Addition by subtraction (Tmac Apologists need not click)

but but but, he's on a bad team...

and i hate the numbers when they don't prove my point of view.

(j/k - in the holiday spirit)

 

T-mac for Carter and Brook Lopez

 

I'd do Tmac for Marbury and their #1.

Marbury comes off the books, sign Boozer and re-sign Artest with Tmac's money, then hopefully the Knicks miss the playoffs and we have a lottery pick.

Brooks
Draft Pick
Shane
Boozer
Yao
----

Artest off the bench

 

The real problem is everyone's perception of T-Mac. Since he looks lazy and has the sleepy eyes and says dumb things during interviews, he's the easiest target to rag on no matter what's going on. He's also the highest paid player on this team so that doesn't help his case.

The point is, T-Mac isn't the only problem. I don't think his drama has gotten to the point where it is damaging the team, but I think it could be close. If you are asking to get rid of him because he's damaging the team, that is perfectly reasonable and probably the best way to go.

If you are asking to get rid of him because you don't think he's making the team better, that's not going to help. If we can't win the championship with T-Mac, we sure as hell aren't going to win it with any of the players he will net us. Brad Miller and John Salmons? Sczerbiak & filler? Harrington & Q-Rich? Marion? None of these guys (or combo of guys) will put us over the top.

UNLESS TMAC IS DAMAGING THE TEAM, You just have wait these two seasons out, see where the team goes, because we do have a core group of guys right now. If the result is satisfactory, you sign him at a lesser contract. No matter how good he will be, he won't be worth max money by then.

If it's not satisfactory (WCF is what I'm guessing the franchise is looking at) then at the end of his contract, let him walk. Simple as that. Use that money to sign a healthy, young star and maybe a veteran big man who knows the ropes.

I say let him walk because that will be 2010, the big FA season.

 

^

uhhhhhh.................

 

That was at signing Boozer

 

i understand what you are saying but that pushes us back if anything then forward towards a championship..and think about all the teams who would pick him up in a heart beat, cmon now
we just need to give tmac time and see what happens, after all, we have barely played with our full team. patience. and not patience for the season, i mean patience for the next 2 months. if we dont do anythin this season, then we need to figure out somethin..dont worry we have morey so we are in good hands

 

If Carter's deal expired the same year as McGrady's, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Carter has an extra year though and will be 32 next month.

From the Nets' perspective, Carter is better than McGrady and they are a playoff team this season. They won't give up their top pick in Lopez, either.

I think any team willing to take McGrady has to be a bottom dweller in tank mode.

At the same time, since the Nets are players in 2010, dumping the extra year on Carter's contract may interest them. I think you would have to put somebody other than Lopez in the deal, though.

 

There will be about 15 teams with the cap space to compete for 4 young stars in 2010.

What makes you think the Rockets will get one of them? The great Houston strip clubs?

Tragically, that may actually end up being our best selling point.

We are one of the oldest teams in the league right now and are in a "win now" mode. There are several young teams that will be bidding for those top FAs and those teams will be just hitting their stride in 2010 while the Rockets very likely will be beginning their rebuilding phase. And Yao will be 30 at that point. Who knows how is body will hold up. I don't think he will be the selling point he once was by then.

 

So let me get this straight:

You want to give up the season, break up the core, trade away our star, give away our huge financial advantage for summer of 2010, so we can get in a better situation financially for the summer of 2009. You want to do this by basically giving away McGrady for Marbury, who wouldnt play a minute here because you don't like the way Tracy plays, despite having a decent record and being better off than we were last year. I know we lost to Washington, and other bad teams, but alot of our recent struggles is due to Yao shooting horrible.

Don't get me wrong I am no fanboy, I would move Tracy for the right deal (Dirk, Nash/Barb, Redd). But this idea is just...not good. It screams knee-jerk, and you know what happens in these types of situations (see Dallas/Phoenix). Who is even available this year, not very many good players imo. You kids need to relax with all these personell moves.

 

That Billups + Sheed offer must be looking really good right now.

 

Great thread, DaDa! Completely agree with you.

It's just too bad we didn't bite on the Pistons deals.

 

We've come to far to just give up on him, I'm not a big fan of him either right now but I never had the hate you've had for him over the years. Might as well wait until 2010 to see what we should do. Hell I don't think we should resign Yao to the max if he keeps having season ending injuries every year.

 

G**damnit, this isn't necessarily Tmac for Marbury. How many people are gonna post this? That was an example set by DD. It's more like "trade Tmac for whatever and get out from under the burden of a prima donna lazy bum".

And who wrote "because Tmac looks sleepy and disinterested, must mean he is?" ShadyMcGrady? Are you kidding? Do a little research on McGrady. He only plays well when coaches constantly have to kick him in the a$$ to perform. A player's coach like Adelman? Nope. Hell, TMac would have eaten RudyT's lunch: "I don't feel like playing, my, uh, well, something hurts---you know how it is." "Get out of here, call in when you feel like it."

 

Weird... don't recall Rockets being better when TMac out with injury.

Why Rockets no add power when substracting TMac?

 

I've already posted my thoughts on trading Tmac earlier in the thread and I do agree with most posters that you probably won't get anything that great in return that'll make us instant contenders again. The problem some have mentioned here is Tmac's playmaking ability. We all seem to agree that Tmac has above average playmaking ability and that is one of his strongest assets, even injured. So, the question of trading him becomes two fold... can you get someone back that can put up numbers and create for others? Because lets face it, the personnel on this team has MAJOR problems creating for themselves and others. Tmac is one of the few players that actually can make great passes to Yao, Hayes, Scola, etc...without getting someone like Billups who can truly create for himself and others, I think the team suffers more than most expect...just remember, even hobbled, other teams still look to double Tmac and that's because he's still considered a threat. And no, Aaron Brooks is not the solution. I say ride it out since there are no good trade options available.

 

The Marbury move is to get a max deal off the books for the summer of 2009 instead of 2010. It lets the Rockets be a player in free agency one year sooner. Judging by how injury prone and rapidly aging this team is I would say that extra year is very important.

The Championship contender window is CLOSED for this team as it is currently constructed. McGrady isn't coming back healthy. The guy is 29 freaking years old and can't even strength train anymore because he has arthritis. If that doesn't tell you how broken down he is then I'm not sure what to say. Even if he comes back as healthy as Tracy can be it won't be enough to get this team over the hump this year. By holding on to Tmac this team's best shot is another one and done in the playoffs or maybe a second round elimination. That is not what this team was built to accomplish so if that is the best realistic scenario then it's time to start moving guys who have to have after school meetings with management to motivate them to show up to games.

 

If this is the rationale behind trading him and most people believe they have a ZERO chance of winning a championship as currently constructed, then yes trade him... but like I said before.. if you plan to keep Yao, then you better find a good player as a tandem for him. As of this moment, Artest is a 1 year rental.

 

+1!

Game. Set. Match.

 

If the Blazers put that on the table I would consider it. In all honesty, the class of FAs in 2010 is one of the best in recent history, if the Rockets can sit pat for another year, then we can make a run at some really good players.

Until someone says something about this situation hurting the team, I don't see it as a problem. By waiting till 2010, the Rockets would be able to pick up a premiere player to pair up with Yao and maybe Artest. Though they might be aging, they'll be great complementary pieces to whoever we pick up. We completely avoid having to "rebuild" by picking up another talent we can build around.

Everyone is frustrated with McGrady, but I do not want to trade away our flexibility in 2010 for some scrubs that are athletic.