There's all kinds of speculation, and many different rumours about who's going where for what, but the T-Mac one seems to be the hottest. What I want to know is where people on this board stand on the idea. Irespective of whether or not you like Steve, the idea of getting one of the best 4 or 5 players in the game to add to Yao would be interesting to almost anyone, I expect, so the question is, how much would you give up? To me the breakdown comes over whether you see T-Mac and Yao as fitting into an immediate contender, and as such need to be reassured that all of our other bases are covered, or whether you see Yao and T-Mac as the foundation for a potential long term championship calibre team, and as such think that you do what it takes to get those tow and build from there, the premise that the chance to have 2 of the better players in the league in the future is worth whatever it takes short term. So, if it means giving up pretty much all of our quality aside from Yao, do you do it? If it means taking Hill back, do you do it? Anything but Yao, or not?
TMac puts Rox on map, shows commitment to other players and to fanbase. Plus, as pointed out, it means he is not a Sun or a Spur. This does NOT mean I wish SF gone, but he would be worth the 'sacrifice'!
Well I'd love to get T-mac but I really hope we don't overlly unload to the point where we are handicapped because we are paying T-mac way too much. If we get T-mac, I hope we can still afford good role players to play along side him and Yao and not just a bunch of scrubs. The duo of Tmac and Yao will definitely get us to the play offs but I am worried that because we'll be paying those two sooooooo much, we won't have the role players on our team that can carry us to that championship level.
Superstars win championships in this league, and these days it takes more than one. This fact makes this debate an easy one for me to sort through. For those who require a more concrete argument, if you buy into the following equation, then the answer should be simple... TMac + Yao + VG hand-picked players > SF, Mobes, Taylor, Yao, JJ, Cato
with TMac and Yao demanding constant double teams, any role player is a good role player. we'll still have JJ, Nachbar, Pike... if they can knock down the open jumper we'll be unstoppable.
The difference between T-Mac and Steve is that T-Mac needs to be doubled constantly and no one ever double team Steve.
I'm not willing to give up both Francis and Mobley either. One or the other I'm fine with, but not both.
Having both of them should improve the team and increase ticket sales, ads, and publicity. The positive will outweigh losing other players and taking Hill's contract. It boils down to which deal is better for the Orlando and where TMac wants to play.
Other than Yao, I would be willing to give up anything else. I would love to keep Cat and Cato, but if the Magic are asking for them too, I sure as hell am not going to let a couple of role players stand in the way of getting a superstar top 5 player.
Why. Shooting guards are a dime a dozen. Id be happy with JJ playing at SG, he is just as good as mobley. I could see him doing alot better when not playing small forward. Tmac at the 3 and JJ at the 2. With this team there is no such thing as giving up too much. Soo what if we lose Cato, MoT, Cat or SF. We will be losing 2 highly overpaid forwards, and a point guard that doesnt fit and Cat. Cato and MoT can easily be replaced through free agency once we get their contracts off the books. There is nobody on this team, other then yao, with tremendous upside. I would like to keep Cat also since he brings alot for the price, but JJ brings alot of the intangilbles and if Tmac comes JJ or Cat will have to go. If orlando ask for Cat, then they can have him. MoT and Cato do contribute alot to this team, but niether are in the rockets long term plans. With yao and tmac we will have the strongest base to build a contender from.
I'd be happy if the Rockets were able to turn Francis into a near All Star and a high-end role player...neither of whom turned the ball over much and were reasonably athletic. I'd be ecstatic if McGrady's burn-out with the Magic dropped him into our laps. Best case, we keep Cato and Jim Jackson. Worst case, we lose Cato but get Juwan and deal Taylor in a trade with another team.
