Most trades involving a proven superstar for a prospect and cap relief are one sided.  Today's New York/Orlando trade is no different, just not on the side you would expect.

It is not all Steve Francis' fault that his tenure in Orlando was disappointing.  The year before he arrived, the Magic were the worst team in the NBA.  To get "Franchise," Orlando sent their two best healthy players, including one of the top five players in the league, to Houston.  So, he came into a situation that was bad and technically getting worse.

That being said, Francis is one of the most overrated players in the NBA.  He's too short to play shooting guard full time, and makes no effort to run any offense that does not involve him taking the shot.  While I know my opinion is biased by my infatuation with "pass first" (also known as traditional) point guards like John Stockton, Steve Nash, T.J. Ford and Chris Paul, history has shown that "hybrid" point guards like Allen Iverson, Stephon Marbury and Gilbert Arenas have little success on a team level.  Coupled with the extravagant salaries the players in the latter category demand, I have a lot of trouble understanding why any team would have interest in turning their franchise over to such a player...particularly a franchise run by Isiah Thomas.

Thomas, you see, was a very successful point guard, on personal and team level.  By any standard, though, he was a traditional point guard that distributed to his teammates, and looked for his own offense only when the situation dictated.  Today, he acquired his third shoot-first point guard in two years as team president of the New York Knicks.  The first, is the most egregious of floor general ballhogs in the league, Stephon Marbury.  His second was a taller version of Marbury in Jamal Crawford.  Francis is a more athletic Marbury.  So in the position that most requires passing acumen, the Knicks now have three basketball vacuums.

For Orlando, pulling the trigger on the deal that sent Francis to New York for small forward Trevor Ariza and the expiring contract of "Penny" Hardaway was a no-brainer.  Francis refused to pass the ball to Dwight Howard, the team's franchise player of the future, and ate up a large portion of their salary cap.  The team, which is in full rebuilding mode, has now torn down the flawed team build of the past and now sits on a firm foundation.  In a deal last week, they acquired a more traditional point guard in Carlos Arroyo and twenty year old seven footer who was once drafted second overall in Darko Milicic.  Only one bad contract, Grant Hill, remains on the books and his deal is complete after next season.  That means the Magic will be under the cap this off season and should have tons of room to make a splash in the much stronger free agent class of 2007.

After this deal, the depth charts for the two teams looks something like:

New York

Not a true point guard on the roster.  Even the 5'9" Nate Robinson is a short shooting guard.  That give the team lots of flexibility in the back court since any one of their players, including Jalen Rose at the three, can bring the ball up the floor.  Since none of them really have any interest in passing, though, it is a stretch to say any of them can initiate the offense.

Orlando

With Howard, Milicic, Nelson, Ariza, and (to a lesser extent) Deshawn Stevenson to build around, the Magic have a high potential young nucleus to build around.  Their first round pick for this year is promised to Detroit, but they could reclaim that if they are among the worst five teams in the league.  If Hill remains injured, they should not win a whole lot of games for the rest of the season, meaning they could get one of the top picks in this draft.  Then in the off season they can play the free agent market and in 2007 they can look to sign a proven superstar to couple with Dwight Howard with all the cap room available.