Swift, Stoudamire at the top of McGrady's wish list By MEGAN MANFULL Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle Two months after the Rockets' postseason run ended, All-Star forward Tracy McGrady still thinks about the playoffs. The 2006 playoffs. McGrady is trying to target exactly who the Rockets need to acquire to help them get past the opening round of the postseason for the first time since 1997. Rockets management has spent much of the past two weeks targeting power forward Stromile Swift, 25, who McGrady said could be the team's missing piece. "He has unbelievable talent, and he's young," McGrady said Thursday. "That's a guy I can grow with. With his athleticism and power out there at the four position and his ability to play the five, it creates mismatch problems on the opposing end." Swift visited the Rockets last week and also has been in talks with the New York Knicks and New Jersey Nets. Money may become the deciding factor in the next few days, though. The Rockets are over the salary cap and can offer only the mid-level exception. Swift is expected to receive offers higher than that. "He's still looking," Rockets general manager Carroll Dawson said. "I think he's got it narrowed down to two or three teams, and he says we're in great shape. But you never know. Money means so much in this business, and we're limited with what we can do. If everything's equal, I think we're in pretty good shape." Swift is one of two players McGrady mentioned from his short wish list. He said Portland point guard Damon Stoudamire, who lives in Houston, also would fit well, though Stoudamire would have to accept a major pay cut to fit within the Rockets' budget. Stoudamire, who averaged 15.8 points and 5.7 assists per game last season, played with McGrady in Toronto for part of McGrady's rookie year. "He was Mighty Mouse then," McGrady said. "He's toward the end of his career where he just wants to win. It's not about being the man. "When it's all said and done, everyone wants to win a championship. I think that's the attitude of everyone on this team. A lot of sacrifices need to be made, because we're definitely trying to put together a hell of a team. Some guys are going to be without minutes, and some guys are going to have to sacrifice their games. But to be that team that we want to be, we're going to have to be willing to do that." McGrady is confident about the direction the Rockets are headed. He said his first year in Houston was a far cry from the four he spent with the Magic. "I spent four years down in Orlando, and it was obvious that we needed to make changes for our team, and it just wasn't happening at the time," McGrady said. "These guys are strictly about winning, and that's where I'm at right now in my career."
nice to hear tracy say this about managment here lets hope swift and damon are willing to take paycuts to play here
I was watching Damon play at the Procity tournament. He is tough and really quick. He was getting hammered every time he went to the hole and still finishing up strong. The best thing is that he can still shoot. It doesn't matter how old you are, as long as you can shoot, you can be in the NBA. I think we could use him too. I'm sure McGrady has his reasons that he wants him.
The backcourt would probably be one of the shortest in the league. Damon Stoudomire 5'11" and Wesley at about 6'1". And the main backup of Head at 6'3". But the front court with Stromile Swift would be AWSOME!!!!!
well i think its pretty safe to say, if we signed Damon we would trade Sura and/or Wesley or maybe even Mike James since supposedly him and T-Mac arent on the same page
If we sign Damon, he'd be filling the PG position. But I think Tmac will still be the primary ball handler. Damon's just there to provide spot up shooting with his 3's and playmaking offense.
It kinda sucks that Tracy is gonna have to sacrifice his minutes for this to work. I had always liked watching him play. The coaches are also gonna have to constantly remind Damon not to wrap his weed in foil when going through metal detectors. I can't possibly imagine landing both those guys. That would be a perfect off season. But yeah, i think it's clear someone doesn't want James on the team anymore.
i find it way too presumptuous to say that if McGrady wants Damon Stoudamire, it automatically means he doesn't want Mike James on the team anymore. Any Rocket fan with only a rudimentary eye for basketball could recongize that Mike James is nowhere close to being a point guard. He's got a role on our team - as the sparkplug off the bench, and I think most people who like him on our team want to keep it that way and only that way.
I agree, Mike James is best as a sparkplug off the bench, which is what we need anyway. I'd LOVE to get Stoudamire, and you would think he would be relatively easy to attain. If the Rockets could acquire Swift and Stoudamire I would be as giddy as all heck!
My guess is if we got Stoudamire then McGrady would be the 2-guard and we would get a SF and a back, athletic 2-guard and deal off Wesley or Sura.
The reason why we traded JJ was to allow TMac to play SF. Generally speaking, TMac won't play 2-guard unless the matchup is in our favor.
