Stevie Franchise traded to New York.

I don't know about the rest of "y'all," but I am quite psyched to see Steve Francis on the Knicks. I have a feeling that watching Knicks games could soon be among the best experiences of anyone's life. While I don't want to go into detail on this, the sheer enormity of the situation is causing my fingers to do unnatural things, and I might be inclined to type for the entire night on this. Also, my favorite episode of ATHF is on, so I'm inspired.

For one thing, Isiah Thomas, arguably the worst general manager ever to exist in any sport, has somehow managed to one-up himself in sheer ludicrosity. Isiah, who obviously plays a lot of fantasy basketball in a league that only counts points, has now managed to find five scorers who aren't really too keen on passing. I can't help but wonder if he has some sort of hidden grudge against Larry Brown that we don't know about.

I hope we get to see the Rose-Marbury-Francis-Curry-Crawford lineup at some point. It could be the most amazing thing in the world. I actually think Francis is further along as a point guard than Marbury, if that's even possible.

Isiah may have actually forgotten who was on his roster when making this deal; clearly there's no room at the inn for Jamal Crawford, who is behind Francis and Marbury now as a scoring option and doesn't really bring anything to the table as a passer. He'll have to go, though his energy and relative professionalism will be missed. Quentin Richardson for Kurt Thomas was so obviously stupid (for both teams), but that's in the past... and then there's the question of Jalen Rose, who is now getting all sorts of minutes... a bad idea for any team. By the way, somehow Larry Brown has managed to find time to play Qyntel Woods, which demonstrates the fact that Larry may somehow be picking the players on the court out of a hat. Hey, if you can get pit bulls to fight, you can play in the NBA. Did I mention that all of these guys play the same position?

But that's the Knicks for you; in many ways, their short-sighted nature is refreshing for an NBA consisting of teams who clearly have no defined path for becoming good. Quickly, I'll list those teams, along with a quick description of their flaws...

Atlanta: I haven't given up on Marvin Williams yet, and signing Joe Johnson was smart. Unfortunately, I can't say that either Josh Smith or Josh Childress are where it's at. Their constant indecision about Al Harrington is frightening, and I actually feel really sorry for the guy. He deserves somewhat better than being mentioned in every other trade; he's not that bad.

Boston: At some point, they'll have to decide whether they want to build around Paul Pierce or not. Delonte West might turn into a half-decent point guard, and Al Jefferson might turn into a half-decent power forward. And if the Celtics don't figure out what they want to do in the middle (or what they want to do with Pierce), they'll continue to suck. Gimmicks like trading for Wally Szczerbiak aren't going to make a bad team good.

Charlotte: At this point, I think they would have been better off drafting Ben Gordon. When Gerald Wallace is leading your team in scoring, you need to re-evaluate your building plan. I have little doubt that Felton will be good eventually, but that isn't enough for me. Get scoring next year, or lose your fans. Maybe two teams will fail out of Charlotte, that would be amazing.

Chicago: The fact that all of Chicago's young talent seems to be stagnant in their basketball development has to be disconcerting. Like so many other teams, the Bulls are indecisive about their core (except for Hinrich, Deng, and Gordon). Jermaine O'Neal is such an obvious fit, but whatever. Hey, you know who would be an amazing fit for the Bulls? Elton Brand... oh, wait.

Washington: Give the Wizards credit for tricking the Mavs out of Antawn Jamison, as well as the Lakers out of Caron Butler. That was first-rate. Also, give them credit for: not keeping Kwame, and building around Gilbert Arenas. I'm lumping the Wiz in here because they just don't seem to have any desire to stockpile a bench that's worth a crap.

Portland: What I don't understand is Portland's desire to stockpile point guards who may never be great; mainly because Telfair isn't as solid as Jack at this point, but Steve Blake is starting. At least Ruben Patterson and Darius Miles are still around; I was worried that Zach Randolph might kill them in cold blood (ok, I'm kidding here, but not as much as you may think.) By the way, the Blazers don't have any stars or a core; they're like the Bobcats.

Minnesota: You know the drill: they're screwing over Kevin Garnett. Maybe they'll have better luck with somebody who can't do it all for their team.

Houston: T-Mac is having personal issues, and everyone's taking it out on Yao. But the real problem here is the fact that Houston's guards aren't good enough to keep them in it. They've got to look at some free agents this summer; hopefully not making it to the playoffs will drill it into their skulls that T-Mac isn't their point guard (and that Rafer Alston isn't either.)

Toronto: Attention, Toronto. Chris Bosh is now a star. You will cave into his demands when he asks for a new contract. You will build your team around him, and you will re-sign Mike James if he wants you too. You succeeded at getting rid of Jalen Rose. Now you can go and find a new scoring guard, and you will win. Don't screw this up.

Seattle: Once teams figured out that Seattle can't play on the inside and that all they had to do was try to stop Allen and Lewis, the Sonics' high flying act was done. It's time for the gimmick to be scrapped, and it's necessary for them to start over again. How they choose to do it is their own business.

Orlando: They claim they want to build around Dwight Howard. I hope they do it quickly. The Magic aren't always known for their ability to make good trades. Did anybody else notice that Tony Battie has started every game for them this year? Very weird.

Golden State: I am close to giving up on this franchise forever. After trading for Baron Davis, all they had to do was trade for Ron Artest, and they were on their way to great things. But they balked when the moment got big; they let Sacramento, a division rival, grab Artest, the best defensive player on Earth, and now they will suffer in the West. The Warriors need toughness, both on the court and in the front office.

Utah: I love the Jazz, but I don't know what they're doing. Deron Williams looks sort of overmatched, and they need to learn that Gordon Giricek, Milt Palacios, and Keith McLeod aren't the tickets to stardom. Their backcourt issues need to be addressed, and it will be interesting to see what they do in the offseason.

Note that I didn't put Sacramento on this list, since they're on the way to figuring out what they need. I skipped the Lakers, who qualify, but are decision-contingent on Kobe, as well as the Sixers, who refuse to go away from the Iverson-or-bust strategy that has characterized the franchise. Hey, if you don't want to learn, that's your choice. I also skipped Denver because that team is on another plane of existence (more on this later...)

I'm out.