Please quote for us (or, hell, just name for us) a time where McG has refused to come off of the bench. I don't even need citations...just give us the time period. Do you similarly expect him to go for the Max extension after this season (upwards of $25MM per)? This despite rumors that he wants to come back at a reduced rate? The lengths people will go to in order to smear McG is staggering.
Great post, verse. I agree with almost everything you said. However, a couple of counter-points: --I seriously doubt that the Rockets will be actively shopping Luis Scola next year, inflated stats or not. He is simply too valuable and has such a sweetheart contract that the Rockets would be hard-pressed to get equal value in exchange for him. Plus, as you state, he is essentially the Rockets' only healthy post-up threat. Why take that off this team, even after Yao comes back from injury? If Yao goes down again (even for 10-15 game) in 2010-11, it would be nice to have a re-signed Scola ready to take over as a principal scoring threat. With a cap hold of under $6.7M next summer, he's an attractive candidate to either be re-signed or possibly signed-and-traded for something better than what the Rockets could probably get for him this coming February. --While I think that David Andersen, almost by default, is the likely starting center for the Rockets by mid-season, I have serious reservations about him as a starter on opening night. It will take Andersen some time to adjust to the NBA. Much like Scola during his rookie year, I think Chuck Hayes will start over Andersen for the first month or two of the regular season until David is ready to start. Also, for those of you who are just assuming that Tracy McGrady will absolutely, 100% be traded . . . why? Even if the likelihood of a T-Mac trade (being one that makes sense to the Rockets) materializing will increase as the February trade deadline approaches, there is no guarantee that such a deal will ever actually materialize. The distinct possibility remains that keeping Tracy might be the best available option for Daryl Morey and the Rockets come this February. It's not like trading McGrady for crap contracts, just for the sake of trading him, will help the team. Even if the Rockets retain McGrady, they would still have the following options next summer: (1) Re-sign McGrady to a more reasonable contract. If Tracy proves over the course of the season that his knee is rehabilitated, he could possibly be had at a reasonable salary. The guy is still only 30 years old. Depending on the pickings in 2010 free agency actually available to the Rockets, T-Mac might actually be the best available player on the market anyway. (2) Sign-and-trade McGrady. Especially if Tracy comes back and shows that he's healthy, holding onto him allows the Rockets to improve their roster via sign-and-trade. Another team that is under the cap (but maybe not quite enough under it) may be willing to give up a future first rounder or another valuable asset in exchange for a signed-and-traded T-Mac. Or perhaps a trade can be worked out for other players already under contract. Why foreclose these options just for the sake of trading McGrady? We don't know what the future holds for Tracy or the Rockets. Why don't we just see how it all plays out rather than making guarantees that cannot be reinforced.
i completely agree. though i "hope" that would be the case, i think during the recruitment of ariza, morey and adelman promised certain things to ariza that made him want to sign here (a bigger role, a starting role--he did start on a championship team). i'm sure ariza believes he can do more that what he did in LA and relegating him to a bench role with less minutes is going to be dangerous. if tracy is healthy, he's going to get 32-35 minutes. battier is the brain of our defense and if he does start, he's going to get 30+ minutes. it's going to be a problem that i'm sure adelman welcomes. but i think ariza himself has particular expectations when he signed to play in houston.
Regarding Scola, by no means do I expect the team to be actively shopping him. By no means do I think they see Luis as untouchable either, though. Should an opportunity come up to acquire, say a Stoudemire or Bosh (assuming an extension agreement has already been discussed and its known they won't Boozerize us), then packaging the efficient, durable Scola becomes a possibility. I'm 100% behind trading Scola because I view Landry's ceiling as markedly higher than Luis' and if moving him could net us an Amare (pf/c), then it'd be a helluva coup. Landry/Amare as the frontcourt 2 is very attractive. Yao, should he locate some new titanium feet, could return and move Amare back to the 4 (though I foresee the big guy sticking with the foreign brand, and we all know those foreign manufacturers don't always build their stuff to last). As for the StayPuft Marshmallow Man, I think you have.a good point. He might take a month or so to start...if Chuck learns how to catch passes from McG and Brooks and convert layups. Anderson opens the lanes up for our primary weapons. Chuck closes them. And good point about McG. People are so thoroughly convinced he'll be gone, I'm convinced, because they're convinced they hate him..at least for now. Convinced? McG, is likely to stay in the red garb and re-sign on the cheap, imo, and there will be no better deal the Rox can feasibly acquire. You've already outlined how we likely won't have the $ to pursue a max-level player next offseason anyway. So the option of re-signing McG at a discount (given his considerable skill) and looking to trade some of our players in a pkg for another impact player is quite plausible and, I'm convinced, quite attractive.
