Now that the Stephon Marbury era has ended, will it bug you to see him in Celtic green? Do you think his very presence can bring down a champion? Or do you think he will help Boston repeat?

I have to toot my own horn here. I was one of the few who predicted the Knicks would give Marbury the Larry Brown treatment and just sit him and let him collect his salary (nearly $21 million). The strategy, I figured, was to hope for Marbury to do something egregious enough to forfeit some of the money, since he had no interest in negotiating a buyout for a lesser number.

Nor, I thought, should he take less. As distasteful as I’ve always found him as a person, the Knicks signed him to that contract and should have been responsible for it, even after he refused to play in their moment of desperation in November.

So, it turns out, apparently Marbury got all his money and now gets to go play with another team, presumably the NBA champs. How does that make you feel as a Knicks fan? Will you feel even worse if he plays well up there in Boston? Or are you just glad to get his snarling face out of here?

11:35 a.m., Sam says:

Well, the Knicks DID save a few million bucks, it seems, so that’s something. But yes, essentially Marbury gets his money to go away. Not bad work if you can get it.

Seeing him in Boston won’t bother me at all, mostly because I don’t necessarily think we’ll actually see him in Boston that much. The Celtics need a little depth, yes, but if Marbury does anything – complains about not playing enough, is a distraction in any way, has sex with an intern in his truck and talks about it – that doesn’t jibe with the team concept, I think the Celtics will cut him loose and not lose any sleep about it. In other words, I’m not convinced he’ll be there come season’s end anyway.

If he is? No worries. The Knicks are better off without Marbury and, truthfully, I’m not sure any team is better off with him. At least not one that’s interested in winning on a consistent basis. Marbury’s talent can’t be ignored but he’s just not an ingredient for long-term success. I’ll be curious to see how Kevin Garnett deals with having Marbury around again, now that he’s finally in a spot where winning titles isn’t just a pipe dream.

Don’t fret, Knicks fans. Even if Marbury does OK in Boston, the Knicks are better off. This is the definition of addition by subtraction.