Orlando Magic Blog

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Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Pistons close to deal that would end Darko experiment

posted by OVERWADED @ 4:27 AM  

41 Comments:

  • At 9:52 AM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Ok so we would get two uninjured players for cato,and three uninjured players for steve,WOW,we actually would be getting the better in both deals,giving joe back an injured player like he did to us (grant) and getting a true shooting guard in crawford,who could start or back-up deshawn,all i know is,i'm tired of watching this current team,there needs to be a shake-up,if they dont make a trade,then i'll know otis & dave arent the answer either,if a trade is made,i'll praise otis for being the second coming of jesus christ,PLEASE MAKE A TRADE,arroyo & darko or crawford & hardaway or both,who cares just do it,new players would give the team new energy,cato hasnt helped and i'm tired of watching steve,so the knicks and pistons would actually be getting our baggage,i see both trades as wins for the magic at this point!

     

  • At 10:09 AM, Blogger Matt said…

    My take is a bit different. I think with the season lost there is no need to throw Francis's value away for nothing. Past the trade deadline Francis could be a productive element (provided Hill does not mess up again), working towards increasing his value for his own sake, not to mention the team's. Francis for Crawford is crazy (since there is no comparison) and Francis for Darko and Arroyo is giving a super-star away while inheriting a 9 million dollar project for a suspect center. Cato's situation should not be an issue since it's coming off the books anyway. When the Denver's situation came up, there was the mention of a swap for Andre Miller. That trade makes sense, but I don't see Miller's name mentioned nowadays.

    I still say stay put.

     

  • At 10:17 AM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    I see that it's gonna be one or the other,so i guess the best question we should start debating is which trade is better for the magic,the knicks or the pistons,if we do the deal with the pistons we still have steve,if we do the deal with the knicks,steve and cato go,but we get no big-man (david lee is only 6ft7,even though he plays the power forward),i say the piston deal,b/c you would get a #2 overall draft pick in darko,to put beside dwight,just for that reason alone i'd jump on it,#1 & #2 picks learning together,we'd have a hell of a front line then,and battie could go back to the bench and take pat's spot as the number one sub big man off the bench!

     

  • At 10:18 AM, Blogger Matt said…

    The best way of changing the team's makeup is to get Brian Hill out of the mix. But since that is not going to happen we should be thinking of Jameer's return, now that Grant is back, may change the scenery. Diener did not play last night even while MIA was using Wade, Payton and Williams in the backcourt. Garrity was given plenty of minutes and missed at least 4 open 3-pointers ... the fifth was not that open.

     

  • At 10:29 AM, Blogger Matt said…

    Big Figure, you are missing the point when you mention getting 2 uninjured players for an injured player or 3 uninjured players for Steve. Don't forget that Cato would be off the book next year. Even DET is expected to waive him after the trade if it happens. As far as 3 players for Steve, none of them are even close to Steve's status, and the 3 of them together doesn't make it right.

     

  • At 10:36 AM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    yeah matt,by the time jameer returns we could be 10 games out,we're 12 games behind our division leader,and like 7 games out of the playoff race,it's a gm's job to start making us better b/c his collection of talent aint getting it done,and sorry matt,but when we figured out that jameer and dwight were our future no longer do we have to maximize steve's worth,if we get almost nothing for him,we're still not hurt because he wasnt the direction we were going in (or the player we get in return for that matter),our direction is the future,and we got it in one draft,so now what must be done is put a collection of vets (and youth throught the draft) that compliment jameer and dwight,what should be aquired for steve is a player that fits a specific need & draft picks,not one who just brings back equal value and will wind up playing out of position b/c of coach hill's bs strategies,getting equal value for steve isnt important anymore b/c he or what he brings back arent going to be what we build around!

     

  • At 10:45 AM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    By staying put through the trade deadline can almost guarantee the magic finishing at the bottom of the league,that means alot more losing,and tough games for us to watch,if they stay put,its gonna get ugly!

     

  • At 10:47 AM, Blogger OVERWADED said…

    This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

     

  • At 10:48 AM, Blogger Matt said…

    It's only logical to play best with the cards that we are dealt. Rushing to change just for the sake of change doesn't make sense. I am looking at the deals on the table, specifically, and I say they don't make any logical sense. Now if deals come along that are worked wisely for maximizing the situation on our end, by all means, let's go for it. I still don't think Otis Smith has the weight or the experience to make a reasonable deal.

     

  • At 10:56 AM, Blogger OVERWADED said…

    I honestly think the longer Francis stays the lower his value will drop. Right now we have a few desperate teams hoping to add that "one guy" to make a difference. Once the summer comes, who knows what his value could be? It could next to nothing. They need to deal Francis now, and start building this team around Dwight and Nelson right now like bigfigure is saying. The future of this team couldn't be much more obvious, obvious that it is in Dwight, and that Francis will not have apart in it because he has yet to prove he can coexist with anyone, especially if they are better than him.

     

  • At 11:12 AM, Blogger OVERWADED said…

    What can I say, I want Darko, period. He's only 20, and he's been rotten' at the end of the bench in Detroit. I totally want to take on any "risk", bring him in, for Cato and a conditional #1 round pick. If that means Arroyo comes in, sure, what the hell… I'm very intrigued by the idea of running Darko side by side with Howard. Darko might not work out, but if it does, it might be great. Well worth the risk, trade for Darko.

    Oh, by the way, even with Cato out of the equation, Francis should be as good as gone. Thomas in NY is a total moron and thinks running Francis next to Marbury would be the next Thomas/Dumars. NY or Denver should end up with Francis, regardless if Cato is still around.

    I don't see how you can think about keeping Francis around? This guy should have already been traded. As of now, you got to be wondering "what is he going to do next"? You can’t take a risk with the future of this team and let a time bomb stay on. The longer Francis stays, the longer this team stays still, and possible regresses. For our new front office to show they have any clue of what is best for the team, they need to get the growing virus that has become Steve Francis out. You don’t want him influencing anyone else.

    By the way, Crawford isn’t that bad. The last 3 years he’s put up 17/5, 17/4, and 14/4. He’ll be turning 26 this year, so he hasn’t reached his prime yet. At least we’d be getting someone productive in return, plus a few others.

     

  • At 11:13 AM, Blogger Matt said…

    I agree with Introver316's prediction that Francis's value may drop, and yet I don't see that as a basis to give him away for nothing, since the next question would be how far is it going to drop. Francis played well last year, and I think if he is dealt with wisely he could still be productive and work towards increasing his own value. The team doesn't seem to consider him a bad influence, and that has something to do that they are not content with BHill. The trade could have been urgent if we were working towards making to the play-offs. Since that is not the case, I for one, would not rush for any trade that comes my way. Once again, these trades on the table don't make sense to me. I, however, agree that taking a chance on Darko without Arroyo in the mix could be an intriguing project

     

  • At 12:03 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Matt no one ever said give him away for nothing,but the way he has treated this franchise by holding us hostage with his game,means in no way would i try to help his cause by landing him in a good situation,we did it once with tracy,and now all the players from that trade are gonna be gone and tracy's still in houston,so me,i would give steve to whoever wants him and would be most happy if it was a losing team,b/c thats what steve deserves for acting like a baby,and i would look up and down their roster for someone that can come in and give instant quality depth without the headaches,matt that type of player weighs so much less than the weight of steve's negativity on the team,and shit we were almost winning without steve anyway even though he was on the court!

     

  • At 12:13 PM, Blogger Matt said…

    We are losing our focus on the main problems with the Magic. We are so engulfed by Francis's melodramatic situation that we have vilified the guy beyond comprehension and think that with his departure all magic's woes would go away and the future would be as bright as it could be. Allow me to refresh our memories:

    1 - Francis is the same guy whose buddy was traded for no apparent reasons and he got over it.
    2 - Francis that we say cannot co-exist with anybody, played well with Grant last year, and as a whole played real well in that disappointing lost year.
    3 - The reason that we are here with Francis is because the coach's lack of communication skills. Hill owns and started this problem when he stupidly ordered Francis to go in for mop up time.

    If we think that future would be glorious with Francis gone, we should check our heads. The main problem is a coach, that no matter how nice or decent, does not know how to deal with his players even setting aside his short resume of achievements. This is a coach that, I honestly believe, has caused the loss of Shaq and may cause the loss of Dwight by not knowing how to play the guy. Dwight seems like a frustrated player who is missing from point blank range, and his free throw percentage is dropping. Let's not forget that the coach wanted to bring in his own assistants, thus dismissed Clifford Ray with whom Dwight had established a bond. Granted the coach has brought some discipline to the defensive end, but again his lack of communication translates to defensive inconsistency. His offensive sets are non-existent. Night after night, our team is re-inventing the wheel on the court. His rotations are peculiar at best, and he is so pigheaded about changing it that is mind boggling.

