http://myespn.go.com/blogs/truehoop/0-29-22/Trading-Tracy-McGrady.html The Rockets seem to still be stuck in a bit of a jam. They have what everybody wants -- a quality big man in his prime. They also have some excellent role players, and one of the game's top perimeter stars. But, as the clock ticks on all of those players, they continue to lack a clear solution at point guard, and most importantly, they continue not to win as much as they hope to. At some point, you wonder, might the team decide that Tracy McGrady is not the right star to pair with Yao Ming? People have theorized about that for years -- just as they theorize about rebuilding practically every team. Yesterday, Chris McCosky of the Detroit News wrote: The topic of Tracy McGrady came up in the Pistons' locker room before a game last week. McGrady is now injured and unhappy in Houston. Reports there say he has told friends he wants to be traded -- again. One player, who shall remain nameless, joked that McGrady was becoming more and more like his cousin, Vince Carter. "They should call Tracy, 'half-man, half a season,'" the player cracked. Who knows if McGrady is on the trading block at all. My thought was -- is it even possible to trade Tracy McGrady? With his salary and the makeup of the team, are there viable trades that even make sense? Some smart people played around with the trade machine and came up with a bunch of scenarios that work salary-cap wise. * To Dallas: Tracy McGrady, Steve Francis, and Carl Landry for Jason Terry, Jerry Stackhouse, and Maurice Ager. * To Denver: Straight up for Allen Iverson. * To Indiana: Tracy McGrady, Rafer Alston, Steve Francis, and Carl Landry for Jermaine O'Neal, Jamaal Tinsley, and Stephen Graham. * To the Clippers: Tracy McGrady, Luther Head, and Carl Landry for Corey Maggette, Cuttino Mobley, and Dan Dickau. * To the Nets: Tracy McGrady and Kirk Snyder for Richard Jefferson, Jamaal Magloire, and Antoine Wright. * Or another Nets trade: Tracy McGrady and Steve Francis for Vince Carter and Jamaal Magloire. * To the Hornets: Tracy McGrady and Carl Landry for Peja Stojakovic, Ryan Bowen, and Rasual Butler. * To the Suns: Tracy McGrady and Aaron Brooks for Shawn Marion and Marcus Banks. * To the Kings: Tracy McGrady, Shane Battier, Kirk Snyder, and Aaron Brooks for Mike Bibby, Ron Artest, Kenny Thomas, and Francisco Garcia. * To the Jazz: Tracy McGrady and Carl Landry for Andrei Kirilenko and Morris Almond. A few thoughts: * It's hard to trade someone like Tracy McGrady. He's one of the best players in the NBA at times (never forget). And he is paid accordingly. But man ... there are questions. * Being durable is so important in this league. With every single one of these I find myself asking: do the [insert team name here] really want to hitch their wagon to someone who is so often injured? For that reason, some of the trades that make the most sense are for others with similar histories, like Stojakovic. * Assuming Carl Landry likes being in Houston, all this McGrady trade talk is not good for him with his easy-to-trade minimum contract. * The media would love a McGrady-for-Carter cousin trade. * Teams with top point guards, like New Jersey and New Orleans, might be able to get more out of McGrady than the rest. I'm thinking a long, mobile, score-from-anywhere shooting guard would enjoy a major bump in productivity alongside a great passer. * I would assume that if Houston moves a major piece like McGrady, they would want to solve their ongoing point guard conundrum in the process. --------------------------------- As a non-Houstonian, I never realized that this was an actual possibility. I love T-Mac, but this team is way underperforming. Thoughts?
It's dumb how they are still rolling with this. It's just a rumor? And none of those traders seems to benefit the Rockets in anyway. They all have mediocre and injury prone players. One injury prone player is enough. The only trades that would benefit the Rockets is the one with Iverson, which would be awesome, and the one with the Kings. Although, if we were to get Artest, I would be mad because he's such a ballhog who wants to be a scorer. Remember that truehoop post saying how he broke set plays just so he could score.
I agree with that. I think he was a big contributor to the downfall of Adelman in Sacramento. I only hope Tracy doesn't do that in Houston.
i would do the Suns deal also, but yea the other ones seem crappy. Especially the Indiana deal, although I would also pull the trigger on the clippers deal. None of these will happen though so, whatever.
Dallas: no way we will trade with them for that crap. Denver: that is tempting. i know ai is getting old, but i think the fact he gives 100% on the court and plays through injuries is admirable. he has a will to win. but i think it would be a lateral move. Indiana: I'd do that assuming Tinsley would be sufficient for us to play point. J.Oneal's production did drop some this season Clippers: Doesn't solve our PG problems, not a big fan of CM Nets (with RJ or Vince): no thanks NO: Peja might get a lot more open shots with Yao in the block. That does sound tempting taking NO ONE ON OUR TEAM CAN SHOOT THE 3 BALL. But he is kinda expensive for a spot of shooter. He has played with RA so perhaps that would do us wonders. Still leaning towards no. Need a pg and we don't get one. But Ryan Bowen back?!?!?! hmmm. haha. Suns: I don't want to give up Aaron Brooks Kings: too many question marks. Can Bibby hold up? will Artest go crazy? Jazz: no thanks.
Just say NO to any trade scenarios involving Aaron Brooks, he's OURS! Though would love Shawn Marion on this team but, why would Phoenix every do this? Would make no sense for them. I'd potentially give up a draft pick before giving up AB, the Afterburner, the NEW agent zero!
Terrible terrible trades. His value can't be that low. The two that would actually be considerable are the Iverson and Kings trades. The rest are just garbage. If that's all what the Rockets can get, we either trade him KG-style or wait till his contract year.
Have you been paying attention to the Rockets lately? They are turning the corner. Trading McGrady for someone who has similar issues (injuries, bad contract) is the most likely option and that's not worth it, unless he just doesn't want to be here anymore. There's no credible evidence that this is the case.
This one had to be hard to actually type. You couldn't do it with out laughing so hard you sprayed your keyboard with the 5th Diet Coke you just drank. McGrady for an old Peja, Rasual Butler (avg 6 ppg & 0.9 apg), and Ryan freaking Bowen? Really?
every single one of those trades sucks with the exception of Iverson and no way are the Nuggets going to part with him. Every single one of those trades is BS.
That's almost like T-Mac for JET straight up. Wow. The author is an idiot. Period. An average Joe on any message board can come up a more reasonable trade than that.
Those trades are all crap. As we have a dominant big man, the only perimeter players I would trade for alone would be Kobe or LeBron which will not happen in either case! Potential trades that I would consider would be for a good/shooter outside player and a good younger prospect like the following below. We would have to dump someone else like Francis, James etc. to make the salaries work: Atlanta: Joe Johnson and (Al Horford or Marvin Willams) Milwaukee: Michael Redd and (Yi Jianlin or Bobby Simmons) LA Clippers: Elton Brand and change Chicago: Luol Deng and Kirk Hinrich Portland: Roy and Aldridge Phoenix: Marion and Barbosa Otherwise screw it. Tmac is a beast in the playoffs and that is almost without a doubt.
T-mac for Mike Miller and Hakim Warrick would have some sex appeal. We could also keep the "Hakim" name in the family.
