this is the kind of deal gms get fired over.

source

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.

Wow, New York got the better end of this trade by a long shot.

i like it....

Hardaway has been hurt a majority of the time, and Ariza has been on Brown's shit list a majority of the season.

Alot of the press here thinks that Franciss wont be able to coexist with Marbury...

Maybe we didnt get that much better, but we didnt really give up anything to make us any worse (if that is even possible)

just heard this off the AP wire as well.

wow. maybe the most "ME" backcourt ever with Stevie and Marbury.

Which gm are you suggesting would get fired over this?

I suspect you mean Orlando's but personally I'd much rather have the salary cap room than Steve Francis although its an open question I suppose on what free agents they can lure to Orlando.

I'm just happy that the rumored Lamar Odom for Steve Francis deal didn't happen.

Zeke has lost his mind.

yeah, bout year and a half ago....

best bet would have been to just play out the year, and lose Hardaways salary when the season ends....

now we have a guy, who most think wont be a good fit for the Knicks despite his talent, and our payroll just went up again for a few more years....

Zeke needs to go.

Bill Simmons is going to have a field day with this trade.

The Knicks will still suck, Magic will be excellent in a year. Good trade for the Magic. Dwight Howard is a beast. The Knicks are too cluttered with the same player and lack even more depth at SF now.

both of them, actually. either the knicks for taking on a guy with a big salary and some personality problems, or the magic for getting barely anything in return for a decent player.

Truth. Every trade that clown makes is laughable.

mark clark speaks the truth. Dwight is SICK.

any word on the Bulls moving Ben Gordon?

Maybe I'm not getting something about this deal...

Is everyone so down on this deal just because of possible chemistry issues?

Knicks traded an expiring contract (of which they never would have been able to reap the benefits 'cause they're payrolled-out to the max) and a decent SF with promise (buried on the depth chart and with impending non-Bird FA coming up due to the fact that he was a 2nd rounder)...

For a legitimate all-star in Stevie Franchise. Sure, he hasn't been the happiest camper as of late, and there aren't enough official balls in the league to go around the Knicks roster now, but look at the talent this guy has... He's been slumping a bit amid trade rumors / little support in O'Town, but Larry Brown's gotta like this guy more than Marbury. I mean, he's only 28 years old, plays decent D, has a jumpshot and, contrary to popular belief, he can dish the rock as well.

Plus, this opens up an even-greater possibility of the Knickerbockers trading No-Shot Crawford (full of promise at 25) away, hopefully with a dead contract like Jerome James', for an youngish uptempo front court player or a board-banging PF/C hybrid to play/rotate with Frye and Baby Shaq. I mean, could anyone in the league keep up with a Marbury-Francis-Richardson-Frye running team? I mean, when one guard gets tired, they just bring Nate off the bench...

Sacrificing 2 players that were to be lost (without any return) this offseason for a 28-year old all-star is not a bad trade, no matter what the contract situation is...

not happening

Spoken like a true Knick fan. I could see that coming from Isiah himself... regarding each trade he's made. What use is Eddy Curry then? They have no cap space forever, they have no draft picks, they keep making dumbass trades to insure this is going to last even longer. If you like this trade or what this team is doing, I'm sorry but you're clueless.

Are you saying there's no market for Crawford?

I love this... I hope we end up getting Morrison or Gay thanks to Zeke clinching the 2nd or 3rd worst record overall. Then, we need to lose Chucky, and get a real coach.

At least they're not getting Black Francis.
I don't think that would be a very fair Deal.

bump.
knicks down 30

remember when Quentin Richardson didn't suck?