The thoughts of various individuals in this picture:

Steve Francis: So, uh, baby, listen, how old are you? Say again? Oh. Um ... (looking to his left and right ) ... OK ... your mom around anywhere?

Girl In Red Jacket: Oh my gosh, it's Patrick Ewing!

Tall Guy In Boston College Hat: Dude, Sully's gonna love this story during Golden Tee tonight.

Security Guard: God, I hate when the Knicks are in town.

Sunday, April 9th Vs. The Knicks [Going To The Celtics Game]

(UPDATE: More proof that we don't watch enough crap TV: Apparently the lady in green was on "American Idol." Amazing what you learn doing this job.)

Stephon: Coach Brown. What a dick, eh?.
Steve: Oh, yeah. Ha-ha. Coach Brown. Thought you we re talking about
Stephon: Can you believe this guy? Calling Starbury out in the media like that.
Steve: Yeah ...
Stephon: Fuck he really gets under Starbury s skin.
Steve: Oh, well I ve got a great body wash you could borrow if you think it d
Stephon: FUCK!!!
Steve: Um, okay ... I m going to just stop talking now ...

Much, much entertainment. And for more Starbury-Franchise hilarity, enjoy the PhotoShop stylings of YAYSports!

We hope this Knicks season never ends.

Two Knicks, Just Chillin' [The Basketball Jones]
Steve Francis Is Getting Ready To Cause Turmoil [YAY Sports]

Right now Larry's thinking: "Poking a grizzly bear with a stick. Yeah, that oughta do it. But just to be sure, I'll rub myself in bacon fat."

Isiah, Knicks Acquire Stevie Franchise [MSNBC]

A Penny For Your NBA Thoughts [Deadspin]

True Hoop:

I actually didn't think the Knicks could get any worse. I guess I was wrong. This trade makes zero sense. — Damir.

I thought you had said that you were on the phone with *THE* Knick fan. At first I wondered if there was a blogger with that name. Then I thought it was more likely that after this deal, there might only be ONE Knick fan left. — Jason Grigsby.

Thanks be to the almighty for making Isiah! Say Hallelujah! The Magic win this trade by subtraction and emerge from capspace hell in one stroke. Thank you, thank you, thank you Isiah. — WeRDevos

KnickerBlogger:

This trade has to be a setup for another trade. Possibly for a Garnett. If not I don t know — NYC4EVA

In one of my fantasy bball leagues three guys immediately changed their team names to ex-knickfan, ex-knickfan #2, and %&@! the knicks. i can t remember any trade in recent memory that has had such an immediate and obvious adverse effect on its team s fan base. the incompetence at work here is shocking. and of course it all starts with james blank check dolan, who s letting the wheels come off the wagon . and actually seems to be encouraging it. — Paycheck

Father Knickerbocker:

While most of New York is skeptical, after all wouldn t you be when a team is 15-38? One former Knick coach isn t based on this comment to the STAR LEDGER: I think they ve turned the corner. They ve accumulated a tremendous amount of talent. Ever since he s (Isiah s) come here, the talent level has gone through the roof. That s all I know. Now, whether or not that s going to work one day, is going to be up to whoever coaches the team. I think it s a gift for the Knicks, basically. - Pat Riley

Believing in Magic:

The trade for the Magic was about one thing only freeing up cap space for the future. Getting rid of Francis salary and then being able to dump Hardaway s gives the Magic plenty of room to sign free agents and their young players in the future. Not only that, but Grant Hill s contract will be up next year and that will help free up more money.

I'll say this for Isiah: He has corrected the Knicks long-standing philosophy of stockpiling undersized power forwards. His new vision of stockpoling selfish point guards should be much more effective in crippling the Knicks for years and years to come.

Stephon Marbury and Steve Francis. There aren't many GMs in the league who would have one of them on their team. And Isiah's gotten both of them. That is mind-blowing. NBA.com is reporting that the Knicks are sending Penny Hardaway and Trevor Ariza to the Magic in exchange. In Penny's first stint with the Magic, he had Shaq. This time, he has Darko. I doubt he'll notice a difference.

So the Magic get a bunch of cap room and a young player with some upside in exchange for someone they just wanted to get the hell away from their team. I see no negatives here for the Magic. When you have a stud like Darko and an average complimentary player like Dwight Howard, you need decent young players and cap room to build around them.

And the Knicks get another player who wants to dominate the ball and has a history of not being such a great teammate. But the good news is that he has three full years left on his absurdly expensive contract. Isiah wasn't even able to get rid of Anucha Brown-Sanders in the deal.

A little tip for those of you who enjoy Death Pools: A Larry Brown suicide does not look at all unlikely at this point.

Magic Acquire Ariza, Hardaway for Francis [NBA.com]

"When we used to go in the Rockets' locker room, a lot of Steve Francis stuff had the nickname "homo" written on it. Things like shoes, his locker, etc. I m guessing it was done as a joke, but we figured the team lovingly called Francis "homo."

We had to go back and check and, as it turns out, Danny Fortson has never played for the Rockets.

Earlier: Francis/Mobley The New Manning/Chesney? [Deadspin]

(By the way, Free Darko says enough with the Mobley-Francis rumors already, noting, not without merit, "seriously, do you think they agree to do this story if their reunions involve rimjobs and buttplugs?" Oh, fine, point taken, you're almost certainly right ... but come on, guys, you're no fun!)

Well, fortunately, YAYSports! took care of it for us, and, uh, yeah, pretty creepy. The best part is when they wave away groupies so they can sit in the back of the bar and "talk for hours." The story starts out innocently enough, but by the end, well ... we'll just let you read it. But these guys really need to be back on the same team again. It's just wrong for them not to be.

Steve Francis And Cat Mobley Have A Happy Friendship [YAYSports!]