Wrong. You completely missed my point. Much like I am unfamiliar with your posts, you seem to be unfamiliar with mine. I have always been fair and level-headed with McGrady. I've defended him countless times and even in this instance, which you incorrectly assumed was an attack, I am defending his credibility as a star by suggesting that there's no way that both (1) he would be asked to come off the bench and (2) would accept the idea of coming off the bench. Where is the attack? It's common sense. Would you ask Kevin Garnett to come off the bench after an injury-riddled year? How about Gilbert Arenas? What about Michael Redd? Shall I continue....? By me suggesting that he's playing for a contract is merely pointing out the obvious. As is referencing all his quotes about returning (or at least trying to return) to elite status. At age 30, whichever contract he signs next summer will be his last *major* contract as an NBA player. He'll be looking out for his own interests just like any other seemingly declining star would be in his shoes. That doesn't make you a bad teammate provided you leave it all out there -- as he has been known to do. In your own words: The only way your criticism of my post makes any sense at all is if you feel McGrady is not an elite player -- OR -- at least considered that by management. This is where I disagree. While I feel he is naturally declining somewhat as a player, he's still management's top dawg and subsequent face of the franchise with Yao out. Every franchise needs a superstar from a marketing standpoint. With Yao out T-Mac is all we have in that regard. Once he's ready to return I expect his oncourt production to dictate this accordingly. This, of course, is placing aside the actual basketball element to all this. How we'll need a second playmaker out there with Brooks' learning curve still limiting his ability to effectively run the team by himself. If McGrady is ready to go and still wearing a Rockets jersey, we'll need him out there as much as possible.
I didn't say he would come off the bench I said he would do what the coaches say unless he wants to hurt his value. As far as trade value goes his value is an expiring contract worth 23 million, other than that, unless he proves he can still play he has no value. He was a detriment to this team last season because of his health and the team didn't really start to gel until he was gone. The last thing T-Mac should do is come back and show the NBA that he is a selfish primadonna that puts himself before the team. Obviously if he is totally healthy and is going to help us win then he will start but if he is half-a$$ healthy like last year I would be disappointed in our coaching and management staffs if they allow him to ruin our team chemistry by letting him start like he did last year. I hope he is 100% healthy and plays 35 + min. per game at an "elite" level so we can trade him for more than just the value of his contract but until he is he has lost his "Alpha Dog" status.
I see what you're saying but I view last year as an isolated incident. His critics would always flaunt his embarrassing overall record in the postseason while convienently leaving how he elevates him game to another level (like few can) and always goes out swinging. Last year was the first season as a Rocket where you could tell he was half-assing it and being a detriment. I don't expect that to continue -- especially now that Artest is gone. The stories of those two butting heads is well documented. I disagree that he has no value outside of his expiring contract. He's still a very good player. This isn't some Marbury-esque situation where he's no good anymore and you just want to get rid of him as soon as possible.
Stop it, u r stirring up the pot.. The Battier now is only slightly better than Ariza on D and is no where close on O...
IMO until Tracy can come back and SHOW people his is still good he is damaged goods and has no value. Like I said above I hope he does come back but he has no value as a player until he proves he can play. I don't see how you can say "He's still a very good player" when there is no way you can know that until he steps on the court with NBA players and PROVES it. Micro fracture surgery is serious business and sometimes people don't come back from it.
Touche. Saying he's damaged goods is equally as puzzling to me. By all accounts his recovery is coming along smoothly. Even at age 30, anytime Tracy McGrady steps out on the floor and touches a basketball he's automatically going to be one of the best players on the floor provided his body is functioning normally. I see your point but I guess only time will tell. We can only hope for the best.
