<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Steve Francis is headed to New York under a deal agreed to Wednesday by the Knicks and the Orlando Magic, ESPN.com has learned. The teams agreed to a trade of Francis for Penny Hardaway and Trevor Ariza, two league sources with knowledge of the deal told ESPN.com. The trade was expected to be announced later Wednesday afternoon after being called in to the league office. In New York, Francis will be paired with Stephon Marbury as the highest-paid backcourt duo in the NBA. The Knicks were still talking with several other clubs as team president Isiah Thomas worked at remaking a roster that has stumbled to the league's second-worst record, 15-37. </div> Source
Well, pretty much Doug Christie (gone), Darko, Arroyo, Ariza and Penny. Atleast Orlando has a nice combination in Howard and Nelson, and hopefully for them Darko plays up to his potential.
YES! My fav. player is back hopefully he will play, maybe i can wear my old Hardaway jersey it might be a little tight though.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting MrJ:</div><div class="quote_post">So, what did you get for T-Mac, fellas?</div> They created an opportunity to build their franchise around Dwight Howard. I think the Magic hurt themselves by announcing they wanted to trade Steve Francis. They could have received more for him, but at least they did not end up with Jamal Crawford in the deal. On a side note, Penny Hardaway's career has gone full circle.
I don't think the Magic would have won with Francis and his contract, so I think this helps them long term. I'm kind of surprised they couldn't get more for him, though.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting FlaBoy:</div><div class="quote_post">YES! My fav. player is back hopefully he will play, maybe i can wear my old Hardaway jersey it might be a little tight though.</div> I doubt it. He's frail as hell and only played 4 games for us. Basically he was used for his contract. Ariza is good for you though. He can defend very well, but is not good offensively. He'll get you a couple of nice dunks here and there. In fact, he dunked on Nocionni and Ben Wallace on consecutive nights. He'll play a nice role for the Magic.
Yes!!! We would be retarded to get Jamal Crawford. Cap relief > Jamal Crawford I'm pleased with the deal.
it wasnt the magic that started all the trade stuff, its the agents. They start rumors to build trade value, like sayin odom for francis, even though the teams never discussed it. As for the trade, im kinda happy. As much as i wanted to keep a star player like steve here, he just wasnt the same after mobley left. Blame not so wiesbrod for that. But all in all we get cap space for 2007 when the best free agents will be available. Dwight is the focal point of the team and even if we play subpar atleast we are building dwight up and hopefully darko amounts to something. good move for the future, but in the mean time we are gonna struggle. Unless the good ole heart and hussle mentality comes back. The players we do have want to be out there, so hopefully they can bring up the spirits and play better as a unit.
I like the deal to. Anybody knows if penny will get his old number back? I hope I'll get to see him play at least one game more for the Magic
Should be interesting to see how Dwight Howard handles the pressure of being the #1 option now. He's going to see a lot more double teams and defensive pressure without Francis on the floor. Maybe Grant Hill can stay healthy enough to relieve some of the pressure, otherwise it's going to be a rough 2nd half for the Magic. This trade gives the Magic a chance to sign a free agent in 2006 & 2007.
yeah, we can look for players this year, but the crop is small. I know wallace and prince r free agents. I think we have 10 players for tonights game. If turk and hill are out. Dooling, stevenson and arroyo are gonna play big mins.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting MrJ:</div><div class="quote_post">So, what did you get for T-Mac, fellas?</div> Salary cap relief and a slacking player off the team. T-Mac was great, don't get me wrong, but the sad truth is that he didn't want to be here. So yeah, it's almost like we lost him to free agency since we didn't get a whole lot for him looking back, but what did we give up to get him in the first place? Salary cap relief is what this team needs now for a number of reasons...personnel-wise and financially. I'll miss Francis a bit because when he kept his ego in check he was a good player for the Magic. But other than that, I won't miss the whining and constant issues that would flare up. Plus we get Penny Hardaway playing again under the coach he got fired. Maybe something interesting will come out of that.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting smokrockz:</div><div class="quote_post">yeah, we can look for players this year, but the crop is small. I know wallace and prince r free agents. I think we have 10 players for tonights game. If turk and hill are out. Dooling, stevenson and arroyo are gonna play big mins.</div> Prince signed an extension already. Here's some of the bigger name free agents in 2006 available. Ben Wallace Peja Stoyakovic Nene Al Harrington Vladimir Radmonovic Jason Terry Drew Gooden Fred Jones Matt Harpring I think Harrington would be a great pick up for the Magic if he's willing to sign for a reasonable offer. He would add even more athleticism and length to the frontline alongside, Howard and Milic.
I wouldnt mind seeing al here. He can put up numbers in many different ways, we need players that can make their own shots and at the same time create shots for players like pat and travis. i guess its back to the drawin board...
I think Fred Jones is someone the Magic should look hard at this offseason. He's a scorer, and plays better defense than Deshawn Stevenson. With Hill, Turk and Ariza, Orlando has enough at small forward; getting a guard should be a priority. In Jones, they get a versatile scorer, and someone who's played with a winning team all his career. It won't be too big of a signing, but Jones could be special if given the opportunity. Think about it this way MrJ, if Orlando had kept TMac, he'd have become a free agent this summer anyways and they'll be in the same situation, still with Tyronn Lue and Juwan Howard. Now, they get Ariza, Milicic and Arroyo, better than what they started with IMO. Same amount of cap relief as well, maybe more.
Though they get next to nothing, I like this for the Magic. They can now concentrate on building around Howard, and Penny gives them great cap relief to do that. If they aren't expecting Darko to do good, they can even go after someone like Nene in the summer, and have a beastly frontcourt partner next to Howard. Either way, this is a good trade for their future.
