Wrong board, I know, but everybody aware yet in here that the Astros just completed the trade of Dotel and Buck for Beltran? Done deal.
Calm down guys, I doubt if Francis is visiting Orlando they would all of a sudden trade McGrady to Phoenix. We've been told that a Francis deal could include both Lue and Gaines to Houston, so getting Jameer only makes sense. He's a great prospect but I doubt he would start. Or, it could be interesting to see if they don't trade him to Houston, who knows, but I doubt Phoenix has all of a sudden pulled something off.
I think that anybody would do whatever they could to get one of the top five players in the league. Granted, it would not surprise me if JVG wanted Francis gone.
The key thing is that T-Mac has come out and said that he will only sign a contract extension with the Rockets and NO ONE else. So needless to say if he does get shipped to some other team other than the Rockets. He will be a free-agent after one year and more than likely sign will for signing with the Rockets next year. But what team would want a player that want's to opt out after one year?
I hope you're right- but somehow I doubt that they'd stop a trade with Phoenix just because Francis might have already purchased a plane ticket.
Its not about Francis buying a plane ticket, but Francis actually being positive about the situation. I just think that if they want to win in the next year they don't do the Phoenix deal. In my opinion Marion is a glorified role player, and he would be the only "veteran" on that team. Rebuilding is one thing, but having Jameer Nelson and Tyronne Lue as your two point guards is like having two midgets running around. I guess we will find out tomorrow.
What he said, in answer to the question about a TMac trade, was that today was all about the draft and they'd start working on TMac after the draft tonight. When pressed if TMac might be staying in Orlando, he smirked and shrugged it off.
All I'm saying is that if Phoenix went crazy and decided to swap Stoudemire for TMac (or decided to trade Joe Johnson and Marion + picks), the Magic wouldn't say "oh, no, we can't- Steve Francis is coming to visit this weekend." You're saying it's not possible for the Magic to get cold feet and accept an offer of Joe Johnson, Marion and picks from the Suns to avoid a potential SF migraine? I say not only is it possible, it wouldn't surprise me one bit. And I don't think winning next year is necessarily priority number 1 for Orlando, since they took the project (Howard) at number 1 instead of the consensus "more NBA ready" player.
First of all Phoenix is not going to trade Amare, forget that right now. I highly doubt Phoenix will include Joe Johnson. I think Phoenix is content with keeping Johnson and filling in their holes with the $16.3 million they have in capspace. I just find it as a coincidence that ESPN reports that Houston is in the drivers seat, and then Weisbrod says that the deal will be done after the draft. Either Weisbrod has grown a set and come to the realization that Francis has no say, or they gave up on the deal. And I do think winning next year is important. Weisbrod is in his first year and I'm sure he wants to yield results. The Magic passed on Okafor more because of his injury history, and they can't afford for him to turn out like Grant Hill. Also, why trade for Cato and then draft Okafor? That's almost redundant. Yeah Okafor has more offensive upside, but that backcourt would have no offensive punch. So you draft a PF that would compliment Kelvin Cato's skills as a defensive stopper, and you actually get a center out of the Houston deal. It just doesn't make sense to me for the Magic to deal with Phoenix. They'd have a log jam at SF, and in the Rockets deal at least they get rid of some contracts. I'm just trying to be positive, think positive!
What I see here is the Orlando Magic picking Jameer Nelson as an insurance pick in case they decide to trade Steve Francis.
Is it just me or can anyone else just not stop laughing. The person who was not to have any power because of his contract ends up having all the power. One thing you have to say about steve is that he ALWAYS makes his presence known.
I hope that is the case. Or the Magic knowing they are giving up Lue and Gaines need another backup PG. Nelson is only 6'0" so he most likely will end up being a good spark plug backup PG. Clearly no one knew that Nelson would drop that far and Orlando I am sure was surprised that they could get him.
One possibility is that there are two deals. If Francis wants to go to Orlando, it's a two-team trade(or three-team trade if Mobley will be moved again). Otherwise we have a three(or four) team trade.
He has no leverage, for once......thank god. He's always been reactionary, so the initial nonsense coming from his camp was to be expected. Reality's setting in though, and hopefully , this will be resolved in a couple days. I lost a lot of passion for this team going off to college, but this whole drama has brought back the obsession.
Right now, a player under a long-term contract with a team he wants to play for has no incentive to cooperate in a trade to a lesser team. He can simply scare off the acquiring team if it's run by a Weisbrod. In effect, the league relies on its players to behave like gentlemen. Steve Francis has now shown twice that he is not a gentleman. If he sees leverage, he uses it. The first time, he was not under contract. This time, he is under contract. He doesn't care. It's time for the league to stop this before the next guy traded down thinks to himself, "I'm gonna pull a Francis." Solution: The Francis Rule. Any traded player who fails to report (or does X, Y, or Z -- you attorney types can fill in the rest) has the remainder of his contract cut in half over the same number of years. You trade for a $10M player and he fails to show, his salary becomes $5M. The $5M you saved becomes cap space, trade exception, whatever. What a bargain! Even a Weisbrod will no longer be intimidated.