The main thing with Micro Fracture is that you follow the recovery process perfectly. The surgery is fairly minor and doesn't cause a lot of discomfort which causes people to want to start using the knee too early. If you use it too early the surgery will fail. From all I've read he had the perfect situation for the surgery to be a success, but after the surgery it's all on him to follow the physical therapy and not push the knee till it's ready. Here's hoping that Tracy did everything right and can at least be the T-Mac from the 22 win streak. I worry about all the wishy washy reports of when he will come back but if he comes back strong I think we are gonna surprise some people. Our core of solid hard hat/lunch pail players + a healthy T-Mac should be good enough to make some noise.
Ariza didn't get a chance to play that much under SVG. He was hurt most of his first season there....then the following season he was traded to the Lakers for Cook. Correct me if I'm wrong
Hell, he was great even after the 22-win streak. If I recall correctly, dude dropped 40 points on Utah in our elimination game from the 2008 playoffs. That was the most recent game that a healthy Tracy McGrady played. Say what you will about T-Mac's attitude and likability, the guy has been money in the playoffs. The whole "McGrady First Round Curse" thing (attention to which also stems from the ever-so-stupid comments that Tracy made in the 2003 playoffs, talking about getting to the second round when Orlando had a 3-to-1 lead on Detroit, only to lose the next three games) has clouded people's minds to the fact that Tracy McGrady PLAYS WELL in the playoffs. Really well. Great, even. Just not great enough. If McGrady can come back healthy (and the Rockets are taking their sweet time to make sure that he does - and to collect insurance money ), then he WILL be a very good, All-Star caliber player for the Rockets. Unfortunately, that's a damn big "if".
I reference the 22 game win streak because I think Tracy played his best team basketball during that time. He played in a way that made everyone better and we won a lot of games because of it. I won't put it on Tracy that the rest of the team played like crap in the playoffs because that's not fair but they did seem to stand around and watch him play a lot. The team last year played very well in the playoffs even without Yao because the chemistry was there and nobody was trying to win it themselves. Not having a star eventually cost us the series but great team bball let the sum be greater than the parts. I just want Tracy to be one of the parts that makes the sum MUCH greater. T-Mac has so much ability to lead and make everyone better I want to see him do it. Oh, I haven't ever said but I think Ariza starts with T-Mac if T-Mac is healthy because he provides more offense. Battier comes in for both T-Mac and Ariza and in some matchups may play the 4. Having those 3 as a rotation at the 2-3 would be really nice for RA.
McGrady starts no matter what. I mean look at what happened last year. His name alone speaks for itself. The guy took himself in and out of the line-up yet when he was going to play he automatically started. I see Ariza playing the Ron Artest role with the minutes. Ariza comes off the bench but plays starter mins. I don't see Battier coming off the bench just for the fact that he has chemistry with the other starters.
BimaThug: Because the team is invariably tied to Yao (ie: he will never be traded), these are the 4 scenarios: A)Yao comes back healthy -A1)keep mcgrady -A2)trade mcgrady B)Yao does not come back healthy -B1)keep mcgrady -B2)trade mcgrady The event that Yao doesn't come back healthy and you had opted to keep McGrady is easily the worst scenario. You are crippled both in the long run and in the short term. The merit in scenario B2 depends upon the return on the trade. Unless some unlikely event occurs, the best scenario is some type of package of young players from Golden State. Does that move you any closer to a title? In scenario A2, how close are you to a title trading Tracy for younger pieces? Scenario A1 is the biggest gamble but also the biggest potential return. If Tracy returns to '07 form, IMHO, scenario A1 gives you the best shot at a title over the next 4 or 5 years of Yao Ming's career. This is an extremely risky proposition and would not be my preferred course of action, but I can see the merit. Simply playing the numbers, if you're putting all of your eggs in Yao's basket, what guarantee do you have that those young players you acquire give you a better chance to contend over the remainder of Yao's career? The fact that they are invariably tying their fate to Yao might indicate a homerun mentality - ie retaining McGrady. If McGrady comes back healthy, playing the odds, the team's best shot might honestly be just keeping this nucleus intact. I am starting to agree with you and some of the others that it may not be so much of a surprise to see McGrady return.
Ariza isn't a SG. If he starts, Battier sits. That simple. Brooks/Lowry T-Mac/Budinger/Taylor Ariza/Battier Scola/Landry Anderson/Hayes
