The only way I'd trade for Francis (never happen) is if a third team really, really wanted him, and we gave up just our expiring contracts and draft pick (lottery-bound). And then it would depend on what we got from that third team.
Agreed - three max players would never work, but JVG did a pretty good job of curing stevie's medical issues (dribbleitus and cranio-rectal inversion). And Steve is a warrior.
Been there...done that...let's move on. Especially for a 2006-07 price tag of $15m with 2 years remaining after 06-07.
From SportingNews.com Francis' problems started long ago January 12, 2006 If you've watched many Magic games this year, you might be wondering why it has taken this long for the team to suspend guard Steve Francis for, "conduct detrimental to the team." Just about every time Francis takes the floor, it seems, he does something detrimental to the Magic. Francis has always been a good interview, and not a bad guy to be around -- when things are going well. He usually plays hard and, don't forget, he played (when he could) through those nasty migraine headaches in 2002, which won him a lot of respect. Because of that, and because he is a good talker who answers questions honestly and openly, I think the media has not come down as hard on him over the years as we probably should. He earned a bad reputation when he refused to play in Vancouver as a rookie, but that faded pretty quickly. Fact is, Francis' career is sinking fast at a time when he should be, at age 28, in his prime. He came into the league with a splash, averaging 20.1 points, 6.4 assists and 6.3 rebounds per game over his first four years in Houston. In retrospect, those four years might have been the worst thing that could have happened to him. Francis was absolutely pampered under Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich. With Hakeem Olajuwon continually missing time with injuries, Houston needed a centerpiece player, and it was Francis. The Rockets' entire offense revolved around Francis, and when he wasn't shooting, his best buddy Cuttino Mobley was. This spoiled Francis. It may have even ruined the rest of his career. When you are treated like a superstar at age 22, you don't want to hear people telling you that you need to share the ball and work on court vision at age 26. In Houston, all Francis had to learn to do was dribble for 14-20 seconds, then create a shot. The Rockets became masters of the isolation offense, running play after play that featured Francis on one side of the floor, and his teammates on the other side, hands on their hips and bored looks on their faces. Francis never had to learn to involve teammates. He never had to learn to feed the post, or to find cutters or to get inside a defense and find the open man. He simply dribbled the ball and shot it. Remember when Jeff Van Gundy went to Houston in 2003 and told Francis that the old isolation game wasn't going to work anymore? Francis averaged just 16.6 points and shot 40.3 percent that year. And he pouted. He was shipped to Orlando that summer. Francis posted good numbers last year, but in general, his time in Orlando has been marked by disappointment, and his immaturity has been increasingly revealed. He pouted, nearly in tears, when Mobley was traded last year. From 2002-2005, he led the league in technical fouls -- he often puts whining at referees after missed shots ahead of getting back on defense. He bristled at the notion of being moved to shooting guard this year, despite the fact that he clearly does not have the court vision to be a point guard. He seems resentful at the increase in minutes and fourth-quarter opportunities given to Jameer Nelson. Francis seems to have taken the New Year as a chance to play lazy. He is passing up shots. He is averaging 11.8 points, 4.4 assists and 4.8 turnovers in 2006, while shooting 34 percent from the field. That is pretty detrimental to the team. I don't think Francis is going to be saved, either. It could be that he just wants out of Orlando, and this might be a Baron Davis/Vince Carter ploy to force a trade -- hey, it got Carter out of Toronto and Davis out of New Orleans. But no one wants Francis. The trend is toward point guards like Steve Nash and Chauncey Billups, who get others involved. One general manager I talked to said, "The days of point guards like Francis and [Stephon] Marbury are just about gone. With hand-check rules and the way they're calling things, if you're a point guard who sits on the ball for most of the clock, I don't know how much value you have." Whatever the value is, it's not $60 million, which is what Francis will make over the next four years. If Francis' act is about getting traded, he can probably forget it. Even before he was suspended, it was obvious that he's a spoiled player who shown no interest in becoming a better all-around player.
wow. What a turd, even worse than I thought. Tmac is all class and all heart. The names Tmac and Francis should not be mentioned in the same sentence, much less same novel. Tmac is a class act with the heart of a champion, he cares about the game of basketball, he cares about his fans, he cares about winning, and he shows respect. Francis is a Thug with a god given ability to dribble a basketball and dunk, nothing more, he's hollow. What an idiot.
