It's been almost a decade since the Vancouver Grizzlies picked an unhappy Steve Francis No. 2 overall. The Franchise earned himself a quick trade to Houston, where he eventually served as a centerpiece in the trade to get Tracy McGrady. He's played in Orlando and New York, earned a paycheck in Portland, and done little to nothing as a cheap back-up to the back-ups in his second Houston go-round.And now, lo! the Grizzlies have acquired Francis in a trade with Houston that has nothing to do with basketball.
Houston had two goals in exiling Francis: get under the luxury tax level and open up a roster spot. Missions accomplished. But with that open spot, the Rockets may hire Dikembe Mutombo which would put the team right at tax level. There's also no guarantee Mutombo will choose Houston over Boston and San Antonio, which means the Rockets could be using the spot on a D-League call-up or someone else's cast-off.
The Grizzlies had an incentive: the team gets its 2009 pick (sent south in the Darrell Arthur trade) back. After this and the Javaris Crittenton trade, Memphis now has its full complement of draft picks. It may seem like a shrug and a whatever, but it does help logistically to have a normal set of assets and not a bizarre list of conditional picks and whatnot.
Oh, and forget what I said about Francis getting into a Grizzlies jersey. Something tells me Stevie Franchise will remain injured to rest of this year.
