Portland will buy out the final two years of his contract, making him a FA. Although he may not be the best PG on the market right now, okay he's up there at the top, but what teams should go after him and which teams would he fit with?
Alot of people may hate francis but he is still a great talent. he wasnt even a ballhog last year and could still be a hell of a starter. I think he could thrive as a starter for a team with no pg at all. possibly cleveland or los angeles. Phil Jackson could get him to work, he is no more of a nutcase then dennis rodman was.
the knicks. but seriously. umm, new orleans needs some depth in the back court. maybe francis could play some sg.
If his price tag is low and he is willing to be a pass-first PG, then I am all for him coming back to Houston. He will love the free flowing Adelman system, give the Rockets a great 3rd scorer, and will take the playmaking load off of T-Mac. He also loves Houston and wants to play there, which is huge. It will also allow the Rockets to trade one or more of the other PG's for a legit PF.I can see the Lakers as being a real possibility. With Smush gone they really need a PG, and Francis can score, pass and rebound well. He'd be a nice upgrade.
I think the Rockets would be a good fit, it's the only place he's been successful in. Plus, wouldn't that be a slap in the face to Orlando if they got Francis back in town? Another possibility is the Clippers, I know that Cuttino Mobley would somehow convince him to come to LA. It's not like Sam Cassel is going to run the point forever, and Livingston won't be back for a while. Why not be a Clipper?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Nitro1118 @ Jul 11 2007, 12:32 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>If his price tag is low and he is willing to be a pass-first PG, then I am all for him coming back to Houston. He will love the free flowing Adelman system, give the Rockets a great 3rd scorer, and will take the playmaking load off of T-Mac. He also loves Houston and wants to play there, which is huge. It will also allow the Rockets to trade one or more of the other PG's for a legit PF.I can see the Lakers as being a real possibility. With Smush gone they really need a PG, and Francis can score, pass and rebound well. He'd be a nice upgrade.</div>ok, then what happens if they can't move one of those guards. then they have a horrible logjam.
Its complete hopeful wishing, but it would be cool for him to come to Memphis...we like badasses here and this will put Miller back as our spark off the bench.Realisticly, he will end up either in Miami, LA, or Houston.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (time takes time @ Jul 11 2007, 12:51 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>ok, then what happens if they can't move one of those guards. then they have a horrible logjam.</div>They already have a horrible logjam with 9 PG/SG/SF. The Rockets have enough expiring contracts at the position, along with a pretty valuable trading piece in Alston, to get a quality PF. Francis is definately not needed, but if he does sign for a low price, it allows the Rockets a lot more fleixbility in the trade market as they will now be able to trade Alston.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Nitro1118 @ Jul 11 2007, 01:55 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>They already have a horrible logjam with 9 PG/SG/SF. The Rockets have enough expiring contracts at the position, along with a pretty valuable trading piece in Alston, to get a quality PF. Francis is definately not needed, but if he does sign for a low price, it allows the Rockets a lot more fleixbility in the trade market as they will now be able to trade Alston.</div>I doubt theyll get a quality pf for just alston. If I were the rockets id go after cwebb or pj brown in free agency. in fact I wouldnt mind c-webb on the bulls, hes just what we need.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (PrimeTime @ Jul 11 2007, 12:59 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I doubt theyll get a quality pf for just alston. If I were the rockets id go after cwebb or pj brown in free agency. in fact I wouldnt mind c-webb on the bulls, hes just what we need.</div>Read my post again, I said expiring contracts AND Alston. I'll give you one trade idea that, while unlikely, is possible... if Blake doesn't resign with Nuggets, they will desperately need a PG, specifically one who can shoot the 3. Alston is perfect for that. With 5 capable big men and team in need of cap relief, they need to give up a big man. Camby is the oldest with the 2nd biggest contract, so he is likely the odd man out. So Camby for Alston and Sura's contract, who Denver can buyout. As I said, unlikely, but those are the kind of trades that are possible with a PG like Alston (who was top 5 in 3pt shooting this year) and expiring contracts.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Nitro1118 @ Jul 11 2007, 02:06 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Read my post again, I said expiring contracts AND Alston. I'll give you one trade idea that, while unlikely, is possible... if Blake doesn't resign with Nuggets, they will desperately need a PG, specifically one who can shoot the 3. Alston is perfect for that. With 5 capable big men and team in need of cap relief, they need to give up a big man. Camby is the oldest with the 2nd biggest contract, so he is likely the odd man out. So Camby for Alston and Sura's contract, who Denver can buyout. As I said, unlikely, but those are the kind of trades that are possible with a PG like Alston (who was top 5 in 3pt shooting this year) and expiring contracts.