Oh Sweet Lord... Y'Know, Wait Just a Second...

It is unlikely that Francis will return next season. The Knicks reneged on a buyout agreement with Francis after Jamal Crawford suffered a season-ending ankle injury. A Cavs source said that the team was made aware of Francis' pending buyout and had internal discussions about acquiring him. New York Daily News

Initially I thought, "Oh great, the Cavs are gonna shell out for some overpaid bum." But then I thought about it. This might not be so bad. If the Knicks buy out Franchise's contract, he'll still bring home something in the region of 30 million over the next 2 seasons from New York. Which means he'll be inclined to accept a bargain basement vet's minimum to play with Bronny. What's more, I think it's safe to assume getting bought out and released by one of the sorrier teams in the league might be the motivation Francis needs to recapture that old fire. He's not that old, and when he wants to he has exhibited that he can still play.
I also think Francis would be motivated to sign a one year deal for the vet's minimum to raise his dollar to sign another fat contract with some poor sucker next year. If Stevie recaptures some of that spark, make no mistake, there'll be a line of chumps waiting to pay him like he's Sam Cassell. Problem is he's no Sam Cassell. But I'd have been happy to take him for the playoffs this year, and certainly for the whole campaign next year. Bottom line is Francis is a steal for under 2 million.
Hughes has been solid running the point for the Cavs, but we need a point guard. A real point guard. That may not be Francis, but for just over a million a year, that's a gamble I'm ready to take. He's never lit it up in the playoffs, in fact I'm not 100% sure he's ever even been to the playoffs, but he's still Steve Francis, one of the best opportunity creators in the league, one of the best rebounding guards, and one of the biggest egos. And that's actually something the Cavs could use a little of. We need some Franchise swagger.

Monday Business

Artest's teammates weren't the only ones he told of the news. Friday, he told the editors of www.hiphopgame.com, a Web site for which Artest writes a personal diary. Artest was unavailable for comment before the Kings defeated the Phoenix Suns 107-100 Sunday at Arco Arena, and he did not speak after the game, either. Sacramento Bee

Artest told HipHopGame, "I'm retiring from the Kings, to spend time on my blings, done questing for rings, all the ladies sing. Ronnie's heading to Europe, sippin' on syrup, with my feet in the stirrups..." Get it? It's a rap...

The NBA warned Gilbert Arenas on Sunday not to repeat his actions of Tuesday night, when he said he made $10 bets with a group of fans during a game against the Portland Trail Blazers. "We spoke to Gilbert and explained the issue to him," NBA spokesman John Acunto said. "And he assured us he wouldn't do anything like this again." Washington Post

Arenas added, "But I was drafted 2nd round, and I spent the first 40 games of my career riding the bench... Don't I get some sort of special consideration? I'm so under appreciated. I'm going to carry a chip on my shoulder over this, and now every time I play against David Stern and Stu Jackson, I'm gonna guarantee 50 points to make up for this shaming..."

Knicks boss Isiah Thomas has long coveted O'Neal, who has been remarkably loyal to Thomas to this day as the two remain close friends. The Knicks are sliding and will need a boost—O'Neal prefers to play outside now—to complement Eddy Curry. I may be the only one, but I still think Steve Francis has something. Plus, Francis can opt out after next season anyway if things don't work. To match salaries, I'd take Francis, Channing Frye and Hoosier Jared Jeffries, who hasn't worked out that well in New York, to give the Pacers a core to begin working with.

I can see why New York would want JO'Neal, but I can't fathom why the hell Indiana would want Franchise. Unless they've grown so accustomed to malcontents, that having just Tinsley in their locker room is making things too serene.

The Portland Tribune reported that Randolph, while away from the team last week on bereavement leave for the death of his girlfriend's cousin (sounds like quite the family man), hit a strip club while he was home in Indiana and left without paying the bill. The Trail Blazers said he just stopped by.

Yeah, he just stopped by... to get a lap dance instead of playing basketball with his team. Like Artest, some dudes just never learn...

Who's Afraid of the IRA? And Other Friday Foolishness

If Ira Newble truly wants to find a team that would offer more playing time, he holds a player option on his contract for the 2007-08 season. But agent Steve Kauffman isn't going to let him walk away from a $3.4 million contract since he'd be a minimum-salary player on the open market. Despite his recent upsurge, Newble probably isn't going to get a lot of minutes since he plays the same position as James. Willoughby News-Herald

If the Notorious IRA wants to get paid more than 3.4 million dollars for his services, he better learn to rap. 'Cause he sure as shit isn't gonna get paid that much to play basketball.

Steve Francis told several NBA players of the buyout talks and that he was hoping to sign with Houston, where he lives during the offseason.
New York Daily News

Yeah, and Superman wants to re-sign with the planet Krypton, but that shit's been blown up for years...

Reserve center Scot Pollard told the team he regretted looking into a TV camera during a recent game and saying, ``Hey kids, do drugs.'' Pollard was sitting on the bench in street clothes when he made the remark during a 20-second timeout in Sunday's game against the Indiana Pacers. ``It was a bad joke,'' Pollard said in Thursday editions of the Plain Dealer. ``That's all it boils down to. There are a number of things people could say about it, but it just turned out it was a bad joke. Obviously, I don't believe that.'' Akron Beacon Journal

Obviously.

The Nets' Antoine Wright isn't backtracking about slams he put on his college "education" at Texas A&M. But he says he aimed his controversial comments at all colleges, not just A&M. "I don't regret what I said, but I regret doing the interview," said Wright, who on HBO's "Costas Now" said his high school courses were tougher than those at A&M, where athletes were "in poultry science for a reason . . . to get this grade [not] learn about chickens." New York Post

Wow, he really ripped the lid off that scandal. I think there were still 5 0r 6 people out there who didn't know athletes get a free ride at schools with competitive athletic programs.

The ratings for Marbury's premiere TV talk show with Kobe Bryant, "Stars on Stars" received a .1 rating (75,000 homes). While that would seem modest, a FoxSportsNet spokesman said the total is 15 percent higher than the programs shown in that Friday time slot the past three months. Marbury's second show is today at 4:30 p.m. Knicks superfan/filmmaker Spike Lee will be Marbury's guest. The show will be replayed Sunday at 2 p.m. and Monday at 3:30 p.m. New York Post

Only way I'm watching this show is if Marbury has Francis on as his guest and the two of them rate the top ten most overpaid players of all time.