Orlando Sentinel: Magic want Francis, Mobley and Cato

Has links to a few magic boards and links for every other team.

http://www.bleachermob.com/madness/madnbamagic.html

 

Kobe’s performance in the finals has kind of brought down my perception of him. Just to see how much he struggled when a great defense decides to concentrate their efforts on him instead of Shaq has me wondering if he’s really that much better than Mcgrady.

Mcgrady faced almost the same defense last postseason against Detroit in the first round and I think he did a much better job, despite not winning the series.

 

Are we all forgetting about TMac's back problems? I say we shouldnt sell our soul for one player, especially if we cant be certain about that player's health/future.

 

Thank you. I couldn't have explained it better.

 

I can totally understand that. If I were in CD's shoes trying to get McGrady for Francis +combo of other player(s), I would do all I could to keep Mobley from being included.

 

tha cabbage - that was one hell of a post. steve francis is my favorite player and i will still cheer for him but i'm all over this trade.

 

McGrady is a great player but he aint worth all them damn players! Plus he dont shoot that well and I dont think that he'll want to be second to Yao!

 

This is starting to get ridiculous. You people who are against trading for McGrady (other than his injury questions) are incredible. You should have stopped typing after you wrote: "McGrady is a great player". Come on people, quality over quantity here! How many times does it have to be explained that a McGrady deal would not be 3 for 1?!?! It would most likely include McGrady and Howard along with a filler player, but you do that deal all day and in your sleep.

"McGrady don't shoot well" This is the funniest thing I've heard! If we are talking about shooters here, McGrady is a far better 'consistent' shooter than Francis and Cat. Bottom line is that McGrady doesn't always need to shoot the outside shot, because he is that damn good he can break defenses down (when he is not being hounded by an entire team b/c his team sucks). As far as ego goes, we wouldn't have the Shaq-Kobe problem in Houston. Once again Yao does not have the attitude to conflict with McGrady, and McGrady clearly does not want to carry the load anymore for a team. Yao would allow McGrady to carry some nights while Yao takes over other nights, and as we've seen in the past, Yao does not have the stamina to dominate all year long. Yao does not have Shaq's ego and he never will, and McGrady is far less of a inflated ego than Kobe is.

 

This is what I've been thinking all along. Kobe seldom faces double team because of Shaq. Detroit changed the usual tactic and Kobe was lost.

McGrady was constantly double teamed in Orlando. He still won the scoring title. I actually believe TMac is more talented than Kobe. The only thing Kobe is better is his work ethic and competiveness. TMac has yet shown the same intensity Kobe brings.

There are only two things I worry about with this trade: injury and attitude. The latter is probably less important because winning usually cures attitude. His back problem will always be a risk. Apart from these two potential problems, it is really a no-brainer.

Oh, for those who say we are trading away 60% of our starting lineup: Cato was not supposed to be in our starting lineup. Cato is a backup center--a solid one, granted. He is our starting PF only because we don't have any solid all-around PF and JVG prefers his defense over Mo's offense. We will have to address the PF need whether we trade for McGrady or not. If we can get Juwan Howard in the trade (I actually don't like him very much), we are getting 2 starters for 2 starters.

 

Who wants him to be second to Yao? I have no problem having TMac our first option and Yao our second. With Francis, we have no choice but hope that Yao can takeover the team because Francis is not good enough to be the first option on a championship team. With McGrady, the problem is no longer there.

Yao is not like Shaq. He wouldn't mind McGrady taking over. And as Rox225 pointed out, unlike Kobe, McGrady has tasted the burden of carrying the team alone. He'd be glad to have another star to share the load.

 

A universal trade truth.
A universal truth.
Unless we're talking about boobs.

Sorry to derail.

I'm for getting T-Mac, even parting with the three on the table, and the garbage salaries that are needed to balance it.

 

To be fair, Dallas received Michael Finley for Kidd and filler. Nash was a acquired later in a separate deal for Pat Garrity. Funny, cause the Kidd deal was made because of team chemistry issues and thus Dallas had no leverage, much like Orlando with TMac. Granted, things look better for Dallas now, but I always felt that was more because of the steal of Nowitzki from the Bucks. In the end, I think Phoenix was still better off themselves by having Kidd rather than Finley, regardless of how successful Dallas wound up. Frankly, i wouldn't care of this deal was a boon for Orlando so long as the Rockets were better off. Very good point though.

 

Man, Cato shouldn't have even been in our starting lineup. He's a decent backup center but he's inadequate and overpaid at the PF for his production. And Cat is a good player an all, but is he even a top ten SG in the league? Let's face it, Cat's an average to an above average SG. He's replaceable. Yes he would be nice as a 6th man or trade bait, but let's not kill this deal over a below average PF and an average to above average SG

 

looks like he's leaving for sure now...

your's for the taking cd...

Sources: T-Mac wants to leave

By Brian Schmitz | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted June 18, 2004, 6:51 PM EDT

Tracy McGrady is leaving the Orlando Magic.

