Houston Rockets: 25 Best Players To Play For The Rockets
By Phil Watson
PG. 1999-2004, 2007-08. Steve Francis. 13. player. 169. <strong>How acquired:</strong> Trade, Vancouver Grizzlies and Orlando Magic, Aug. 27, 1999; Free agent, July 20, 2007.
Steve Francis dazzled college basketball in his lone season at Maryland, earning All-America honors while averaging 17 points and nearly five rebounds and five assists per game.
The Houston Rockets secured the rights to the second overall pick in the 1999 NBA Draft in a three-team deal from the Vancouver Grizzlies after Francis refused to go to Canada.
and a first-round selection in 2003 to the Grizzlies.
Francis was the Rookie of the Year in 1999-2000 and was a three-time All-Star for Houston, finishing fourth in the NBA in minutes per game in 2001-02 and 2003-04.
He left the Rockets in a blockbuster June 2004 deal, sent to Orlando with Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato in exchange for Tracy McGrady, Juwan Howard, Tyronn Lue and Reece Gaines.
Francis returned to the Rockets as a free agent in July 2007 and was traded with cash and a 2009 second-rounder to the Memphis Grizzlies in December 2008 for a second-round pick in 2011.
In six seasons in Houston, Francis averaged 19 points, 6.3 assists, 6.0 rebounds and 1.6 steals in 39.1 minutes per game, shooting .430/.345/.789.
In February 2006, Francis was traded to the New York Knicks and in June 2007, he was dealt to the Portland Trail Blazers, who waived him in July of that year.
Francis was waived by the Grizzlies in January 2009 without ever playing for them and attempted a brief comeback in China in 2010 before retiring.
He is 20th in NBA history with an average of 37.6 minutes per game.
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