http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/2654686 Rockets pair superstar with Yao and gain imposing offensive punch in 7-player trade By JONATHAN FEIGEN Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle RESOURCES INTERACTIVES: • Columnist Mickey Herskowitz's commentary • Columnist Richard Justice's analysis -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- FORUM: Send your opinions on Francis deal here -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE TRADE: The Rockets will acquire Tracy McGrady, veteran power forward Juwan Howard and guards Tyronn Lue and Reece Gaines with the Rockets sending their starting backcourt of the past four seasons, Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley, and center/forward Kelvin Cato to the Magic. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRADING PLACES • STEVE FRANCIS Age: 27 Date of birth: February 21, 1977 College: Maryland HT: 6-3 WT: 195 NBA Seasons: 5 Drafted by Vancouver in 1999 (1/2). Acquired in a trade with Vancouver in 1999. Full stats • CUTTINO MOBLEY Full stats • KELVIN CATO Full stats FOR • TRACY MCGRADY Age: 25 Date of birth: May 24, 1979 High School: Mount Zion Christian Academy (Durham, NC) HT: 6-8 WT: 210 NBA Seasons: 7 Drafted by Toronto in 1997 (1/9). Acquired in a trade with Toronto in 2000. Full stats • JUWAN HOWARD Full stats • TYRONN LUE Full stats • REECE GAINES Full stats -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SPORTS POLL What do you think of the Francis-McGrady trade? A win-win situation for Rockets A bad deal. Rockets gave up too much Rockets need more changes than just Francis -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- • ROCKETS/NBA: Full Chronicle coverage -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- T-Mac and Yao. Yao and T-Mac. The idea seduced the Rockets with possibilities. The Rockets imagined Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming together, and Tuesday, after a week teased by the notion of a blockbuster trade on the brink of completion, put the league's scoring champion with its presumed next great center and envisioned what they could become. Finally, when McGrady was a Rocket, he began thinking the same way. Asked in an ESPN interview what he would say to Yao when they meet as teammates, Mc-Grady struck upon the Rockets' inspiration for the deal. "Bring me a championship, big man," he said. "Bring me a championship. I've led the league in scoring two consecutive years. As long as we win, that's all that matters to me. I'm going to try to go in there and do what I do. If that consists of me sacrificing, giving Yao the ball and playing through other guys, that's what I'll do." The trade, considered close more than a week before, was sealed Tuesday when the Rockets sent guards Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley, and forward-center Kelvin Cato to the Magic for McGrady, veteran forward Juwan Howard and guards Tyronn Lue and Reece Gaines. "I think both teams are going to benefit from this trade," said McGrady, 25. "I got want I wanted. Orlando got three solid players. Houston was definitely the No. 1 team on my list." After Francis' initial trepidation about going to the Magic, 21-61 last season, several conversations with Magic general manager John Weisbrod and a meeting in Orlando on Tuesday had made him open to the idea of the trade and apparently moved the Magic to complete it. Although the teams confirmed the deal's completion Tuesday pending physicals, there were no comments. A source close to the negotiations said the Rockets had wanted to hold some form of media availability Tuesday. But as part of the deal with the Magic, the Rockets agreed to wait until this afternoon when they will introduce McGrady, Lue and Gaines at Toyota Center. (Howard will be unable to attend.) More than just T-Mac Howard, 31, a veteran of 10 seasons and four teams, could give the Rockets the steady power forward presence they have sought. Lue, 27, who agreed to waive his option to become a free agent, becomes the only point guard on the roster. And Gaines, 23, the Magic's first-round pick last season, becomes a young prospect to develop on a team that had no rookies last season or incoming draft picks this season. But the Rockets ended the often spectacular but unfulfilling post-Hakeem Olajuwon era of Francis and Mobley with the idea McGrady and Yao could become something greater. Francis, the Rockets' co-Rookie of the Year and three-time All Star, had been so much the cornerstone of the team's plans he was called "Franchise" and became the face of the team. After initial reluctance he wore the nickname and all it suggested publicly and proudly. But he became the lightning rod of public debate and frustration. This season's playoff berth was his first. In McGrady, the Rockets bring in one of the NBA's most sensational and celebrated stars in the hopes he and Yao could become the next great tandem. The league has long been dominated by the partnership of inside-out talents, from Bill Russell and Bob Cousy to Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. Francis and Yao were billed as successors to that legacy. But Francis had to sacrifice much of his scoring last season to serve more as a point guard. After averaging 20.1 points in his first four seasons, Francis, 27, averaged 16.6 points per game last season, the first of his career in which he did not lead the Rockets in scoring. Mobley, 30, went from averaging 17.4 points per game to 15.8. McGrady led the NBA in scoring the past two seasons, averaging 28 points last season and 32.1 in 2002-03. Howard does not provide two of the traditional power forward qualities. He is not a shot-blocker and seldom gets to the line. But he is much more of a catch-and-shoot threat than Cato, 29, who started 67 games at power forward last season, and more of a rebounder than Maurice Taylor. Thinking extension But with the deal completed two days before the start of free agency, the Rockets cannot rest, facing more important decisions than before the trade. That likely will begin with McGrady's contract. McGrady had been brought to Orlando as a homecoming for the Auburndale, Fla., native. But the Magic began looking to trade McGrady when it became clear he would opt out of his contract after next season. The Rockets likely will quickly begin talks on an extension. "Sitting back and seeing Kobe and how much freedom he has because of Shaq, that's what I need to win a championship," McGrady told Florida Today. "They have a great coach in Jeff Van Gundy and they are going to do the things there to put the right pieces around me and Yao so that we can win a championship."