    Francis's stay in Orlando, by comparison, could not be any worse than this clueless coach's stay. We should stop vilifying the guy who does not appear to be a smart businessman, like many of NBA players are not. Players like Jordan come along may be once in a century. Let's get off Francis's back and focus on where the real and long lasting problems are. Let's work towards getting the NICE GUY out of town.

     

  • At 12:15 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    And also,espn's skip bayless just gave his opinion on cold pizza,and when asked was darko a bust he said quote "no way,darko was drafted into the worst situation possible,he's 20 years old with plenty of upside for some team,pair him with dwight howard in orlando and they'ed be great for each other,two twin towers" and he ended his statement like that,skip is a very intelligent analyst who has picked the eventuall nba champ before the season starts,for the last couple of years,so i think that means he knows good basketball when he see's it,and while skip was giving his opinion,espn was showing clips of darko actually getting a chance to play for the pistons,and guess what,the boy can shoot it,i had no idea he was left handed or could shoot the 16 to 20 footer with accuracy,boy the ball wasnt even touching the rim,every shot i saw hit nothing but net,from different positions on the floor,when i saw that it confimed it for me,thats the perfect compliment for dwight, someone who's seven feet unlike battie,and that can shoot it like battie! Please lord make them do it!

     

  • At 12:29 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Matt i'm with you on that,you know i've pointed out so many times where coach hill is lacking,i consider myself an expert in on the court action,but you dont have to be a rocket scientist to see that mentally steve is bad for this team,which doesnt mean that coach hill is good but it does mean that steve needs to go,see the one thing to remember when i post,is that i want everything fixed,if i gave you a list of the things that i think are wrong with the magic it might take all day,but you have to weigh the things that get addressed,and with the statement steve released,he made himself a bed he has to lay in,there's no forgiving him,he made himself priority number one for the magic to get rid of,coach hill has never come out in the media saying "i coach when i want too",steve did,nothing you can say can save steve now!

     

  • At 12:30 PM, Blogger Matt said…

    As I said, Drako's straight swap with Cato would be an intriguing project. Heck, I can go along with Arroyo in the mix, although I prefer a conditional pick, instead.

    One more note about Steve's situation ... Players when put in the right environment flourish. Look at Rasheed when placed in DET or T-Mac picking rust in TOR, but when placed in Orlando. Steve has been put in a bad situation to which he responded stupidly. The rest of events are a chain reaction by the two ends that didn't deal with the situation wisely. There is a fine line between pushing and back stepping. Wise managers know when to push and when to step back.

     

  • At 12:35 PM, Blogger OVERWADED said…

    Brian Hill may be a problem, but Steve Francis is also a problem. The difference is, Steve doesn't have to be a problem, and has made himself one. And the fact of the matter is, Brian Hill has had to deal with a ton of injuries, and the mind games of Francis, so B Hill will be around a little longer. The only problem that can be solved now, is Francis.

    On your points...
    1. I didn't like the Mobley trade, because I've always hated Dougie. He's the ultimate douchebag. Still, I understood it, because at times it was like nobody else was on the floor. Every play was Francis shooting it, unless all else failed, which then he'd find Mobley so he could chuck it. The whole losing a "friend-buddy" factor was totally stupid. He was acting like a little bitch then. We played Boston the night that trade happened and Francis was practically in tears. I understand that friends are important, but THIS IS NBA BASKETBALL.

    2. Anyone can coexist with G Hill. He's just that kind of team player. In reality, G Hill never was the type of player that enjoyed having all the stardom dumped on him, it just happened that way because of how talented he was. But there isn't a single player in the world G Hill couldn't play with because he just wants to play basketball, and he doesn't have a problem "not being the man".

    3. That was a dick move from B Hill to try and put Francis in the game when it was "clean up time". Still though, Francis disinterest started before that, at the end of December, when Nelson started to come on, and steal some of the light from Francis. To be specific, I believe it was a Saturday night game, we were playing the Wolves, and Nelson was on in the 4th, Francis told B Hill to leave Nelson out there because he was hot, after that game, Francis's stats continued to drop, as Nelson's kept rising.

     

  • At 12:43 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Your bailing steve out matt,and thats what you precisely didnt want me to do with coach hill,i can tell your trying to lay more blame on the coach,but remember this,the coach nevers steps foot on that floor,only the players do,so what that means is,a good collection of talent doesnt need GREAT leadership to be successful,a mediocre collection of talent IS gonna need great coaching,see we can live with some of coach hill's shortcomings b/c we have a good collection of talent that could get even better with darko,but we cant live with someone who takes nights off,we need every player we have to want to be here,and more importantly give us his all point blank,even if coach hill isnt perfect,which you know i think he's not!

