Would you trade McGrady for Garnett?

[Hottoddie]

Houston sends McGrady/Wesley/James/rights to Spanoulis to Minnesota.

Minnesota sends Garnett/Cassell/2nd round pick (#47)/future 2nd round pick to Houston.

I'm not looking to get rid of T-Mac, I'm just curious what everyone's position would be if such a deal were ever proposed.

We've all dreamed, at one time or another, about getting Garnett. But, even with Francis & Mobley, we all knew in our hearts that it wasn't enough to pry Garnett away from Minnesota. However, with the acquisition of T-Mac, we now have a top 5 superstar to offer & he's 3 years younger than Garnett.

I believe that T-Mac/Yao will be a deadly combination in the future, but what the NBA Finals has shown us is that, unless you have MJ in his prime, big men dominate the game at that level.

Just how good could a Garnett/Yao combination be? Can you say Twin Towers II? Both men have good range on their shots & would stretch the floor, while playing smothering defense under the basket. Garnett would give us the athleticism in the front court that we desperately need.

Cassell was injured last year but, prior to that, was still an exceptional PG. He'd give us a solid PG for a couple of years. With the 24th pick & a 2nd rounder, we should be able to find us a PG to groom for the future.

We could pick up Raja Bell, Cuttino Mobley, "Flip" Murray, or Bobby Simmons with the MLE to fill in at the SG position.

I know this trade will never happen, but what if it did? Would you move on it, or pass? Our starting lineup & backups would be:

C: Yao/Mutumbo
PF: Garnett/Howard
SF: Bowen/Padgett
SG: Bell/Barry
PG: Cassell/Sura/Draft pick

Minnesota could follow this trade up with one to NY.

Minnesota sends Szczerbiak/Kandi/#14 pick to NY.

NY sends Kurt Thomas/Maurice Taylor (2 years left)/#8 pick to Minnesota.

Ndudi Ebi only played in 2 games last year, but put up some impressive numbers. He might be ready to step his game up to the next level. With the #8 pick, they could draft one of the top centers like Channing Frye, Fran Vazquez, or Martynas Andriuskevicius. Their young team could look like this after the trades.

C: Frye/Kurt Thomas/John Thomas
PF: Kurt Thomas/Griffin/Taylor
SF: Ndudi Ebi/Griffin
SG: McGrady/Hassell/Hoiberg/Wesley
PG: Hudson/James/Carter

That'd be a very good team. Oh well, would you do it, or not?

[Drexlerfan22]

Nah. Garnett is 3 years older than T-Mac.

[CriscoKidd]

weird.

I wouldn't do it. I would trade Yao++ for KG, but not TMac. Why?

TMac is more of a go-to guy in the clutch. Yao really isn't that, and I don't particularly consider KG to be that kind of player ... and in order to win in the playoffs you have to have someone to score when it counts.

Also, our team is being rebuilt on the fly. If we trade Tmac for KG, that does shorten the window.

[dragon167]

Agreed. It seems Yao is more of the problem. T-mac plus KG will contend the titles for years to come. Not sure about Twolves would do Yao++ for KG. How about KG+Wally for Yao+expiring contracts+future picks. Houston has the core of KG+Wally+TMac. Minny clear all the cap space next year to build around Yao (or anyone they trade Yao for).

[superden]

no thanks.

[seclusion]

Originally Posted by superden no thanks.

first question you have to ask me is...would I trade mcgrady: my answer is no, he is, what I believe to be the best player in the nba...he reminds me alot of young jordan.

second question is, would I trade yao for kg? no, I believe yao will show his true colors this year. tracy and him love playing together. I think they're going to be great growing together for the next few years. I think we have a dynasty coming.

[pch3lka]

It's sure that houston wilii not trade T-Mac coz they know how much he is worth. Houston also won't trade Yao coz it will be also stupid thing.
I think consideration about that two players to trade is stupid. I don't want to offend someone but that is my state.

[macfan]

It's not an intelligent move. If the trade were to happen, your two best players would both be in the frontcourt. Both of them in the frountcourt would clog up the lane offensively if they were to be double teamed. T-Mac is the best or perhaps 1A perimeter player in the world. He stretches the floor for Yao and Yao does the same for him. That's why NBA teams and coaches dream of having a great inside/outside duo.

You also said that big men are dominating the Finals. I beg to disagree. The playoffs have been won in the backcourt. Billups/Hamilton, Parker/Ginobili, Wade, Nash

[MONON]

KG & Yao play both play around the basket. If we have 2 stars on the team, they need to be an inside/outside combination to spread the defence.

[KingCheetah]

Yao for Garnett.

[jmwilliamson]

Absolutely not.

The difference in quality is very small.

T-Mac is three years younger.

If every single year we swap star players with someone/ get a new coach / drastically revamp our roster, then we'll always be in transition and never ready to contend. Some of you guys need to learn to have at least a little patience.

[pasox2]

Originally Posted by Hottoddie [b]l I know this trade will never happen, but what if it did? Would you move on it, or pass? .... That'd be a very good team. Oh well, would you do it, or not?

Ah...summer. People suppose get horny.

Well, in the interest of idle chat, sure -- I'd do it. The line-up after would have talent for each spot :

Yao
Howard
Garnett
Sura
Cassell

We'd still have Baker and Spoon expiring contracts to trade. We'd still have our draft pick. We'd still have the MLE. I think we could pick up a nice couple of players that way. I don't like that Mike James is in the deal above - I think Tmac + Wesley for Garnett works without that. I'd rather turn MJ into Antonio Daniels and pick up a Cuttino or Bobby Simmons for more scoring power, and surety in the backcourt behind the brittle, injury-prone Cassell and Sura. I'd still be interested in an expiring contracts deal for a sign-and-trade combo like Donyell Marshall and Eric Williams, or SAR and Patterson, or so on.

KG is bigger than Tmac. If you set Yao and KG on opposite blocks, high/low, they can't shut down both. Both can back up 2 steps and fire over defenders. Both can pass and see over the defense. The backcourt would be an ocean of open shots. Defense would be suffocating - especially if we brought in good backcourt defenders. Rox could strangle teams and break like greyhounds.

It won't happen - just idle summer thought - but that would be a fun team to watch.

[New Jack]

Yes.

Duncan, Garnett, and LeBron would probably be the only 3 players in the league I would trade Mcgrady for. We lose a little on offense, but gain a whole lot on defense. Yao and Garnett on the defensive end would make any team facing us strictly a perimeter team. I do agree though that we would need to balance our lineup by getting better perimeter players.

[LegendZ3]

If Yao really does follow the same develop rate as KG like some of you claim, we would be really sorry for trading him now. But I would trade Yao for KG if he doesn't show any improvements after next season.

[gucci888]

I wouldn't trade TMac for KG, but I'd probably trade Yao for him. As much as I love Yao, it is coming more and more apparent that he probably won't be the HUGE force we thought he would be.

Don't get me wrong, Yao puts up pretty decent numbers, but KG can get you 24 & 13 everynight. I would love to see what a Yao/KG team could do, but a TMac/KG team would be more unstoppable I think.

But, of course, we NEED to see what a Yao/TMac team can do first.

[Christopher]

I cant think of another player in the NBA that I'd trade for T-Mac.

[v3.0]

If Lebron was offered straight up for TMac at this point of their careers...*maybe*

[xomox]

i dont see the defense being much better with KG.

[kevin8494]

I don't think the tmac/kg combo will be dominant.
KG is not a inside force imo, he plays like a small forward who rebounds.
Yeah this is what I'm thinking about. We don't want to have two super SF on our team.

[Hottoddie]

Hmmmm, as I suspected, the overwhelming opinion, thus far, is to stand pat. I've got no problem with that.

First off, let me point out that Yao is not a top 5 player, yet. I believe he will be someday, but he's not there yet. However, having said that, he might still be able to be traded for a top 5 player, but I doubt Minnesota would trade Garnett for him.

Yes, we might shorten our window of opportunity because of the 3 year difference in ages, but with his back problems, there's no guarantee that McGrady will play those extra 3 years. For now, I'll consider the age difference a push.

As for those that don't believe Yao will be a dominant force in this league, I'll assume that you haven't been watching all the games. This last year, he showed much more aggresiveness than the previous year, albeit inconsistent. As he gets stronger (& he is getting stronger) & more acclimated to the NBA style of play, it's my humble opinion that he'll become more consistent with his aggression & start getting more calls from the refs. The problem with Yao & the refs, is that Yao hasn't truely established a playing style &, as a result, the refs are inconsistent with what they'll let him get away with.

As for the concerns about Yao/Garnett clogging the middle offensively & losing our inside/outside game, both players have very good range with their shot selections & would be spread out, thus opening the middle. Also, Cassell is a very good shooter with a solid 3pt shot, a great assist/turn over ratio, & the ability to slice up the middle for the layup/pass off. Raja Bell is an excellent shooter with good defensive skills & we should be able to resign Barry/Padgett. Add in Sura & we have some pretty good perimeter players. I don't know if we'll be able to sign both Bell & Simmons in FA, but if we can, we'd be pretty deep in shooters.

In regards to the comment about Cassell being injury prone, I beg to differ. While he was injured last year, in the previous 5 years he missed just 20 games. That's an average of 4 games per year. By comparison, T-Mac missed 36 games, Kobe missed 49 games, Kidd missed 37 games, Nash missed 42 games (26 came in one year), & Ray Allen missed 45 games (26 came in one year) over the same previous 5 year period. Cassell is up there in years, but he definitely comes to play every night.

Back to my comment about big men dominating the playoffs. The guards become the deciding edge when the big men are neutralized by the other team's big men. Duncan would be killing Detroit if it weren't for the fact that he's San Antonio's only dominant big man. Mohammed & Nesterovic have been virtually non-factors. Where as, Detroit has Rasheed, Wallace, & McDyess to keep constant defensive pressure on Duncan. Imagine how this series would be going if Duncan had Yao or Garnett on his team. I believe it'd be over by now.

In the last 11 Championships, if you throw out the 3 Chicago titles (MJ was a once in a lifetime player), the team that won the title 7 out of 8 times had a dominant big man that carried them to the title (Dream, Shaq, & Duncan). Detroit has found a way to neutralize a single dominant big man by throwing 3 solid all-star caliber big men at him. That tells me that the way to beat that combination is to add an all-star caliber big man to compliment your dominant big man.

Anyway, this trade will never happen. I just felt it was a good topic to discuss in the week & a half before the upcoming draft.