Steve Francis bought out.

[Donatello]

http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/ ... t_francis/


Finally. I was 99.9% sure right from the start that they'd buy him out.

Most of the buzz involves him reuniting with Mobley on the Clippers, but honestly, I couldn't care less.

I'm just glad he's off the roster.

[Andrew]

Portland seems to have made all the right moves so far in so much as shedding themselves of players with questionable attitudes while maintaining a decent talent pool. Darius Miles' days are probably numbered.

With Cassell aging and battling injuries, Livingston's future career up in the air and Mobley already in town, it wouldn't surprise me to see him land with the Clippers.

[Indy]

It will be the Clippers or Miami.

If he follows his little head, he'll go to LA. If he follows his big head he'll go to Miami.

[-Young Buck-]

I wonder if Milwaukee could get him to sign with them, if mo is likely to sign with the heat.

[Donatello]

If Francis would refuse to play in Canada, I see now way in effing hell he'd play in Wisconsin.

[-Young Buck-]

Maybe he has matured...maybe not.

[Silas]

True, he's a different player than he was then, and that's not just because he's worse on the court. He seems much less vocal about how he complains. Instead of making demands or shots at teammates, he just sort of tunes out and doesn't perform well on the court.

[McDwyane]

how fast are the days..in the early days of his career,he was spectacular.but when he was traded to new york,he just got a little shaky

[Dramacydal]

I don't understand why Portland made that trade...I mean basically they gave away Randolph for Frye. Did I miss anything important or what cause in my eyes that's not a very good deal...

[McDwyane]

I don't understand why Portland made that trade...I mean basically they gave away Randolph for Frye. Did I miss anything important or what cause in my eyes that's not a very good deal...

yeah i agree zach for frye?

[jonthefon]

Maybe killing cap space. Or something.

[Donatello]

A little something that hardly any team in the NBA (or any person in the world, for that mattter) seems to care about anymore:


Character.

[maes]

I don't understand why Portland made that trade...I mean basically they gave away Randolph for Frye. Did I miss anything important or what cause in my eyes that's not a very good deal...

Channing Frye + expiring contract, saving Portland $60 million (minus whatever the buyout cost).

$60M isn't pennies here.

[Silas]

They're getting rid of their poor image, and they're doing it quite well. It'll be interesting to see what they do with Darius Miles. Most people say contract buyout or just plain cutting him, but we'll see.

[Donatello]

Huge rumor of Miles to NY for Malik Rose. I hope it happens.

[Axel]

A little something that hardly any team in the NBA (or any person in the world, for that mattter) seems to care about anymore:


Character.

They still gave him away.

Character or no character, he was worth far more than Steve Francis and Channing Frye.

[Donatello]

This team really doesn't want to sub in another established star player into the lineup. They want to let the young guys mature and gel. Inserting another star-quality player would only hamper the development of SOMEONE, and I don't believe they want to do that.

[cyanide]

They still gave him away.

Character or no character, he was worth far more than Steve Francis and Channing Frye.

I agree with Donatello. Character and attitude plays a huge role in how well a team succeeds. Portland is cleaning up their image from the ol' Jailblazers, and is doing a great job so far. By unloading Randolph and starting fresh with a new, young team as well as having salary space for the future, it's the right move in my eyes. And yes, playing time for Aldridge and Oden, with Frye backing them up, could produce one scary frontcourt for the years to come.

[Sauru]

i wish real life was like the nba. here is 30 mil, you are fired.

[Axel]

They still gave him away.

Character or no character, he was worth far more than Steve Francis and Channing Frye.

I agree with Donatello. Character and attitude plays a huge role in how well a team succeeds. Portland is cleaning up their image from the ol' Jailblazers, and is doing a great job so far. By unloading Randolph and starting fresh with a new, young team as well as having salary space for the future, it's the right move in my eyes. And yes, playing time for Aldridge and Oden, with Frye backing them up, could produce one scary frontcourt for the years to come.

I disagree again.

So they're cleaning up. I can understand that. But you don't have to give talent away. Frye isn't that great, and Steve Francis isn't even on the team now.

The Blazers made many good moves, but this was not one of them. True you wont get equal talent back for a bad character, but this isn't even close.

[---]

^

I think you may be forgetting Zach Randolphs contract. He's got plenty of years left on that contract and will be getting over 17 million a year by the 10/11 season. I know Paul Allen has plenty of cash, but that doesn't change anything when theres a salary cap.

They cleared playing time for Channing Frye, LaMarcus Aldridge and Greg Oden, which is the most promising frontcourt in the NBA right now. With Zach, they got a guy that puts up 20/10, but management is trying to change this teams image and Zach may be a bad influence on the young guys, despite his talent. He's no a good defender and has had injury troubles, not to mention he is a bit of a "black hole".

With Zach gone and Steve Francis bought out, this team's pay roll (even assuming they keep everyone on the team) is sitting at an extremely low $37,194,890. That would be good for the second lowest payroll in the league this season. Having talent like Frye, Oden, Roy, Jack, Webster, Aldridge, Rodriguez, etc. is great, but they have reached a whole new level combining talent like that with huge amounts of cap space.

They're gonna have the most promising team in the league and still have a chance to sign a big time superstar.

