<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">ORLANDO - Steve Francis said the Orlando Magic have assured him that he will not be dealt before the NBA's Feb. 23 trade deadline. But the reasoning for that might be due to more of a lack of interest from other teams than the Magic's desire to hang on to the enigmatic point guard. Magic assistant general manager Otis Smith admitted that when most teams call to talk potential trades, Francis' name rarely comes up. In Smith's estimation, the interest in Francis among other teams ranks fourth behind Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson and Hedo Turkoglu. Howard and Nelson, the Magic's haul from the 2004 NBA Draft, are virtually untouchable. Smith was instrumental in the Magic landing Turkoglu in the 2004 free-agency sweepstakes. "When they ask about the big fellow, that's an easy conversation," Smith said of Howard, the NBA's second-leading rebounder. "Then, they ask about Jameer and Turkoglu. We're not at a point where we're entertaining those talks." Francis was suspended last week for two games after refusing head coach Brian Hill's orders to re-enter a game at Seattle. Francis returned to practice Tuesday, but he was kept out of the starting lineup Wednesday against Washington. It was just the third time in Francis' seven-year NBA career that he didn't start a game he was dressed for. If the Magic do consider dealing Francis, it could be complicated by the size of his contract. He is making $13.7 million this season and is due $48.7 million during the next three seasons. For now, Smith said a trade of Francis isn't in the works. "We're moving forward with him as our point guard," he said. "We traded for him to be our point guard and our leader, and that hasn't changed yet. We haven't reached that point yet where we've talked about trading Steve."</div> http://www.floridatoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/.../601190322/1002