     

  • At 12:58 PM, Blogger OVERWADED said…

    I don't think there is a single one of us that don't agree Brian Hill has issues. He's really stubborn with his rotations no matter what results they seem to produce. And although our defense has been better this year, our offense is the worst in the league. We have many offensive talents, and have the potential of being a great offensive team, but on the offensive end, our team is lost. They do nothing consistent. I've heard B Hill say that we want to play inside-out. But continues to admit we play outside-in. Why is it so hard to drop the ball down to Howard on a consistent basis? B Hill continues to say that is what he wants to do, then why isn't it ever done? Something has to be done with this teams offensive sets, because they are awful and the team looks totally lost. Pretty much everytime down, they pass the ball around, until the shot clock gets close, and someone ends up having to go 1 on 1, and it normally results in a jumper. The other problem we have is rotation. B Hill has certain guys he likes, and that's it. Pat Garrity for example, why is he playing so much? I understand putting him out there in the 2nd and 3rd for a little. Hell, I understand if he is on, giving him some 4th quarter minutes. But Pat has been receiving playing time in the 4th quarters on a regular basis, WHY? Why no Kasun, although I'm not crazy about him? Why isn't Diener getting any minutes? I guess it's B Hill's 4th quarter rotation that bothers me more than anything else. But I'm used to it, it's bothered me since back in the day when it was Brian Shaw that was playing big minutes and getting booed by the home fans because he shouldn't have been on the floor.

     

  • At 1:23 PM, Blogger Ken said…

    Though I agree with matt, that we shouldn't make trades just for the sake of making trades to feel like we are doing something, I also feel that, by doing nothing, we are hurting the players that show up everyday ready to play and contribute how or whenever asked. Whew, was that a run-on sentence or what?

    There will always be teams around who are willing to take a chance on Francis. So, i don't think his trade value is gonna go up or down a whole heck of a lot either way. Like Intro316 said about the "buddy" thing with him and Mobley, that was lame and just a childish excuse to pout. Its not like Francis was a nieve rookie, he knows damn well how the NBA works and any player can be traded at any time for any reason. To me, anyway, it looks like StevieFranchise just looks for ways to be offended.

    Francis dosn't want to be traded to Orlando, he threatens not to come and pouts about it. His buddy gets traded to Sac, he gets pissed, pouts about it and goes into a slump, Jameer emerges as starting PG, Stevo is offended, result, slump. Stevieboy is asked to return into a game where the team is already short handed and after Turkglu fouls out and he gets pissed and refuses, more childish antics, trade talkes surface, oh no, Stevieboy again is offended and worried so guess what? he's not gonna play hard now because he realizes the Magic organization dosn't revolve around him.

    Suppose we keep him the rest of the season, whats next? He dosn't like the color of the uniforms?, BSHill pisses him off again?, Fans don't show him the love he thinks he deserves? It could be anything, Stevo's mood changes as the wind blows.

     

  • At 1:33 PM, Blogger Matt said…

    Please don't get me wrong. I am not condoning Francis's actions. Typically, for reasons stated before, I am more forgiving on players. Francis should be traded, as it stands, but I think Francis could be managed in the short term until the right trade comes along ... it may be this time around or later on. I sincerely believe his trade values could get improved.

    I am adamant on my charge that Hill caused the loss of Shaq and he may cause the loss of Dwight. His mistakes do have more of a long-lasting effect that I can vividly envision. Therefore, I see Hill's presence more of a threat to the Magic's future than Francis's theatrics, as bad as that seems to be. Also when coach's mistakes causes losses, and in turn hurt the team's psyche, it is hurting the future of this franchise's remaining in Orlando, and for that only if nothing else, I cannot give him a free pass to ruin the future of my home town.

     

  • At 1:34 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Guys the bottom line is,we're all right in some way shape or form,intro's point about rotation's (garrity) is exactly right,and boy is it right,and matt your point about us not forgeting that bs hill is a problem is correct also,and my point about steve turning on and off his game,has turned out to be correct also,so what do we do,(1)like it or not coach hill cant and wont be fired,we've gone thru to many coaches in a short while,to just keep turning over coaches,and he's under contract and we dont want to eat salary unless it's in the last year,so the only thing to do from this point,is as a gm you have to put players around the coach who will fit his style,which means as a gm not resigning pat garrity,or any other expiring contract except deshawn & battie,that way we'd have 8 guys on the roster that we want,and if you add darko and arroyo,thats 10 with five open roster spots,for rookies and low cost free agents,i mean there's no rule that says you have to fill all your roster spots,leaving one or two open could help the salary cap!

