Francis Trade Complete

[jimboiitmac]

Knicks and Magic are stupid. I'd be pissed if i was Magic, get best player sent away, for Ariza and Hardaway? Ariza has upside and potential but Hardaway is a disease who has struggled to get past injuries. And now Grant Hill going too? What Rubbish! NY have possibly a great team, but you need to move at least 1/2 your players!

 

[graham]

Grant Hill is only a rumour at this stage - it looks like the Magic are just giving up on this year and rebuilding for the future. Hardaway wasnt gained to be a player - it was for his contract which ends this year so they can drop him and free up some more cash for a Free Agent either end of this year or next. Lebron, anyone ?

 

[Magicman]

who is gonna be available at seasons end???? ill try and find a list... then we can dream!!!

 

[MetallicA']

JimbO your not looking at the big picture, mate this trade is amazing for Orlando, they will be strong next year and have alot of salary space now.
a great young crop of young players, howard, nelson, stevenson, ariza.

lol this made me laugh, look what scottie pippen thinks of this trade and STEVE FRANCIS lol, i have to agree with him too.

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I am pretty much befuddled with what New York has done.

I am not a great fan of Steve Francis. He rubbed me the wrong way when he came into the league and demanded that Vancouver trade him. He just isn't the type of player that can make your team better or that can get you where you are trying to get to. He is very talented, but his skills are built around his individual success and not around the success of a team.

Any time you take on such a brilliant nickname as "Franchise," that name has to have some validity behind it and I don't think he has shown that he is a franchise player. It is not going to work for him even moving to New York.

This is another in a long list of desperate moves for the Knicks, going back to the Eddy Curry deal. Eddy Curry's success coming to New York has been about as good as my success coming back to Chicago when my career was pretty much done. He hasn't made any impact on that team, which, I am sure for John Paxson, is the best thing to happen. He just let his No. 1 draft pick go and got another one back. It was a good wash for them, because they didn't lose that draft pick. They sort of gambled on it, played with it, let it go, but then they got it back.

Isiah has brought in players on top of players. He isn't giving one player an opportunity to succeed. You have Stephon Marbury there. Then you bring in Jamal Crawford. Now Steve Francis.

What are you going to do with these guys?

These are three guys that love to pound the basketball and create their own shots. Who is going to succeed at that position? To me it seems like they have just told Isiah to just go out there and continue to see if we can have the highest payroll.

 

[mickimouse24]

2 many guards......i wonder what Isiah will do next...i have this feeling when the trade deadline ends Isiah is going to cry... hes would probably be thinkin.."oh oh i cant trade anyone or sign anyone else dam i was having soo much fun toying with the knickssss."

Isiah stick with 1 team for more than 5 minutes and see what they can do...give the team a chance...hmm i wonder what number Steve Francis will wear? marbury is # 3....so yeah..lol

 

[white_chocolate_55]

Knicks and Magic are stupid. I'd be pissed if i was Magic, get best player sent away, for Ariza and Hardaway? Ariza has upside and potential but Hardaway is a disease who has struggled to get past injuries. And now Grant Hill going too? What Rubbish! NY have possibly a great team, but you need to move at least 1/2 your players!

they're rebuilding

 

[gemini0928]

Grant Hill is only a rumour at this stage - it looks like the Magic are just giving up on this year and rebuilding for the future. Hardaway wasnt gained to be a player - it was for his contract which ends this year so they can drop him and free up some more cash for a Free Agent either end of this year or next. Lebron, anyone ?

I think Grant still feel and itching to play for a couple more years. Of course I dont earn millions like him nor can play ball like him but I think he should decide to retire sooner than later. Yeah, I do collect his cards and sounds like I'm giving up on him but I would think of my future health if I was him. Man, he's got a family that needs a lot of healthy years from him. I think he's proven that he's got what it takes to be a very good role model and a real All Star on the basketball court. But if he decides to play again even for another team I will wish him well. And I'll still be collecting his cards what ever happens

This article is from Orlando Sentinel. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/spor...grant2306feb23,0,2081341.story?coll=orl-magic

 

[mickimouse24]

well i hope hill does get a chance to play again....i really really wanna see him win a playoff series in the NBA...thats 1 thing he is yet to do....would be sad for him to retire and be known to me as that 1 great player that didnt get a real chance in the playoffs cause of injuries and stuff..amazing to think he has never won a playoff series in the NBA..
is it me or does the magic seem to be rebuilding their team every few years? lol

 

[clarkescards]

I'd be pissed if i was Magic, get best player sent away, for Ariza and Hardaway?

Nope, not best player. Dwighty has clearly established himself as the team's best player this season. Maybe 2nd best.

And Hardaway will either be bought out or not played. The gist of an Orlando Sentinel article I read in regards to the trade had one of management meeting with Penny to say his rights will be with the team, but he won't be playing. Don't expect to see Penny on court in a Magic uniform this year.

How good would it have been 10 years ago to say Penny & Hill were on the same team??? Just a thought back to the hey-days of the 90's...

 

[Funkadelic]

Yea Penny was waived today.


Magic waive Hardaway as expected

By TRAVIS REED, Associated Press Writer
February 24, 2006

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- The Orlando Magic waived guard Penny Hardaway on Friday, two days after the team acquired his hefty contract from the New York Knicks.

The Magic dealt three-time All-Star Steve Francis for Hardaway and Trevor Ariza before Thursday's trading deadline. Orlando re-signed Bo Outlaw to fill the extra roster spot.

The move to waive Hardaway was expected. Assistant general manager Otis Smith said the salary cap room freed up by Hardaway's $15.8 million contract, along with the expiring contract of aging All-Star Grant Hill, would make the Magic a major free agent player in 2007.

Though Hardaway began his perennial All-Star career in Orlando, he was blamed for Brian Hill's first dismissal as Magic coach with 33 games left in the 1996-97 season. Hill, the franchise's winningest coach, rejoined the team in May.

Orlando dealt Hardaway to Phoenix in 1999, but he never regained the form that made him one of the league's top players.

Hardaway battled knee injuries, averaging 2.5 points and two assists in just four games this season for the Knicks. Last season he averaged 7.3 points in 37 games. He hasn't averaged in double figures since putting up 10.6 points and four assists per game for the Suns in the 2002-2003.

Being waived will give Hardaway more time to get healthy, his agent Lapoe Smith said.

"Penny played a lot of times when his body wasn't nowhere near 80 percent," Smith said. "We respect Orlando for giving us the opportunity to waive us, so we don't have to go over there and deal with that stress -- fans booing, wondering about how many millions he's making.

"Penny Hardaway will play again in the NBA. There's no question about that."

Hardaway has spent most of this season working out on his own in Houston.

A week before the Francis deal, Orlando sent center Kelvin Cato and a first-round draft pick to the Detroit Pistons for former No. 2 overall pick Darko Milicic and Carlos Arroyo.