League sources told the Sentinel that McGrady informed the team Friday that he doesn't want to re-sign with it when he becomes a free agent next year. It means the Magic will trade him rather than let him walk away at the end of his contract with no compensation.

General Manager John Weisbrod initiated this showdown with McGrady. He had pressured McGrady, privately and publicly, to make a decision about his future. From all indications, McGrady had begun expressing a desire to flee sometime before Weisbrod made his April proclamation that he would not go into next season with an "I don't know" from McGrady about his plans.

The relationship between the franchise and its star player worsened over the course of a 21-61 season. The Magic grew frustrated with some of McGrady's traits, including his tendency to rip his teammates publicly, his so-so practice habits and his lack of desire to lead the team.

Ultimately, however, this split may have come down to the team's direction. As a result of their horrible season, the Magic earned the No. 1 pick in Thursday night's draft. McGrady has said he wanted the team to trade the pick for veteran players, which might have helped the Magic turn around more quickly. The Magic want to keep the pick and rebuild slower and sturdier.

Magic owner Rich DeVos met with McGrady on Friday to gauge the player's intentions. He learned what he has heard is true: McGrady would like to try his luck elsewhere.

McGrady, who turned 25 last month, had said he felt he would have no choice but to leave if he didn't think the Magic could make a quick improvement.

Various player agents say the Magic's asking price for T-Mac will be exceptionally high and will focus on two or three teams that could deliver a package of players.

Candidates include the Indiana Pacers, Houston Rockets and Phoenix Suns - all teams with one outstanding young big man. They reportedly have expressed interest in adding McGrady.

According to one source, the Magic have asked the Pacers for as many as four players - Ron Artest, Al Harrington, Jamaal Tinsley and Jonathan Bender - in exchange for McGrady. To make it fit under salary-cap rules, the Magic would have to send at least one other player, likely Juwan Howard.

Donnie Walsh, the Pacers' team president and chief executive officer, told the Indianapolis Star that only star forward Jermaine O'Neal was untouchable.

McGrady signed with the Magic as a free agent in the summer of 2000. He received a seven-year, $93 million contact, with a clause that allowed him to opt out of the contract after the 2004-05 season.

He was expected to be the secondary star on the team behind former All-Star Grant Hill, another free agent signed in 2000. Together they were supposed to be the tandem that would carry the Magic back to the top tier of NBA teams, a designation Orlando lost when Shaquille O'Neal departed as a free agent in the summer of 1996.

Hill's troublesome ankle and inability to play more than a handful of games scuttled those plans but resulted in McGrady emerging as one of the top players in the league.

McGrady won the NBA's scoring title the past two seasons, and was a first-team selection to the All-NBA team in 2002 and 2003.

 

So, we can forget about Shaq going to Orlando too?

 

It should really get interesting now. Thanks for the article OmegaSupreme.

Could next year's Rocket lineup be

C - Yao Ming, (stick in cheap free agent backup 5 here: Doleac, Bateer, Foyle, etc.)
PF - Juwan Howard, Mo Taylor, Clerance Weatherspoon
SF - Jim Jackson, Boki Nachbar, Adrian Griffin
SG - Tracy McGrady, Eric Piatkowski
PG - Brent Barry (signed with trade exception), Mike Wilks

I think this team is signicantly better offesnively but doesn't look that great defensively. But I didn't think last year's team looked good defensively on paper but they posted some of the better defensive numbers in the league.

 

It seems that Indy is recieving the most interest from the Magic. I doubt that Indy would give Artest, Harrington, Bender, and Tinsley for T-Mac, thats basically their entire team. But I wonder if the Magic would go for a Artest, Harrington, Tinsley, deal..

Things are going to get very interesting....

 

Suns, Rockets, Pacers.....let the bidding war begin!

In my opinion, here are probably the BEST offers Orlando could get. Although chances are what Orlando 'wants' and 'gets' will meet somewhere in the middle.

Suns: Johnson, Marion, Voskul and thier #1
Pacers: Harrington,Artest,Tinsley, Bender
Rockets: Francis, Mobley, Cato, future #1?

Who would McGrady most like to play with? Yao, Stoudamire or J. O'neal?

 

If this is legit, it should be the Rockets main goal to get this deal done.

I was initially reluctant to gut the team for McGrady and garbage, but the more I think about, I am know converted.

As Raven and others have said, the league really does come down to superstar players. Although the Pistons just lost the title to the superstarred-out Lakers, that can hardly be considered a universal NBA truth. It is an anomoly until proven otherwise with a few more "team" championships (this isn't the NFL).

Tmac and Yao would give us the second-best players at their respective positions in the league. I don't believe you can still say that about Yao and Steve...or Paul Pierce...or Ray Allen...or Elton Brand.

With Shaq rapidly aging, and no longer dominant, Yao could quickly ascend to the throne of best center in the league. Tmac has already established himself as the second-best twoguard in the league.

Franchise, Cat and Cato, I appreciate what each of you did for this team, but your time has come.

Good luck in Orlando.

 

Sorry, the Pistons obvious WON the title.