[Dro]

^


They're gonna have the most promising team in the league and still have a chance to sign a big time superstar.

Good points all around, but aren't Oden, Roy and Aldridge going to be demanding max or near max extensions in 3 years? I don't know how realistic it is that they can sign a big name in next year's deep FA market while still retaining their young core. I don't think they need a big name, assuming Oden pans out and Roy and Aldridge stay healthy. The key to a championship for them will be whether or not their young role players will pan out.

But the Randolph trade allows them to extend those players, and that's why it's a good move. Oden, Roy and Aldridge will all be up for extensions in the 2010 offseason, and by that time a 29 year old Randolph making 17 mil will have even less trade value than he does now.

[Axel]

They cleared playing time for Channing Frye, LaMarcus Aldridge and Greg Oden, which is the most promising frontcourt in the NBA right now. With Zach, they got a guy that puts up 20/10, but management is trying to change this teams image and Zach may be a bad influence on the young guys, despite his talent. He's no a good defender and has had injury troubles, not to mention he is a bit of a "black hole".

Which goes back to why I always said they should have drafted Durant. They could have had Aldridge, Randolph, and Durant in the front court along with Rodriguez, Webster (SF or SG?), Jack, and Roy in the backcourt.

That roster would have been championship ready in just a couple of years.
Character is important, but at what cost? The cost of having perhaps the most feared front court in years??? Even if you're dead set on getting rid of him, equal value is a must (contract i know... discuss that later on). Heck, the Pacers managed to get Peja for Artest. That is far better than what the Blazers got for Zebo who is a far less detriment. It's not as though having him on the team means he's going to infect the younger players. Rasheed helped the Pistons to a championship... Rodman helped the Bulls. etc. Plus I have the utmost confidence in Nate McMillian keeping things in check.

In terms of payroll.... They still have Magloire, Przybilla, LaFrentz, and Miles. They could have bought them out instead, or found a way to trade them rather than ditching Randolph.

I guess this puts me in the minority, but I don't like the route they went. It's still a very promising team, but I think could have had a team with a potential all-star at every position had they drafted Durant and kept Zebo.

[---]

Good points all around, but aren't Oden, Roy and Aldridge going to be demanding max or near max extensions in 3 years? I don't know how realistic it is that they can sign a big name in next year's deep FA market while still retaining their young core. I don't think they need a big name, assuming Oden pans out and Roy and Aldridge stay healthy. The key to a championship for them will be whether or not their young role players will pan out.

The thing is, they have that hug amount of capspace at the end of the 2008/09 season. They could sign a big name free agent too fill any holes they want, and they could basically pick from any single free agent with all that cap space.

LaMarcus Aldridge's deal goes for another 4 seasons, Roy's for 4, Oden's for 5, Jacks for 3, Rodriguez for 4, Webster for 3 and Fryes for 3. That's plenty of time before they have to resign anyone, especially when there will be big contracts lik Darius Miles', Joel Pryzbillas' and Raef LaFrentz's in the meantine, so they should be able to resign alot of these guys.

I actually just remembered. Steve's contract at $17 mil will be gone by the end of 08/09, which gives them that figure of $37,194,890 I mentioned before as their payroll. The thing I forgot was you can take another (close to) $13 mil off due to LaFrentz becoming a free agent. That's a payroll of $24,472,290. That's an incredibly low payroll, over $10 mil lower than the Bobcats current payroll, the lowest in the league (inc. Jason Richardson).

That offseason, none of their key young guys will be needing to be resigned. The offseason after, Martell Webster, Jarrett Jack and Channing Frye become free agents. They can easily resign all of these guys with that cap room, not to mention a further $9 million would be freed up with Darius Miles becoming a free agent. Joel Pryzbilla also has a player option which, if he did opt out, would free up another $7 mil.

That's a hell of alot of flexibility. As you said, they don't really need a superstar, but they could actually sign anyone if they wanted to.

Resigning players shouldn't be a problem for them when they have an owner like Paul Allen and an incredibly, incredibly low payroll.

I actually had no idea their finincial situation was this good before I researched to give my opinion. Amazing.

[Air Zoom Kobe I]

steve francis next year=baron davis this year

IF he plays point guard on a team that needs help like a Seattle, Boston, Toronto, or some team that needs help or is lacking, he will shine. I would love to see him back in the western conference. I believe he can be an allstar if he's on the right team. I doubt if he stays in free agency. Maybe some rumors could swirl with him returning to Houston, who knows. But Jeff Van Gundy and Johnny Hill messed him up, locked his game and abilities up in a straightjacket. Rudy Tomjanovich said in an interview after he got traded to NY that it would be best for him to play point guard, not shooting guard on a team so he could be Steve Francis, one of the most explosive players in the league WHEN HE'S HEALTHY. And don't forget, Rudy tomjanovich was the coach that gave hime the reigns to the Houston offense his first 4 years in the league.


But anyway, portland does have a nice core they could build around. I hope they trade Darius Miles or he shuts up and plays well for once in his career. Oden will be a 20/10 player barring injuries, and Brandon Roy is going to be an allstar if not this year, then next year. If Darius Miles can shut his mouth and put up 15/8, Roy, Oden, and Aldridge shine, and the role players like Sergio Rodriguez step up, then they should make the playoffs if not this year, then somewhere down the line they will.