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Sources: Francis dealt to Knicks for Penny, ArizaBy Chris Sheridan
ESPN Insider


Steve Francis is headed to New York under a deal agreed to Wednesday by the Knicks and the Orlando Magic, ESPN.com has learned.

The teams agreed to a trade of Francis for Penny Hardaway and Trevor Ariza, two league sources with knowledge of the deal told ESPN.com.

The trade was expected to be announced later Wednesday afternoon after being called in to the league office.

In New York, Francis will be paired with Stephon Marbury as the highest-paid backcourt duo in the NBA.

The Knicks were still talking with several other clubs as team president Isiah Thomas worked at remaking a roster that has stumbled to the league's second-worst record, 15-37.

For the Magic, the trade will provide salary cap relief to a franchise that can now go further beneath the cap than any of the league's 30 teams in the summer of 2007 when a bumper crop of free agents will be on the market, giving Orlando several options in figuring out how to rebuild around 20-year-old power forward Dwight Howard.

Talk about adding more salary to your already capped out team.  At least Francis is a true point guard, so Marbury can be moved to the two-guard position.  Now if these guys could just jell and Curry could learn to play some defense..... watch out.


PG  Francis   Robinson

SG- Marbury   Crawford

SF  Richardson    Lee    Woods

PF  Taylor    Rose

C  Curry   Frye

COOL.  I can use my authentic Penny Hardaway Orlando Magic $200 jersey that I won off of Sprite 10 years ago again.

Well aint that a good bit of luck.  Watch out jtex.... the Heat-Knicks rivalry could very well get hot again as soon as next season. 

Every GM who has a disgruntled All-Star reserve with a horrible contract has Isaiah's office, home and cell number memorized.

Surprised K-Mart isn't a Knick yet. He has the trifecta:

1) Horrible contract
2) Bad attitude
3) Injury problems

     No surprises here.  I think we all saw this trade coming.  My only question is what Brian Hill is going to do with Penny Hardaway?  Isn't Penny one of the guys that originally ran Brian Hill out of town?

Penny is injured and may not even be ready to play for the rest of the year. Of course, even when he did play he was worse than you or I.

Magic assistant GM (and former Houston Rockets guard) Otis Smith said "We will have a conversation with Penny, but he will never put on an Orlando Magic uniform." 

This was a salary cap move by the Magic. Francis was tied up for about three more years I beilieve. Penny, who will not be suiting up anyway, comes off the books after this season. It was a way to free salary in order to make moves next year. On a side note, around town word is Orlando is looking for a taker on Grant Hill also.

$49 Million over the next 3 years is what Francis is owed. So naturally, Isaiah takes on another crippling contract.

This team needs to make flawless moves for the next 3 years to even reach .500, that's how screwed they are.

The idea of Francis/Marbury together is like watching two trains collide.

This is purely a cap move, & yet another sign that the Knicks are the laughing stock of the NBA. The Knicks starting lineup now consists of all shooters with no D. What are they going to do? Put 4 guards on the floor & be the Villanova of the NBA? Larry Brown must be pulling out what little hair he has left. Zeke screws up again. Still almost half the schedule left to play - I will enjoy watching this trainwreck unfold.

It's like Isaiah wasn't even paying attention when he won championships with the Pistons.

If Isaiah is fired after the season and a figurehead GM is brought in who just caters to Brown, the franchise can be turned around, but it will still take years to go to .500 and then a few more years to contend. That's why the team is so screwed, because Brown won't stay on for 6 years. He is 72 with medical problems, how many 25 win season can he take?

I apologize for my arrogance, how many 20 win seasons can he take?

Believe it or not, you have a bunch of younger, more athletic players on this roster.  A coach like Brown can get Marbury, Curry, and Francis to play some defense.  I agree with your opinion.  Thomas will be out the door at the end of the season, and Brown will take over personnel decisions. 

Penny was released by the Magic as expected!!!!!

Now that I've had some time to think about this, I think they're getting their pieces in place to make a run at Kevin Garnett or Jermaine O'Neal next summer.  We'll see what happens.  As long as they don't give up Frye, Lee, or Robinson, I'm ok. 

Knick fans you can come up with whatever crazy formula you want to try to improve the team, but you're hopeless. This roster is filled with to many guys who do the same thing "shoot". You have players who you could give away for free. Other than frye you have no young promising players. How is isiah still employed?

The celtics will rule the division for years to come, unlike the knicks we have promising youung players, draft picks, and cap room, and a superstar in paul pierce.

I love wacthing that money hungry savage larry brown suffer. He had a great thing going with the pistons, then he decided he ego was bigger than the team. Brown will retire by midseason next year. Bank on it.

Remember that stellar career record that Larry Brown had of improving his team from the previous year/coach ? Kiss that goodbye.

Unless the NBA decides to realign the divisions, New Jersey will dominate that division for the next few years. Unless you think that speedbump in the middle, Olowokandi, is suddenly going to magically become Shaq in the offseason.

Personally...I thought Boston seriously screwed the pooch when they dealt away Marcus Banks. I guess that's offset a little by Boston sending the most overrated baller of the last decade (Spectator #8, Antoine Walker) to Miami.

New jersey scared me a few years ago when they had k-mart, j kidd, and jefferson. New jersey is a team that will always be in playoff contention, but as far as winning a championship no way.


Olwakandi will not be a member of the celtics next year due to his his expiring contract :) Hey knicks fans here's a 7' foot stiff that will be a free agent im sure he's worth about 45 million.lol

Kendrick perkins and al jefferson will be the celtics starting frontcourt for years to come.



Marcus banks is highly inconsistent, if the NBA had a 40 yrd dash he'd probably win hands down. I miss his defense, but delonte west will prove to be a much more consistent point guard than banks. Delonte is a heady player and a better shotter than banks.


Now if Doc rivers can find some more minutes for gerald green id be happier. I havent even mentioned ryan gomes, what a find in the second round. Undersized power forward who has a high basketball IQ and can bang the boards.

How would this trade go down?

"Hey McHale, you want Marbury and Francis at a combined $35 Million for the next 3 years while you give me Garnett?".

These players are untradeable to anyone but Isaiah Thomas.