Stevie Franchise to New York

[nosaints26]

sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2339941

Thoughts?

[bearcat]

Well...Penny's back in Orlando.

But it's looking good for the Magic, as now they have a young roster with Howard, Darko, and Ariza, but now have cleared up cap room to sign the big names in a few years.

[Jami]

So the Knicks have what? 5 point guards now?

[detroitbasketball]

Just what the Knicks need, anothet troublemaking combo guard. Someone get Larry Brown a gun.

By the way, this isn't one bit unexpected.

[nosaints26]

I wonder what kind of contribution Penny will make, if any

[Alex Confer]

None. He's just an expiring contract.

[Jami]

Penny just balanced the contracts for the trade. Tony Meijia on Sportsline.com makes a good point - the Knicks were either going to get Francis or Kenyon Martin, and it's better to take the malcontent over the malcontent with bad knees.

The only way - I repeat, the only way - this makes sense is if Stephon Marbury gets traded (Lakers for Odom?). You absolutely cannot have Francis and Marbury on the same team. Francis is a clone of Marbury, but he has a worse jumper and rebounds a bit better. He'll bring nothing to the table for the Knicks with Marbury still there.

[detroitbasketball]

Hardaway's gonna get released.

[ChisAto]

So they got him in a trade just to release him?

[Jami]

Yes, because in the NBA the contracts need to match up. You can't just trade Steve Francis for Trevor Ariza straight up...the Knicks needed Penny's contract to even out the trade as far as salary goes. Since it's the last year of his contract, they'll probably buy out his contract and let him go somewhere else as a free agent, but I can't see anyone giving the guy a chance since he hasn't actually played in like 3 years.

[King James]

They're now saying that the Knicks acquired Steve Francis to plot for a KG deal.

[Just Blaze]

I have to get thiss off my chest....

I want to say the Knicks is a POORLY ran organization. They acquire big contracts meaning they're way over the cap limit. If they trade, no one wants large contracts unless the player's contract is expiring. I'll give Isiah a lot of credit for coming in there and turning the franchise around by grabbing guys like Marbury thus making the playoffs but now he's running the team into the ground. They have no clue which direction they're going.

First it was the Q-Rich, Kurt Thomas Deal. Then the Curry trade. Then Jalen Rose. Now Francis? Why not get draft picks and build your team for the future- I mean having Ariza, Lee, Robinson, and Frye as building blocks is not a bad group at all.

I for one am gonna say that the Francis trade WILL work. It has too. Marbury + Francis= COMPLETE HAVOC! This team needs to realize what they are doing.

[Alex Confer]

Thanks for the input, Captain Obvious.

[Bibby10]

Oh man. The Wizards are playing the Knicks right now. It's just so funny how little defense the team plays. Gilbert Arenas has 33 at the half. It's like a free-for-all on offensive for the Wiz.

But more importantly for the Knicks, and unfortunately, they don't even look like basketball players. They look like a bunch of stragalers. My high school bball team has a better offense than the Knicks, who think it's cool to have all five guys on the same side of the court on offense at the same time.

[McGahee]

Honestly, I'd be alright with this trade if New York also had a SF that played great defense and could shoot and two good defensive and offensive big men. This way, to make up for their bad defense, you'd have two guys who could beat their guy off the dribble and kick it out to one of their other guys if the shot isn't there. But New York isn't set up that way, and I'm not sure if Marbury and Francis would be willing to shoot less...