Hey, give Stephon Marbury credit for one thing: He lasted longer in New York during the Mike D’Antoni era than Renaldo Balkman — who was basically given to the Denver Nuggets for a second-round draft pick and two players bound for the waiver wire.

Balkman, you may remember, became a Knick when Isiah Thomas “stole” him from the Suns with the 20th pick in the 2006 draft — telling reporters that the Suns were poised to take Balkman at No. 21.

Hard to believe, but Zeke wasn’t even close on that one.

The Suns already had a deal in place to move No. 21 several picks before the Knicks selected. And the consensus in the draft room was that Phoenix had no interest at all in Balkman — who one insider at the time joked “might be the only player from South Carolina that (longtime area high school coach) Dan D’Antoni doesn’t want.”

So while Balkman endeared himself to Knicks fans for his hustle play over two years, the New York minute the brothers D’Antoni hit town the clock was ticking on Balkman. And with top draft pick Danilo Gallinari and new flavor of the month Wilson Chandler sharing the small forward spot (perhaps at times with ex-Sun Quentin Richardson), the Knicks were happy to find a taker and shave $2 million from the books.

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