Thursday, February 23, 2006

RETRO: Zeke the Zore loser

No...

really...

what the hell is Isiah Thomas doing now? He's no longer a person but a running joke, a human episode of Mr. Bean, where we know exactly what dumb moves he'll do and can still laugh when he pulls them off. Unless he plans to make more trades, putting Franchise and Starbury together is a really, really, really bad idea. There couldn't be a worse backcourt pairing. Maybe he thinks it will be the next coming of himself and Joe Dumars. It won't. I have a feeling he's not done, but even if he traded for Francis to get rid of Marbury, isn't that a push? Why make the deal then and give up on Ariza and the cap relief for Penny? He's increasing the payroll and killing their cap while actually making the team MORE dysfunctional! Unless he plans to bring in Lamar Odom (with the Lakers holding out earlier because the Magic didn't want him) for one of these guys, he's creating the worst chemistry combination in a long time, and having one of the most demanding coaches on it. Unbelievable…..

Speaking of this, the Magic honchos don't get any rewards either. Francis was the main cog of the Tracy McGrady deal, along with his old sidekick Cuttino Mobely, whom they stupidly dealt last year. Now he's gone for cap relief and a guy who might be good, but hasn't shown anything sustained yet. So, in essence, they traded away a guy who was clearly one of the best 5 to 10 players (when healthy) in the league for…. almost nothing. If they hadn't drafted Dwight Howard, they would be where the Knicks are now (only at much less cost). But I guess they have a shot to come out of it okay, if they use that money to bring in a big-name outside threat to complement DH, and yes, they do have promising young guys at every spot. Still, they might have gotten more draft picks out of these deals, instead of giving them up (for Darko last week).

At least they won't be challenging the Sixers for a playoff spot anymore. It's Chicago for the last seed and that's it.

No comments: