As beautifully as the Zach Randolph trade may work out for the Knicks, it's hard to argue with what Steve Francis got out of it Tuesday night.

The former Knicks guard received his wish when his new team, the Portland Trail Blazers, bought out the final two years of his contract. The deal, in the works for weeks, was completed Tuesday and Francis hits the waiver wire at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.

In seven days, Francis will be an unrestricted free agent after banking more than $30 million of the $33.6 million he was due. No wonder Francis and his longtime agent, Jeff Fried, celebrated at a Ruth's Chris in D.C. Tuesday night.

"This was the definition of a win-win situation with Isiah and the Knicks getting Zach Randolph and Steve being the ultimate beneficiary in being bought out," Fried said.

So essentially, the Knicks traded Channing Frye for Randolph and let Paul Allen, the Blazers' billionaire owner, take care of Francis, who will get a chance to revive his career in a more favorable situation. The Heat, Clippers and Mavericks are the most likely landing spots for Francis.

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Las Vegas, NV -- Portland Trail Blazer rookie center Greg Oden left Las Vegas late Tuesday afternoon bound for Los Angeles where he’ll be a presenter at the ESPN ESPY Awards Show. Originally Oden had planned to return for the Trail Blazers final two summer league games this weekend, but instead Oden will fly to Portland where he’ll have a tonsillectomy later this week the team announced Tuesday.

“It’s unfortunate,” said Trail Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard. “He’s shown a lot of toughness because he’s been sick for about two weeks and he’s pushed through it, but it came to the point where we felt like it was the best thing to do is to shut him down and make sure he gets healed, gets a tonsillectomy this weekend and then be prepared as much as he can for the regular season and preseason.”

Oden is scheduled to undergo the tonsillectomy on Saturday. Dr. Don Newell will perform the procedure at The Vancouver Clinic in Vancouver, Wash., and the recovery time is expected to be between two and three weeks.

“Anybody who has as much symptoms and problems as he was having, it was tough for him,” said Pritchard. “He’s a tough kid. He wants to do things the right way and that’s why we love him. He wanted to push through the sickness, but it came to a point where he couldn’t do it anymore.”

Oden will also miss the USA Basketball Men’s Senior National Team training camp, which is being held July 20th-22nd in Las Vegas.

Ironically, Oden is coming off his best performance of summer league in two scrimmage games on Monday against the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Clippers. Between the two 40-minute scrimmages Oden combined for 15 points (4-8 FG), eight rebounds and five blocked shots.

In addition to being sick, the 19-year old Oden, who’s become a bit of a media darling with his quick wit and charming personality, has had an exhausting appearance and interview schedule that started well before June’s NBA Draft.

“He needs some time mentally just to get away from basketball,” added Pritchard. “Sometimes you can get burnout and he’s had some burnout and I think this is a good situation. Get the surgery. Get him healthy. Get him some time off and then he’ll come back the season refreshed.”

Portland lost both scrimmage sessions to the Nuggets and Clippers and is winless in two summer league games.

“I think people are getting really concerned about whether we’re winning or losing or not. This is summer league,” explained Pritchard. “What this is about is to see what players can do in a different system, different structure, and different atmosphere and in a bigger role. Do we want to win? Absolutely. These kids are learning how to play basketball with each other for the first time and this team is going to be together for a long time, so evaluating right now and in the next five years is more important than just saying this is a snapshot or this is where we are today. We’re going to take the long-term approach.”

The Trail Blazers return to summer league action on Wednesday night as they battle the Los Angeles Lakers at UNLV’s Thomas and Mack Center.

NOTES: The Trail Blazers held a light practice session at Cox Pavilion on Tuesday afternoon. Oden did not attend.

The Portland Trail Blazers today acquired guard Steve Francis and center Channing Frye from the New York Knicks in exchange for forward Zach Randolph, guard Dan Dickau and guard Freddy Jones, it was announced by Trail Blazers general manager Kevin Pritchard.

Francis, 30, enters his ninth NBA season with career averages of 18.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 6.1 assists. The three-time NBA All-Star and 2000 NBA co-Rookie of the Year posted 11.3 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 44 games this past season with the Knicks.

A second-year pro from the University of Arizona, Frye, 24, was a 2006 member of the T-Mobile All-Rookie First Team, posting career numbers of 10.8 points and 5.6 rebounds. The 6-11 center averaged 9.5 points and 5.5 boards this past season.

Randolph, 25, led the Trail Blazers with averages of 23.6 points, 10.1 rebounds and 35.7 minutes over 68 games in 2006-07. Picked 19th overall by Portland in the 2000 NBA Draft, Randolph paced the team in points and rebounds in each of the past four seasons.

Dickau, 28, was acquired by Portland from Boston on Draft Day 2006. In 50 games, the Vancouver, Wash., native posted averages of 3.3 points and 1.4 assists in 2006-07.

A former Oregon Duck, Jones, also 28, averaged 4.8 points, 1.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 18.7 minutes in 24 games with the Trail Blazers last season after being acquired in a mid-season trade with Toronto.

In a separate transaction, the Trail Blazers traded the draft rights to forward Demetris Nichols, whom they selected with the No. 53 pick, to New York in exchange for the Knicks’ second round pick in the 2008 NBA Draft.