I like T-Mac too but please. He also quit on the Magic. I think it shows a complete lack of class when you quit on your team and like it or not he did just that.
Lil Pun, He didn't quit on the Magic. If you're talking about that "I didn't try as hard" quote that's a bunch of BS from a guy with an ego who's trying to rationalize how his team could be that bad. Maybe it's because he didn't put up 32/6/6 on 46% shooting like the previous season. So yeah it must be because I didn't try as hard, yeah that's it. I'm not buying it. He was going through the motions in the season's 2nd half and his knee tendinitis injury that he missed the last few weeks of the season for is probably something he would have played with in the previous years when the Magic were in the playoffs, but he didn't quit. This guy played the whole first round of the 2002 playoffs with a fresh back injury (similar to what took him out at the beginning of this season). He never did anything like Francis. He played, didn't refuse to go in games and still put up numbers. Francis on the other hand is refusing to go in games and is NOT putting up numbers in the new year. You can clearly see he quit. And reggie, Francis is not a thug. damn, I said the exact same thing in the tank thread where the guy is recommending that we tank to draft daniel gibson of all people. daniel gibson and darius washington just let out a tear after reading that.
Let's get Stevie for Moochie, Wesley, Swift and a first rounder. A no brainer. Stevie and T-Mac together on the fast break would be devastating. Stevie is a great rebounder. As is often said we don't need the prototype point guard with T-Mac. How do you guard a team with three guys who need to be double teamed? Even Ryan Bowen can score in double figures if three of his teamates are double teamed!! Stevie would help fill up the seats so maybe Les could spend a little money for another player some time. Geting rid ofStromile is a plus. If it doesn't work out, Stevie is very tradeable as opposed to what we gave up.
There's just a couple of problems with this: 1. Trade away Swift and you instantly become paper-thin at the PF position (your backup is Lonny Baxter). You're not going to survive the playoffs that way. 2. There's no way Stevie is going to come back to Houston to play third fiddle to T-Mac and Yao (basically replace Wesley). His perennial all-star ego is way too big for that. (not to mention we can't afford him under the current salary cap situation).
I hear ya man. It always bothering that people keep saying "Tmac quit" like it's similar to the way Francis is quitting now, when Tmac during his interview on TNT says he felt mentally exahausted and couldn't be the 'usual Tmac'...that's what he ment by quitting. Still, people love being able to say 'he quit', 'he's a quitter'. It's funny he did all that 'quitting' and could still be the scoring champion that year.
well after this season, it will be two straight years w/out an all-star appearance, so much for that "perennial all-star."
Oh cmon man, you know Yao had everything to do with him making the All-star game. He didn't make it before or after Yao even though he put up better numbers.
You know, that's so true. I never thought about that, and I used to wonder back then what was so "all-star" about Steve Francis.
I was just giving him that part. Didn't want to rain on that parade too much. edit: wait, didn't he make it the migraine season (2002)?
Bring Steve back. "Get it done CD". With what? Believe it or not, I still think he's worth his money, but I doubt we'd have anything worth giving up for him. Stro and Head, a couple of expiring contracts, but nothing that would get it done. I sure miss having him in our back court though.
I can't believe that some of you think bringing Francis back is in any way a good idea. Francis' game didn't work when he had to share the ball with Yao. You think it'll work when he needs to share it with Yao and McGrady? And that's just the first concern. Some of you are getting a little too desperate.
