11/21/24
January 11, 2005
The (somewhat struggling) Sacramento Kings, apparently looking to bolster their offense, have traded long time punchline and potential future reality show TV star Doug Christie to the Orlando Magic for Cuttino Mobley.
posted by Ufez Jones to basketball at 10:32 AM - 16 comments
I don't think Mobley is a much better player. He's more offensively gifted, but has bounced around a lot and has never really gotten any better - can hit the three, slash and take a night off with the best of 'em. Christie is a valuable contributor and a hellacious defender who can hit the shots when created for him. I like this for Orlando. We'll find out if Doug likes it after he asks his wife.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 11:17 AM on January 11, 2005
His wife should have had it put in his contract that no trade gets ok'd without her approval...ushering in the "spousal no-trade clause" for pro-sports contracts...
posted by chris2sy at 11:36 AM on January 11, 2005
Stop picking on Christie...his wife knows who wears the pants in their relationship...and Doug had better give them back the moment he gets home...
posted by MeatSaber at 11:59 AM on January 11, 2005
Quotes from Steve Francis regarding the trade: "I can't put it into words," he said. "Playing with a guy, living with a guy, just knowing that every day when I wake up that's something I can count on, that I'm going to be in practice or in a game with Cuttino. "Him not being here is going to be tough for me. I don't know what I'm going to wake up for." "They messed up something that started so good, man," said Francis, an All-Star the past three seasons. "I don't feel there was a need to break something up just because he was going to be a free agent and you don't want to pay him at the end of the season. "You should have known that when you traded for him, so you should have made that decision then." "You don't wait 30 minutes before a game to tell a guy he's traded," Francis said. "The way you handle relationships, for me, is going to change the way that I approach the game, more businesslike than anything." Have you ever heard a guy sound so upset for personal reasons over a teammate being traded?
posted by pitchblende at 02:28 PM on January 11, 2005
Steve Francis is a tool. If you'll pardon the cross-comparison, he makes Randy Moss look like Pat Tillman. So he lost a buddy. Big whoop. This actually is a business, and not some kind of extended summer camp. Good thing he finally worked that bit out. Tool. Also, stop picking on Doug Christie. It takes all kinds. And this trade, while not as equal-value-for-equal-value as we're used to seeing, is not all that lopsided. We'll see what Cuttino can add that the Kings don't already have, but I don't really see it making either team appreciably better or worse.
posted by chicobangs at 03:56 PM on January 11, 2005
Did I mention that Steve Francis is a total tool? I did. Right, then.
posted by chicobangs at 03:57 PM on January 11, 2005
Basically, the Kings need another scoring guard(jackson is hurt) and the Magic need a better defender who doesnt demand the rock as much. So both teams got what they were looking for in this deal. Not all trades are = value for = value.
posted by prava at 04:24 PM on January 11, 2005
Orlando is a much better locale to shoot a TV show.
posted by billsaysthis at 05:58 PM on January 11, 2005
Seems to be as much about contracts as it is about talent. The Kings get a free look at Mobley while shedding the contract of the dwindling Christie who is at the point in his career where even his tenacious efforts at defense will be countered by age induced slowness. I love Doug Christie and have a Christie jersey but Geoff Petrie generally has pretty good long term vision. In Petrie We Trust.
posted by geekyguy at 09:31 PM on January 11, 2005
I love Doug Christie and have a Christie jersey And you wear this jersey in public?
posted by dusted at 10:05 PM on January 11, 2005
um, I used to bartend at a sports bar. Otherwise, no.
posted by geekyguy at 10:21 PM on January 11, 2005
The amount of ridicule that Christie gets for devotion to his wife is pretty funny, considering the amount of flak that NBA players get for bouncing from woman to woman like Wilt. They can't win.
posted by rcade at 07:22 AM on January 12, 2005
I'm beginning to grasp the full extent of the Christies' devotion, based on a New York Times piece I just read. Some of it is admirable. But her constant monitoring of his behavior around female reporters and other women doesn't convey much trust, and asking your family and friends to attend another of your weddings every single year is obnoxious. She's so possessive of him that a woman working for the Kings sued her for sexual harrassment. I'm definitely going to watch their reality TV show.
posted by rcade at 07:37 AM on January 12, 2005
Thanks for the link, r, and I think the Kings got some 'splainin' to do! I love this quote from the original article also: Doug Christie's agent, J.R. Harris, also declined to comment. "We're not talking about that right now," Harris said. Although Christie has never faced such litigation, Harris said NBA players must deal with frivolous lawsuits all the time. Because this suit is automatically frivolous because other guys have babies out of wedlock and punch fans and get their asses dragged to court for it.
posted by wfrazerjr at 10:03 AM on January 12, 2005
According to Forbes, 'Trauma' is one of the most valuable possessions in America. Right after 'NBA baby out-of-wedlock'. A season ticket is like a re-useable lottery ticket. Especially if you're a woman with a flexible collection of principles.... Remember when it was about the game?
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 05:02 PM on January 12, 2005
I don't get it: isn't Mobley a much better player? Christie's still got a decent amount of time left on his contract too, so it's not a cap space deal.