HI guys!! A few minutes ago on Sportscenter , Jim Grey just confirmed the Francis, Mobley,Cato trade for Mcgrady , and Howard. He said the only snag maybe that the Charlotte Bobcats may pick Juwan Howard for the Expansion Draft, which would make the trade unequal.
No. He did NOT confirm anything. He said it will be likely that this deal will get done, but he did NOT confirm anything.
If that is ALL it is, I guarantee that the deal will get done. First, the Bobcats aren't taking an aging Howard with his contract. Second, if the Rockets want this to happen, no WAY they do this without a plan B.
I would much rather have Gooden. I imagine that's what's holding up the trade. Houston wants Gooden rather than Howard. But hey, it's almost time to get a T-Mac jersey!
Jeff you make a good point. No way the Rockets let this MEGA deal go down the trash on contigent that they cant match salaries because Howard isnt there. They would have to have contingency plans! And like you said, why would the Bobcats take Howard? His contract is huge for a lot of years. TOTALLY goes against the drafting strategy of the Bobcats.
He said one of the problems could be if Charlotte takes howard in the expansion draft then it would cause a problem.
No he said it's LIKELY for the deal to get done, if Howard wasn't picked by the Bobcats. He never said this deal was GOING to get done. Get it right.
Argh! Howard for 5 more seasons at $6 million per. I hope the Bobcats take him and we have to work it a little differently. (no chance!)
I think he signed a 5 year 28 million deal last summer. So He'll have 4 more years at 24 million left if I'm right.
According to Patricia's site, he signed a 6 year, $36.9 million contract on 7/16/03. Ouch. http://www.dfw.net/~patricia/contracts
Haha what do you not understand? Basically he did not confirm the trade, just confirmed that they might be working on a trade.
I honestly didn't know how I would feel. On one hand who wouldn't want T-Mac on the Rockets. On the other hand I always feel loyalty to players that have worked hard and contributed to the Rockets. I know that Tracy was unhappy about sharing the spotlight with Vince earlier in his career. Hopefully that won't be a problem with Yao Ming. T-mac might be better overall the Francis, but I doubt he'll play with more heart. McGrady though might be more capable of consistently carrying our team than Francis was. It's kind of bitter sweet. Then we add to that Cat leaving the team, and Cato. I really liked Cato's game 85% of the time this past year. Cat was the last Rocket left from the other playoff teams. I still have my loyalty to those guys, and will wish them well. There are so many possible positives to come out of this. I hope that winning will be one of them. Howard doesn't excite me in the least, but I don't have a passionate hatred of him either. I just hope our team is a better team next year. We need a pg badly, with Francis gone.