</div>That's about as likely as Kyle Korver and willie green for Ron Artest.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Nitro1118 @ Jul 11 2007, 12:55 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>They already have a horrible logjam with 9 PG/SG/SF. The Rockets have enough expiring contracts at the position, along with a pretty valuable trading piece in Alston, to get a quality PF. Francis is definately not needed, but if he does sign for a low price, it allows the Rockets a lot more fleixbility in the trade market as they will now be able to trade Alston.</div>so if they already have a logjam, why would you want another pretty decent player to take some more minutes? makes no sense to me. maybe if you already had a deal for a PF lined up, but you can't just do a deal like this with a blindfold on for the future.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Nitro1118 @ Jul 11 2007, 01:06 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Read my post again, I said expiring contracts AND Alston. I'll give you one trade idea that, while unlikely, is possible... if Blake doesn't resign with Nuggets, they will desperately need a PG, specifically one who can shoot the 3. Alston is perfect for that. With 5 capable big men and team in need of cap relief, they need to give up a big man. Camby is the oldest with the 2nd biggest contract, so he is likely the odd man out. So Camby for Alston and Sura's contract, who Denver can buyout. As I said, unlikely, but those are the kind of trades that are possible with a PG like Alston (who was top 5 in 3pt shooting this year) and expiring contracts.</div>Why would denver want a journeyman pg who is only good for scoring when they have a perfectly good veteran, defensive-minded point guard in brevin knight interested in signing for a reasonable price? Your idea is laughable. Denver wouldn't consider it.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (time takes time @ Jul 11 2007, 01:12 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>so if they already have a logjam, why would you want another pretty decent player to take some more minutes? makes no sense to me. maybe if you already had a deal for a PF lined up, but you can't just do a deal like this with a blindfold on for the future.</div>As I said, if it's a low price, there is no reason not to. Due to Alston's big season in terms of 3pt shooting and being successful on a 50+ win team, his stock is as high as it will ever be, and could be packaged for a legit PF. The Rockets have a bunch of scrubs at those positions, as seen last year with rafer playing so many minutes a night. Mike James relieves that, but for a chance to get a very nice 3rd scorer and a better playmaker than either of the PG's we have now, for a reasonable price, we have to pull the trigger. Alston will be tradable, as will the expiring contracts and future draft picks.<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>Why would denver want a journeyman pg who is only good for scoring when they have a perfectly good veteran, defensive-minded point guard in brevin knight interested in signing for a reasonable price? Your idea is laughable. Denver wouldn't consider it.</div>Brevin Knight isn't really an upgrade from Blake. They are one of the worst 3pt shooting teams in the league, and with AI doing a bulk of the ballhandling, they need a guy like Rafer who can occaisonally setup the offense and most importantly hit 3's (as I said, he was somewhere in top 5-10 in league in 3pt shooting). If they buyout Sura they would free up the cap room.As I said, it's unlikely, but I wa sjust giving an example of a trade idea. Having Alston as a tradable commodity is a BIG deal as it means we would have him, expiring contracts, a few bench players (like Head) and draft picks to get a legit PF. It is important because it gives us flexibility to get a good PF without giving up Battier.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (time takes time @ Jul 11 2007, 12:30 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>but seriously. umm, new orleans needs some depth in the back court. maybe francis could play some sg.</div>The Hornets don't need a second combo guard on their roster, especially not a ballhog like him. We don't need him to come over and play SG; if we were to get a guard like him it would be a true point.<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (808Hornetsfan @ Jul 11 2007, 12:40 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Another possibility is the Clippers, I know that Cuttino Mobley would somehow convince him to come to LA. It's not like Sam Cassel is going to run the point forever, and Livingston won't be back for a while. Why not be a Clipper? </div>That sounds like the best situation actually. He has played with Mobley and they had a good chemistry.
This guy is one of those washed up stars who can't really get it done anymore but still tries to score on every opportunity that he gets. Whoever signs him will have to be careful....it won't work out with any team unless he adapts his game to become a team player. He needs to PASS THE BALL.
<span style="font-family:Tahoma">Steve Francis will be a Clipper soon enough. Everyone had to know Portland was going to buy him out. I'm just shocked that they actually did that Zack trade with New York, they could've got more IMO.</span>
Steve francis cant get up like he used to I read from a resource that he said his knees were shot but he still can produce better then some pg
Portland should have kept francis. Right now he is a much better player then any pg they have, and nate mcmillian is a great coach who I doubt francis would have problems with.
