Tug of war
Is it just me, or does the latest New York Knicks trade have an "if we throw enough crap at the wall, some of it will stick" feel to it?
Steve Francis arrives in the Big Apple, apparently to join Stephon Marbury in a backcourt that might just stage a tug of war for the basketball at times. Both Marbury and Francis like to dominate the ball, and neither works particularly well without it. The question is whether they can fit together offensively.
At the other end of the floor, one will be a defensive liability given his respective lack of size. Which player will cover the opponent's big guard? It's tough to imagine either Marbury or Francis, both listed at a shade taller than 6 feet, defending players like Kobe Bryant or Tracy McGrady, but one of them will have to.
The tough thing to figure here is whether Larry Brown gave his blessing to the deal. One would believe that Brown would have some say in personnel matters, given his salary and status in the NBA.
But Brown always has preferred pass-first point guards on offense and long, versatile, tough wing players on defense. Brown's success in Philadelphia came by surrounding Allen Iverson with players like Eric Snow, Aaron McKie and George Lynch. In Detroit, Brown won an NBA title with one of the best defensive units in basketball.
Does Brown really want to play Marbury and Francis together on a team that is already atrocious defensively? It goes against everything he's ever believed as a coach.
Has he changed that philosophy all of a sudden? If not, and if Isiah Thomas made the trade without consulting Brown, then how will this arrangement ever work between the two of them?
In short, this is a difficult trade to figure if you're a Knicks fan. They've added yet another overpaid, offensive-minded guard – in case you forgot, they still have Jamal Crawford, Quentin Richardson and Jalen Rose on the roster – and further complicated their salary cap figures for the next several years.
Amazingly, New York's payroll will exceed $130 million next season. All for a last-place team.
For Orlando, this was a no-brainer. The Magic rid themselves of a point guard who was not performing well, who wasn't happy in Orlando and who had three years left on an enormous contract.
Orlando clears cap space, gets a talented young wing defender in Trevor Ariza and gives itself the chance to start over by building the team around Dwight Howard.
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