In retrospect, maybe Weisbrod isn't an idiot after all. He's got his principles and looking for the things that are important - I like that he looks for character. Interesting the kind of team cohesion he looks for as well... wonder if the current Orlando squad reflects that kind of watching-out-for-each-other attitude.
If you recall the years after the Magic-Rockets trade then you have to know that the same Tracy McGrady DID help Houston Rockets to be a better team and we all know what happened to Steve Francis or Cuttino Mobley. If TMac stayed for some reason both Yao and Howard wouldn't develop so much respectively. So it's a pretty much win win trade, the problem isn't in the TMac, I'm pretty sure that we all know what is he capable of when he's healthy and playing.
Orlando became a far better team as well, Do not forget that... Until they traded Cuttino fo Doug Christie...lol.
Orlando did real well for the beginning of the season. They were number 1 seed at one point. But, after the Cat for Doug C. trade, Orlando's season just went down. In our perspective... we did real bad in the beginning but made key trades. (Lue for J. Barry, Gaines for M. James, and Jackson for D. Wesley)
How so? We were a Playoff team . . .what was kicked out of the playoffs by a team with 4 hall of famers on it . . . in the 1st round [didn't have home court advantage] Since then we are a playoff team . . .that was kicked out of the playoffs by teams that were slightly above average teams. [even had home court advantage] Sorry I don't see this massive improvement Rocket River RESULTS . . . SCOREBOARD . . .
You mean the Cuttino for NOTHING trade Rocket River They Trade THE CAT for a p***y!! lil punk crying in front of the TV watch old Sac Kings playoff games . . .. that is the day I OFFICIALLY started to hate on SCROUG Christie
“[Tracy McGrady said publicly what we all knew: He didn't always try his hardest last season when he played for the Magic. McGrady told Sports Illustrated that he was so defeated mentally by the losing that] some nights I did slack off. ... Really?” John Weisbrod quote
lmao and houston doesn't look for character? yao??? deke??? battier??? chuck hayes??? yeah those are all thugs. weisbrod was an idiot because that was a terrible trade for his team. that's his job, to bring in the best talent for the team that pays him period. that trade was fail for orlando. how did cat and francis work out for orlando? that thing in orlando had nothing to do with character. it was about personality those 2 dudes simply did not get along and he sacrificed his team for personal reasons. tmac had great years in houston and had plenty in the tank when weisbrod sacrificed him. keep in mind that tmac's 13 in 35 miracle happened in houston. tmac was a top 5 player when weisbrod traded him. sure FIVE years after the fact revisionists can go back and say tmac is now broken down but 5 years ago you really wouldn't even know if a certain player would even be IN THE LEAGUE after 5 years. weisbrod got what he had coming to him... he's out of the league scouting high schools or w/e the *** they have him doing when evaluating trades factor in the opportunity cost. tmac/howard in the weak west the past few years is clearly a Eastern conference champ contender. weisbrod's good move was drafting howard... not really a "genius" move. many people were on the howard bandwagon even then
Both teams made the trade with the purpose of making their team better. Orlando increased their wins by 15 that year, and they are getting better and better every year. Houston is still trying to get past the first round. Orlando achieved their goal and Houston did not.
the only thing weisbrod did for that team that is still currently on that team is howard (and it wasn't truly him who wanted him; he wanted okafor but the upper management wanted howard so they override him). the lewis, nelson, turkogulu... there's a reason he's not an NBA GM anymore.
Well in another perspective, I think of it this way. When youve screwed up so much, the only way is to get back up. Dont you think Howard was a matter of luck considering the team was in the lottery?