     

  • At 1:42 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Oops i forgot trav (he's part of the eight and one who should be resigned also),if the spanish guy isnt ready,then you can keep mario also which would bring the total to 11 good players!

     

  • At 2:06 PM, Blogger Matt said…

    I agree that we are all right on some aspects of our views although we take different angles at looking at the issues on hand. I don't worry much about Hill's contract for 3 years (one year almost passed). They are probably paying him in the low-to-mid million and they are gonna eat up about 3 million. Think of all the long term damages if Orlando loses the franchise or the team loses Dwight. If the team keeps losing, we might loose the franchise. Dwight may leave out of frustration of being on a losing team or when his talents are misused.

     

  • At 2:11 PM, Blogger OVERWADED said…

    Taking a look at the roster I think we're on the same page. It looks like we'll pretty much have at least 8 players from this current roster give or take a few of the older guys like Bo or Augmon.

    Battie, Diener, Dooling, Hill, Howard, Nelson, Stevenson, and Turk should pretty much be here... That's 8 players that should remain. It's a nice foundation, and the chemistry will only continue to get better.

    The questions unanswered are with Augmon, Garrity, Kasun, Morris, Outlaw, Cato, and Francis. Francis and Cato are pretty much gone no matter what, who we get in return is the obvious question. Morris is gone. I wouldn't mind Garrity being here deep on the bench, but he needs to go so B Hill doesn't play him like he's our 6th man. Kasun is a question mark because we just haven't been able to see what he is capable of. Augmon and Bo aren't bad to have deep on the bench or inactive list for security purposes. Of course most of them will have to go, especially with drafts picks, or if we grab any free agents.

     

  • At 3:51 PM, Blogger Matt said…

    There are two players that have to be signed now ... Battie and Stevenson. Battie should get an offer of just above 5 million and Stevenson needs a qualifying offer of 3 million. Diener and Kasun have to be resigned. Kasun is making $641,748 and Diener is making $398,762 but I think we would need in the ball park of 1.5 million to sign them both. As a big man in the free agency market Kasun may command a good salary. If he accepts one million, he would be a steal. Garrity makes $3,320,000 and unless accepts to sign for around one million, is not worth signing. Outlaw and Augmon make $1,138,500 each and they are worth signing for that salary.

     

  • At 3:54 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Thats the exact reason pat shouldnt be resigned,coach hill cant use him if he isnt here, and intro just for sake of conversation,dont you think that at this point bo & augmon are just too old to give good roster spots too,i mean we already have 8 core guys,why not use the draft to replace oldies with goodies,neither bo or stacy have any offensive game left,so we wouldnt be losing anything,and you could draft two good young players to sit the bench and learn in practice from the vets,or do you think we should waste more time and money on guys like bo,stacy & morris?

     

  • At 4:03 PM, Blogger Matt said…

    Thank you for the kind words, Tragic Fan.

     

  • At 4:07 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Matt's 1:33 post doesnt factor in injuries,matt you cant just get rid of a guy b/c in your own opinion he's not getting it done(even though i agree,our coaching could be better)b/c if you asked coach hill,maybe he would say,let me see you do better with all the injuries,and i'm hear to tell you,no true center with cato injured,stevie headcase,grant's injuries,jameer's injuries,keyon missing alot of time,so many things that i or coach hill could point too,i mean its like me giving you a slow car and telling you to win the race,it just aint gonna happen,had coach hill been given a team with a good collection of talent,plus a healthy collection of talent,then we could crucify him with logic,but right now we cant,perfect example:this management has kept pat around way to long,plus all the other fuck up's,sure i agree that coach isnt perfect,but he deserve's the benefit of the doubt,by MANAGEMENT putting players around him that will go to war for him,not take nights off!

     

  • At 4:18 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    I mean we have grant hill,the nba's version of the 60 million dollar man,so even at our best we still gave him an injury plagued team b/c of grant,can you imagine being hired to coach a team,when the best player was injured,is injured,and will remain injured,right now when coach should just be getting his rotation's down,he's still rotating the injury reports,i dont see how you can say he's worse for the team,when he hasnt even coached this team yet,just parts of it,different collections of the guys we all want to be used,management can step in and give coach some players,that are healthy and have good history of remaining healthy for long periods,b/c there are some guys who get injured alot,and some that dont,thats just the nba!

