# ESPN: Knicks Want Francis



## arenas809 (Feb 13, 2003)

Steve Francis is being strongly sought by the desperate New York Knicks, who want to pair him in the backcourt with Stephon Marbury in a bid to save their season. Two sources involved in the Francis trade discussions told ESPN.com on Tuesday that New York is actively pursuing Francis, who is being shopped full throttle by the Orlando Magic.

The Denver Nuggets remain in the hunt for Francis, but they are not the leading option as they were a few days ago. The Minnesota Timberwolves also were trying to stay in the mix, looking for a third team to take on players Orlando is not interested in. New York was believed to be offering Penny Hardaway, Jamal Crawford and at least one other player, likely Trevor Ariza, David Lee or Nate Robinson, in a deal in which the Knicks would also take back center Kelvin Cato, whose $8.64 million salary comes off the cap at the end of the season.

New York also has had discussions with the Portland Trail Blazers involving Hardaway, whose contract is one of the few expiring maximum deals this season of the type that are annually dangled in February before teams seeking cap relief. Dallas forward Keith Van Horn's $15.7 million salary comes off the cap this summer, but Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has said his team has no interest in trading Van Horn to the Raptors for Antonio Davis, who also has an expiring contract and was dealt by the Knicks to Toronto for Jalen Rose in a deal that will allow the Raptors to move well below the cap this summer.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/columns/story?columnist=sheridan_chris&id=2330954


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## Mr. Hobbes (Jul 1, 2005)

Marbury/Francis backcourt? Oh man.


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## LA68 (Apr 3, 2004)

WTChan said:


> Marbury/Francis backcourt? Oh man.


Is this Clyde and The Pearl all over again ??

Both can run point, both can be the shooter.. If Larry Brown could make that work, that would really be something. :clap:


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## ralaw (Feb 24, 2005)

LA68 said:


> Is this Clyde and The Pearl all over again ??
> 
> Both can run point, both can be the shooter.. If Larry Brown could make that work, that would really be something. :clap:


If Brown made that work he is my choice for the Greatest Coach ever. What is wrong with Isiah Thomas? When will he understand you can't assemble a bunch of random individually talented players and expect them to mesh into a good team? To build a team the players need to compliment each other similar to the Spurs or Pistons, and Isiah seems to think he is doing this, but come on! Next, he'll be going after Lamar Odom, Bonzi Wells and/or Antoine Walker and in doing so he will trade Frye!


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## flushingflash (Jan 4, 2006)

that would be so typical of the knicks if they went after francis. is isiah purposely trying to sabotage new york.


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## LetsGo! (Oct 31, 2005)

Getting Francis is a horrible idea. There is only ball to go around! Both dominate the rock so much and neither of them are big enought to play the 2 on a consistent basis. Also, neither of them play any defense of have had much success at all. The proof is in the pudding. Another bad trade idea by Isiah, who by the way, is the worst GM in all of basketball now that Rob Babcock was fired. Hopefully he doesnt screw us over with this Penny contract, the last thing we need is another long un nessary contract of a player who isnt worth half of it. Uggh. This team is so disheartening.


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## flushingflash (Jan 4, 2006)

LetsGo! said:


> Getting Francis is a horrible idea. There is only ball to go around! Both dominate the rock so much and neither of them are big enought to play the 2 on a consistent basis. Also, neither of them play any defense of have had much success at all. The proof is in the pudding. Another bad trade idea by Isiah, who by the way, is the worst GM in all of basketball now that Rob Babcock was fired. Hopefully he doesnt screw us over with this Penny contract, the last thing we need is another long un nessary contract of a player who isnt worth half of it. Uggh. This team is so disheartening.



isiah is way worse than rob babcock.


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## narrator (Feb 11, 2006)

*The Knicks believe Francis and Stephon Marbury can play together in the backcourt.* 

Funniest thing I've read today.


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## narrator (Feb 11, 2006)

flushingflash said:


> isiah is way worse than rob babcock.


 So true. What did the Knicks do to deserve having Isiah foisted upon them? Were they mean to someone in another life or something?


