Franchise On The Move

Steve Francis, aka Stevie Franchise, is on the move to New York. He becomes a New York Knick, and in return, the Orlando Magic receive promising forward Trevor Ariza, along with Anfernee Hardaway's corpse and expiring contract.

This is a good move for Orlando. They're a team that's going nowhere, so they will be better served by dumping Stevie's bad attitude and high salary. Ariza should be a serviceable player, and Hardaway will help them get under the cap.

As for the Knicks, all I can say is wow. For the second time in the past couple of months, Isaiah has traded an expiring contract (on a team way over the cap for the next two years) to assume another long-term salary obligation. Let's recap his most high-profile moves over the past year:

1. Traded a hard-working, serviceable big man (Kurt Thomas) for a 3-point shooter who is back is uninsurable and a shoot-first Point Guard (Nate Robinson) who is 2 inches shorter than I am.

2. Traded their first round picks for the next 2 years for a young big man who has yet to fulfill his promise (Eddy Curry) - and has a heart condition that makes him uninsurable.

3. Traded an aging big man with an expiring contract (Antonio Davis) for an aging swingman with a few years remaining on his contract (Jalen Rose).

4. Traded an aging, largely inactive guard (Hardaway) and one of the few young players on the team (Ariza) for a shoot-first, me-first guard (Francis) with 4 years remaining on his contract (at $13 mil per year). Note that the Knicks already have 4 other shoot-first guard (Crawford, Robinson, Richardson, and Marbury) in their rotation.

How Isaiah Thomas still has a job is beyond me. I wonder how long it will take for the public to start pleading with the league to step in. The team is already screwed for the next 2-3 years, and with the way that Isaiah is running things, it's going to keep getting worse.