i might be behind here... but wasnt he in the Randolph trade.... so she he be at Portland? what happend?

$6 million over 2 yrs nothing by NBA standards. However you are right he is a rich man. This is because of the 'buy-out' on his previous contract - $31 Million - not a bad pay day!!!:

The 30-year-old Francis was recently bought out of the remaining two years, $34 million of his previous contract by the Portland Trail Blazers. He received nearly $31 million in the deal.

Yeah sorry - I meant coz of the buyout - I thought he would do a C-Web and sign for the $1 Mil Veteran Minimum - still managed to get a bit more coin out of the deal

Francis-McGrady 1-2 is a pretty lethal combo

It would be if it was Francis from 4 years ago.

The 2007 version was a whinging, ball hogging, shot jacking hack.

I don't think Francis is a patch on the player he used to be - wouldn;t be surprised if he is injured lots

Francis - Houston WTF!! They didnt learn the first time?

wait? what happend?

what do Portland get?

123abc, if a player gets his contract bought out then the team buying him out gets nothing.

Reckon he should be a good fit back in houston

Depends on his attitude. If he pulls his head in, they will be fine. He still has mad skills if he wants to play.

Now he can get back to what he was good at in his last stint with Houston, not passing the ball to Yao.

Franchise was an overrated player when he was at his peak. Now he isn't worth the vet min.

The Rockets already got Mike James to provide some extra scoring in the backcourt, Franchise isn't better than James, who isn't all that good anyway.

So Portland send out Randolf for nothing???

123abc, they sent Channing Frye to Portland with Francis chucked in.
There was always talk that Portland would buy out Francis' contract.

Francis comes out a major winner here, he gets moved from the Knicks and Isiah, he gets his contract bought out therefore making a quick 30-34 million right there, and now he resigns with a team he wants to play for, and makes another 4 mill or so.
Wow, the power of having a sook.

portlant got rid of randolph so he wouldnt ruin the atmosphere of a growing young team...he wouldnt get in the way of odens developement either..probably shouldve got something better, but how many teams would be willing to take on randolph? answer: isiah, anyone whose anyone can play for me, thomas

hopefully stevie returns to his very best form...whats the lineup going to look like for the rockets? where will he fit in? starter? behind 1, 2? will he even play?

The Rockets are looking extremely solid, but the concern is still the power forward position. Scola or Chuck Hayes becomes their starter. One's a rookie and the other just shouldn't be starting.

In some ways, and hindsight being a beautiful thing the trade for Mike James now looks bad. I would of preferred Howard in this squad over James. The day someone invents a crystal ball they make a lot of money.


PG: Alston/James/Brooks/Lucas III
SG: Francis/Wells/Head
SF: McGrady/Battier
PF: Scola/Hayes/Novak/Reed
C: Yao/Butler/Mutumbo

This squad is really interchangeable. Francis plays 1 and 2, McGrady plays 2 and 3, Battier plays 3 and 4, Butler plays 4 and 5. Given the roster Francis is almost going to have to play the 2.

Does this squad put Houston on par with the Mavs, Suns and Spurs???? The now have a real solid deep bench.

Maybe they got Franchise for his lockerroom presence?

Every lockerroom needs more jerk to sully the air and make the team more cancerous ;>

what do you think JR Rider is doing these days?

JR should nearly be released for prison... I'll refrain from what I'd normally call someone like this.

From wikipedia:

In January 2006, he was arrested in Marin City, California for taking a female friend in his car against her will. He was charged with domestic violence and ordered to stay out of Marin City. Despite this court order, he was spotted in the area a few weeks later. A Marin County sheriff's deputy confronted him, and while fleeing, Rider hit another car. He was arrested in Alameda County in late 2006, and transferred to the Marin County jail after three judges in that county issued bench warrants against him. In February 2007, Rider pleaded guilty to several charges, including felony cocaine possession and evading an officer. He was sentenced to seven months in jail, 120 hours community service and three years' probation.

ohhh...to true tr - now howard wouldve been great where james is not really needed now...i reckon chuck hayes could hold his own at the starting PF spot however...especially with yao at centre...par with spurs? no..with dallas? maybe...i hope so, i want some sort of power balance in this league

nice move.. now that makes 3 point gaurds who wont want to give the ball to yao

OMG you really think that Steve will be playing point guard.... I don't think so, he will be playing shooting guard and tracy will move back up to small forward. That's the best way to do it so then we have mike james PG.

and where does Shane Battier, your only team player go? if they put him at pf theyll have a hard time on the boards

Battier becomes a 6th man of the year candidate...

Battier comes in and plays the SF of the bench, T-MAC slots into the 2 and the remain guard plays the 1. Simple.

Looks like Newley will be a Sixer then.........

Ugh...Francis has nothing to do with Newley. He wasn't going to be on their roster this year regardless.

um...are you guys idiots or are you serious? Stevr Francis playing shooting guard, he is way to short to be running around with the other shooting guards in the league. Depending on who plays better in training camp, James or Alston will start at PG, Tracy will start at SG with Bonzi coming on off the bench, Battier at 3 with Bonzi backing up their too, and also Novak, Scola starts at PF with backup of Hayes and Harris, and then of course Yao at center with back up of Butler and maybe Mutombo