     

  • At 4:35 PM, Blogger Matt said…

    Am I gonna start it all over again? In my view, Hill should have never been hired in the first place ... the right choice was either Skiles or Musselman. He has nothing on his resume to show as a good coach except when he had Shaq and Penny with excellent 3-point shooters in Nick and Dennis and an excellent shooting PF in Horace. By golly, my grandma could have taken that team to the finals not to mention the embarrassment of being swept while having the home-court advantage. This year only, injuries or not, I can point to 6 games that were lost for his moronic rotations. His lack of communication skills is apparent. He is not a players' coach, so at some point of time players lose respect for him.

    Once again, I am adamant on my charge that he caused the loss of Shaq ... remember "Coach Hill is our coach" fiasco... and if we stay with this no good coach, he may do it again with Dwight. As a matter of fact Dwight is slumping the way he is using him, and that has nothing to do with injuries. If we stay with this coach for 2 more years, we might as well pack Orlando Magic for thier trip out of Orlando.

     

  • At 5:12 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Matt,i want you to see my vision,and at the same time i think your missing my point,we only have a few days left to get rid of the cancer,like you said before about maximizing steve's worth by making a good deal (like darko and arroyo,thats two for one),so we need to focus on that now,get a good collection of players together,with no baggage,get jameer back,and see where we're at,then if we're still losing,coach hill's out!

     

  • At 5:18 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    The question is then,does anyone want the magic to make a deal by the trade deadline,whatever it maybe,yes or no?

     

  • At 5:21 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    Matt is your answer,no, but fire the coach?

     

  • At 5:23 PM, Blogger Big Figure said…

    My answer is,yes,get steve out of town as soon as possible,then fire the coach!

     

  • At 6:05 PM, Blogger OVERWADED said…

    The fact of the matter is, mistake of not we rehired B Hill. So we knew what we were getting. So for the front office to keep any kind of credibility, they have to keep B Hill for now. They have no legit reasons to fire him as of now. Later, sure they can upgrade, but if they fired him now, is would just be a "what the hell" move and say that they have no clue at all what they are doing. So, for now, Hill stays, and you do what you can, which is get Francis the hell out of here, and make any other trades you can to better the team.(aka, bring in Darko and Arroyo)

    Off to the game, I hope it's a good one...

     

  • At 7:13 PM, Blogger Matt said…

    To summarize my points, I think Steve could be managed in the short term waiting for the right trade to come along. If it presents itself before the trade deadline, so be it. It's illogical to say get Francis out of here no matter what since I don't see Francis as a cancer in a season already lost. A direct swap of Darko and Cato makes sense, but Arroyo's baggage sounds too much. To have some idea on what Arroyo's 4 million salary compares to other salaries in the NBA, Lindsey Hunter makes around 1.3 million. Last I heard, though, Darko's trade has no connection to Francis's trade. So that could be done independent of Francis's situation.

     

  • At 9:24 PM, Blogger Matt said…

    Here we go again. Joe Dumars pulled a fast one on Wise Otis. We took a high-priced PG that we don't need with the glut of PGs that we have in addition to giving DET a protected first round pick. It's not for this year's draft and it is protected for 5th or higher pick in 2007 and not protected at all in 2008. Don't forget three points: 1) We dumped a player that would have been off of our books by next year without us raising a finger; 2) Arroyo is not worth 4 million and not easy to move … thus we are stuck with him for the next 2 years; 3) If Magic picks in the top 5 in 2007, their first round pick in 2008 regardless of the spot goes to DET. What a moron?

     

  • At 10:17 PM, Blogger Matt said…

    All the reports collaborate that if 2007 pick is 5th or higher thus going to Orlando, DET receives 2008 pick regardless of the spot. When asked about it in the press conference Otis was not clear and insinuated that DET gets nothing in 2008. Would be interesting to know what the truth is.

     

  • At 12:43 AM, Blogger OVERWADED said…

    I'm thrilled... Darko is coming to town. Arroyo is coming, which means Francis is as good as gone. This is the first move in the right direction. The Magic were smart about protecting this years pick. And honestly, I don't care if we gave up a conditional first round pick. There is just as much if not more of a risk that the pick wouldn't work out in comparison to Arroyo and Darko. I'm glad it's done. That made my night, after a joke of a game on all sides, Magic, Heat, and refs...

     

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