nydailynews:Thomas met with Francis for two hours on Friday in Washington, D.C., as a show of good faith, with the hope that Francis comes to training camp in October prepared to regain his All-Star form after two subpar seasons.
"We were very encouraged with the meeting," said Jeff Fried, Francis' agent. "I think it's important for both sides to establish a comfort level and I think from that standpoint the meeting was a positive one."
Thomas, according to sources, intends to meet with each player individually over the summer, and visiting Francis eight days after Brown was fired made sense on several levels.
Besides the fact that Thomas was in Washington for his son's college orientation, the Knicks' new coach felt it was necessary to convey to Francis that the organization still believes he and Stephon Marbury can co-exist in the same backcourt.
In their case against Brown, the Knicks contend the fired coach endorsed the trade for Francis only to later suggest to Dolan, the Garden chairman, that Francis wouldn't work out. The Knicks say that Brown wanted Francis and Marbury cut from the team.
"Both of those trades I spoke to Larry directly," Dolan said last week. "Both of those trades he was an advocate for. The first one, quote, 'I'm dying here, I got to have this guy' - that's Jalen Rose. The second one, Steve Francis, he said, 'I'm begging you to do this.' No less than three weeks after, that's 80 million worth of transactions, I was told these guys are no good, we have to get rid of them. How do I take that?"
With Rose and Francis still on the payroll, Thomas does not expect to be active in the free-agent market this summer. The Knicks are more likely to make a deal by the February trading deadline, when Rose's and Maurice Taylor's expiring contracts become valuable assets.
Francis is in no danger of being traded because he will earn $48.5 million over the next three seasons and his value is way down. One GM said that Francis "is a very good player who has had two very bad years. Can he turn it around? That's a big question." Francis has been working out in Houston with former NBA player John Lucas and, according to Fried, is looking forward to playing for Thomas. Francis and Brown quickly clashed after the trade with Orlando, and Francis told teammates he hoped the Knicks would trade him.
"There were a lot of things that happened last year that are out of Steve's control," Fried said. "He wants to help this thing get turned around."
