<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Florida Today - New York, Denver, Minnesota and Memphis are believed to have an interest in Francis. New York has the expiring contract of Penny Hardaway ($15.7 million) to offer, a move that would allow Orlando to drop below the salary cap and be active seeking players in the free-agent market this summer. New York also could be offering combo guard Jamal Crawford in a larger package. Denver might be willing to trade injured center Nene, power forward Kenyon Martin and/or reserve point guard Earl Watson. Smith admitted the parameters of a multi-team trade are in place, but he said he's not ready to commit to anything at this time. He added that even though the Magic now have five point guards -- Jameer Nelson, Keyon Dooling and Travis Diener are the others -- he doesn't feel pressure to trade Francis. In fact, Smith said he thinks such a deal is "still a long shot." "We're still evaluating, still using the phones and we have seven days to see what's out there and what we can do," Smith said, referring to the Feb. 23 NBA trade deadline. "Right now we have the team on the floor and we'll make evaluations as we go."</div>http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/391...ted_in_steve_o/
I don't think he would fit in in any of those teams. Memphis has too much depth and they play pass first ball, Minny is KG and Francis will ball-hog there. He would be the 3rd option.
Actually, Minny could be a fit. They need another option to KG, I'm sorry but he would 2nd option there over Ricky Davis. Also, that's three legit scoring options, and two guys to get the pressure off KG.Memphis understandable, their team has not been the same without Damon, who you can say is similar to Francis, in that both like to score and Atkins/Bjax combo at pg is not great.
Why do you think they brought in Ricky Davis? As a legit 2nd option scorer to KG. Now they're gonna bring in another scorer? No, they already have guys like Troy Hudson, Marcus Banks and Trenton Hassell who can score. Their problem is defense not scoring. Francis is not needed. Marcus Banks would lose playing time by Francis being there anyway. They are pretty loaded at pg.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Lakers Enter Francis Derby17th February, 2006 - 7:05 pmOrlando Sentinel - Add the Los Angeles Lakers to the list of possible suitors for Orlando Magic guard Steve Francis. The Lakers are "aggressively" pursuing a trade that would send forward Lamar Odom to the Magic for Francis in a multiplayer deal, NBA sources told the Orlando Sentinel today.Odom, a 6-foot-10, 230-pound forward, is an all-around player lost in Kobe Bryant's immense shadow with the Lakers. He was acquired in that megadeal involving Shaquille O'Neal and the Miami Heat . Odom, who is averaging 13.9 points and 9.2 rebounds, has four more years remaining in a contract worth about $51 million.Francis, who has three more years and about $48 million left on his deal, is in Houston, where he has a home and is attending the festivities involving the NBA All-Star Weekend. Francis' agent, Jeff Fried, said today that the Magic haven't informed him that a trade was pending. The trade deadline is Thursday."There's no change in Steve's situation that I'm aware of," he said.</div>Lakers want FrancisI guess its inevitable that Francis will be dealt somewhere in the next 6 days...the question is who will give up more for him? I just can't see him in LA playing PG along side Kobe. Francis commits way too many turnovers and does like to shoot the ball a lot. Odom in Orlando would be interesting, as it would give them a potential setup of Odom at SF, Howard at PF and Darko at C. Should be interesting to see where Francis lands...and of course I hope it's not in NY.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Why do you think they brought in Ricky Davis? As a legit 2nd option scorer to KG. Now they're gonna bring in another scorer? No, they already have guys like Troy Hudson, Marcus Banks and Trenton Hassell who can score. Their problem is defense not scoring. Francis is not needed. Marcus Banks would lose playing time by Francis being there anyway. They are pretty loaded at pg.</div>Their defense isn't that bad. Banks is a free agent, and is known for both offense and defense. Hassell is also mainly a defender. He's only picked up his scoring due to lesser options available. Ricky Davis was brought in to replace Wally's scoring. They need better options to keep defenses honest. Francis does that, not Ricky.Also, on their loaded at pg, it's not very good. Jaric is in trade rumors, Hudson is in the doghouse, Banks a pending free agent. Francis would improve it.
I think Francis would be a good fit for Minnesota but the question would be for how long?? He would be the most talented player to ever play with KG and maybe they each feed off each other to get to the pinnacle, but with that being said, I do not see how Minnesota can get him without giving up depth. I cannot understand why Atlanta would not want him. Good point guard, could package Al Harrington-JChildress-1strder and actually get good value for Al and get a quality starting 5 (Francis, JoeJohn, JSmith, MWilliams, Pachula)
I think Memphis is kind of surprising for Francis, because Jason Williams got dealt last year because he didnt fit Jerry West's mold as a PG to run his team. I find it surprising that theyd have interest in Francis because he does not seem like the type of PG West would target..Additionally, I think Minnesotta is interested to keep KG happy because of his recent reported complaining and rumblings of trade rumors for Garnett. I think he was the reason they got Ricky Davis to replace Wally, as they reportadly had their difficulties in Minny together. If they were to acquire Francis, it would give them a solid core and a better overall team to please KG..
