman@nypost.com

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STEPH MAKING HIS POINT

MARBURY KEEPS PLANS TO ATTEND KNICKS' MINICAMP

By MARC BERMAN

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