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## Da Grinch (Aug 17, 2002)

i actually wouldn't mind a franchise and starbury backcourt .

its not IT's job to make it work , its the 10 mil. a year coach's job to make the parts fit.

with steve and stephon it certainly wouldn't be a problem of lack of talent.


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## ralaw (Feb 24, 2005)

Da Grinch said:


> i actually wouldn't mind a franchise and starbury backcourt .
> 
> its not IT's job to make it work , its the 10 mil. a year coach's job to make the parts fit.
> 
> with steve and stephon it certainly wouldn't be a problem of lack of talent.


I disagree, in all cases the GM and coach should work together in bringing in players. I could understand it to an extent if you have some lame duck coach who is holding it down until a real coach comes in, but when you have a Larry Brown level coach things are a little different. Brown was brought in to turn this debacle of an organization around and Isiah is helping at all! In a situation like New York is in the GM's job is to bring in the best players that fit the system the coach is running. The great organizations have a GM and coach that work together. Saying it is the coaches job to coach and the GM's job to bring the players in makes not sense to me.


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## Da Grinch (Aug 17, 2002)

ralaw said:


> I disagree, in all cases the GM and coach should work together in bringing in players. I could understand it to an extent if you have some lame duck coach who is holding it down until a real coach comes in, but when you have a Larry Brown level coach things are a little different. Brown was brought in to turn this debacle of an organization around and Isiah is helping at all! In a situation like New York is in the GM's job is to bring in the best players that fit the system the coach is running. The great organizations have a GM and coach that work together. Saying it is the coaches job to coach and the GM's job to bring the players in makes not sense to me.


LB wants vets , his actions and his words have been pretty obvious to that effect.

in the proposed deals it goes against IT's usual way of getting younger(although francis is very athletic) , it sounds very much like a deal Brown is pushing Thomas to make happen.

a Gm is supposed to give you a good base from which to work with , a coach is supposed to be able to play to his team's strengths aand hide their weaknesses to make them more effective.

Brown knew the roster before he signed on the dotted line and has been up to this point very unwilling to play the youngsters unless his hand has been forced


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## ralaw (Feb 24, 2005)

Da Grinch said:


> LB wants vets , his actions and his words have been pretty obvious to that effect.


This is true, but can you blame him? In today's NBA you need some solid veteran players.



Da Grinch said:


> in the proposed deals it goes against IT's usual way of getting younger(although francis is very athletic) , it sounds very much like a deal Brown is pushing Thomas to make happen.


There is some truth to IT wanting to get younger, but in all of the trades he has made in the past year have been for semi young (22-28) year old players who are obviously talented, but have no idea of how to play basketball within a team concept.



Da Grinch said:


> a Gm is supposed to give you a good base from which to work with , a coach is supposed to be able to play to his team's strengths aand hide their weaknesses to make them more effective.


I can agree with that under the umbralla of the GM and coach sitting down together and deciding who the best players for the system are. The only thing against Larry Brown that I can say is his team doesn't have an identity, but much of this could be attributed to the team IT has assembled.



Da Grinch said:


> Brown knew the roster before he signed on the dotted line and has been up to this point very unwilling to play the youngsters unless his hand has been forced.


This is true, but you have to remember this is what Larry Brown does and on the oppsite end IT knew this as well. In all fairness to Brown I will say he has played them more than he typically play shis rookies.


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## Truknicksfan (Mar 25, 2005)

> Steve Francis is being strongly sought by the desperate New York Knicks, who want to pair him in the backcourt with Stephon Marbury in a bid to save their season.


A bid to save thier season....now thats funny!


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## Mogriffjr (Mar 5, 2005)

looks like this deal is close to happening...wow....


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## knicksfan (Jan 4, 2003)

If we only get rid of Penny and Ariza/Lee I go for it. If MY two favorite rooks are involved then I strongly say NO.


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## urwhatueati8god (May 27, 2003)

Cato's gone, deal dead.



> ESPN - The Detroit Pistons traded forward Darko Milicic and point guard Carlos Arroyo to the Orlando Magic for Kelvin Cato and a 2007 first round pick, ESPN.com has learned Wednesday.


