Reality is that Ford is powerful. As the bylined lead/head of NBA Insider on the #1 sports site and network in the USA he is not just 'some schmoo' on talk radio. Maybe people don't jump when he talks but NBA 'insiders' likely feed info (disinfo) into him to get 'credence' for a story. So, is he CYA on this because he looks like a fool with his article or is there something to it or whatever, I cannot know. However, if things unfold as I (want to) believe they are he is egg-on-faced and CYA. He should just move on (and out, but that's another issue).
Chad "Insider Plagirist" Ford needs to be fired from ESPN. Seriously. The only good, original, piece I can think of out of his articles was his interview with David Stern. Funny how his sources for stating that the deal isn't done are two of the teams still trying to get McGrady. Convienent of him to forget the fact that teams often finalize deals in June or early July that have to wait a few weeks due to player contract terms/free agency signing periods. Fire him and let him start up a blog with Peter "Facts not Rumors" Vescey. Evan
thecabbage and everyone else kept saying that T-Mac would only sign an extension with Houston so basically he was in control of this trainwreck (for the Magic). My position is that the Magic should have called his bluff and took the Phoenix deal and dared him to say no. If he did, he would have been cutting his own throat because he'd have wound up back in Orlando this fall only to be traded at mid-season but that appears to be water under the bridge at this point. Like or hate him, Ford makes some good points about T-Mac & SF/Mobley. I would imagine that Orlando will have hell selling this deal to what few fans they have left.
How would he have been cutting his own throat? Its Orlando who gets screwed if T-mac leaves for nothing. As long as T-mac was willing to play another year there (when at his salary, there's no reason not to), he would just opt out after next year and go to any team he wants... while Orlando would have gotten nothing. Even if T-Mac hadn't said he wanted to sign only with Houston, you can't argue this fact... its McGrady who needs to sign an extension (or waive his option), thus any team who trades for him has to work this out before-hand. Phoenix wouldn't go behind his back and even attempt to trade unless they were sure he'd be around for more than one year (thus, there couldn't be any dramatic "calling of blufs"... he would have known well in advance), especially since they'd be giving up so much... how is it that you fail to realize this?
1. Adding bigs makes much more sense? Foster?? He changed the players here and he still seriously thinks those 3 are better than Francis, Mobes, and Cato? Without Artest Indy's offer is dead. What a dork! 2. Again, the extra size... Exactly which of those 3 is bigger than Cato? And if it's the #7 instead of Johnson, this one gets really iffy. 3. The best deal? Only if the Clips still had #2 instead of #4. Other than Maggette, how could the Magic be sure what kind of player production they were getting back. At least with the Rockets, they'd know what to expect. This guy looks worse every day this drags out. Only Vescey saves him from being the "insider" most often wrong, but this trade should vault him into first place.
Orlando is getting screwed no matter what. Of all the prospective deals, the Houston deal was one of the weaker deals out there. I am merely looking at all of the angles to this affair. Now, how is it that YOU fail to realize that? Now I understand that the mere thought of having the mighty T-Mac standing next to Yao in Rockets red is enough to send most of you guys into basketball nirvana but it should not come at the cost of abandoning all sense of objectivity. An awful lot is being assumed or taken for granted with this deal. Here are a few things that trouble me: 1) It is universally assumed that CD & Co. will do the right thing - make the right moves to address the weaknesses created by this deal. Hello people! You are actually trusting the guys who brought you Moochie, Mo, Eddie, Adrian and Eric to suddenly start getting it right? Based on WHAT evidence? 2) No true PF? No problem! We have the $6.99 million (trumpets please!) TRADE EXCEPTION! With this magic bean we will be able to TRADE for a starting PF! Never mind with whom or where - we will TRADE for a player go against KG, Tim, Dirk, Ben and the rest. And once again, the genius that is CD will be the guy pulling this off for all of us! 3) OK. We have T-Mac. Now what? Can someone tell me what is the Rockets plan and how they intend to execute it? What type of team will they put together around Yao & T-Mac? What style of basketball will they play and will T-Mac be able to fit in with JVG's basketball philosophy? (T-Mac will be playing for a coach (JVG) who has never had a 20+ point scorer play for him - I wonder how that will work out) These are just a few of what I feel are valid concerns that should not be swept under the carpet during all of the hoopla & celebration over the T-Mac deal. Things are never as simple as they seem on the surface and it would bode Rockets fans well to retain just the tinest bit of objectivity.
1. They won't... McGrady and Yao will have to play great basketball to improve on last year's record, because it will be 2 against 5 most of the time, and the team defense isn't going to be nearly as good so they better score A LOT more than last season. 2. Just accept the fact that we will see Howard and Taylor, basically the EXACT same player, split the time there. 3. The biggest problem I see with Van Gundy/Tracy is that Van Gundy is NOT a kiss butt coach, Tracy was the happiest when Doc Rivers was there basically kissing his butt about as much as Doug Collins would kiss Jordan's butt.
How is being a force in the East a raw deal for the Magic? Dude.... Francis (or whatever you can get for him), Mobley, Hill, Okafor, Cato, Gooden, Stevenson. You seem to be a fan of the Jerry Krause school of rebuilding, which is what eventually got him ousted and got Chicago stuck with a cruddy team for the last half a decade plus. It's not safe these days to put all your hope and many years of waiting into these young high schoolers. And that's what they'd be doing in any of those other deals for lottery picks. Shawn Marion? Puhleeease. Look how good Phoenix is. The Magic would be as foolish as an ESPN beatwriter to pass up being good right now as opposed to maaaaaaybe in 5 years. The East is still a relative cakewalk.
First things first... get the deal done (I'm not one of those people already daydreaming about championships... I agree that there's a lot of work to be done). But... who says this team should be contenders overnight? They're only going to eventually go as far as Yao can take them... its HIS development that this team is still ultimately concerned about. With T-mac, however, it gives them a bit of a safety-net with that development... something that they didn't really have with Francis, who while he has talent, hasn't been able to put it together to dominate consistently. Even before JVG, steve never had a go-to move, a game-plan... he relied on his god-given atheletic ability alone to make things happen and score 20 a night. T-mac has arleady been the man for 3 years now... its nothing new to him. The rest of the problems you list are definitely valid, and will be addressed... over time. You honestly think we'll never have another PF ever? They might not find the one they want this year, but they'll be jumpin on the first available, affordable, one. As far as the game-plan goes, JVG has never had players with the combined talents of a T-mac and Yao... so we'll see how he plans on either utilizing and maxmimizing that combined talent, or whether or not he wastes it. Believe me... I'm not ultra-confident like some of these people out there... but I definitely feel far more confident in a Yao-T-mac foundation for years to come, than a Yao-Steve one.