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## whiteshadow (Dec 22, 2005)

I find it amazing that Knick fans could consider this trade to be a benefit. Francis was recently suspended by Orlando, and some of the games I have seen him play on the dish he has been just miserable. He doesn't know how to "run" a team as a point guard and will not give up the ball to his teammates. Your G.M. needs to put together a team not a bunch of disjointed pieces. Let's see now: Quentin, Jalen, Steph and Francis....ha, ha, ha, ha, ha,....thanks, Isaiah for that # 1 draft pick next year and for the switch of picks the year after. Priceless for the Bulls. The Chicago Whiteshadow


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## Gotham2krazy (Nov 22, 2005)

arenas809 said:


> The Denver Nuggets remain in the hunt for Francis, but they are not the leading option as they were a few days ago. The Minnesota Timberwolves also were trying to stay in the mix, looking for a third team to take on players Orlando is not interested in. New York was believed to be offering Penny Hardaway, Jamal Crawford and at least one other player, likely Trevor Ariza, David Lee or Nate Robinson, in a deal in which the Knicks would also take back center Kelvin Cato, whose $8.64 million salary comes off the cap at the end of the season.
> 
> http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/columns/story?columnist=sheridan_chris&id=2330954


it's too bad Cato just got traded to pistons


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## i_like_the_hawks (Feb 2, 2006)

edited. baiting.da grinch


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## BIGsHOTBOY12345 (Aug 24, 2005)

i_like_the_hawks said:


> ROFLMAO! the knicks are a joke. they are even worse than the hawks! :banana:


if you want to barge in hear and diss the NYk, then you shouldnt be coming here at all. Us knicksfans dont have time for people like you, and dissing you back, makes me more worse thnen, you so--please leave


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## BIGsHOTBOY12345 (Aug 24, 2005)

urwhatueati8god said:


> Cato's gone, deal dead.


not necessarily, the knicks have offered ariza, hardaway, and JC for stevie Franchise, and Battie instead, it is almost a done deal, according to sources


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## i_like_the_hawks (Feb 2, 2006)

oh sorry man, i was just interested in this topic, no offense. it makes me feel good that there is a team in the nba thats worse than the hawks. that hasnt happened in a while.


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## SI Metman (Jan 30, 2004)

The only thing I like about this trade is that Jamal Crawford won't be a Knick 5 years from now. 

However roto-style GMing is not the way to go. This team is the New York Rangers pre-NHL lockout. A bunch of stars and washed up vets making too much money and winning zero games. It took the Rangers 7 seasons to get out from under that mess to get back to the postseason (assuming no major March and April meltdowns this year). The Knicks are in Year 2 and show no sign of being anywhere near the playoffs.


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## urwhatueati8god (May 27, 2003)

i_like_the_hawks said:


> ROFLMAO! the knicks are a joke. they are even worse than the hawks! :banana:


I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.


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## i_like_the_hawks (Feb 2, 2006)

well it just makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside to know that for once the hawks arent the absolute worst team in the nba.


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## flushingflash (Jan 4, 2006)

SI Metman said:


> The only thing I like about this trade is that Jamal Crawford won't be a Knick 5 years from now.
> 
> However roto-style GMing is not the way to go. This team is the New York Rangers pre-NHL lockout. A bunch of stars and washed up vets making too much money and winning zero games. It took the Rangers 7 seasons to get out from under that mess to get back to the postseason (assuming no major March and April meltdowns this year). The Knicks are in Year 2 and show no sign of being anywhere near the playoffs.



its as if the rangers and knicks share the same blueprint on how to build a team, there's just to many similarities.


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## knicksfan (Jan 4, 2003)

flushingflash said:


> its as if the rangers and knicks share the same blueprint on how to build a team, there's just to many similarities.


With the Rangers it's actually working thanks to one unexpected savior named HENRIK LUNDQUIST! We here on the knicks need OUR Lundquist. Perhaps Francis is it.


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## Mr. Hobbes (Jul 1, 2005)

You know what? I've changed my mind, I'm pushing for this trade. The Knicks are in such a mess right now, anything should go. Hey, maybe they will be the next Pearl and Clyde, ya never know.


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