I hate burst everyone's bubble but T-Mac is not coming here. He is just playing games with the Magic and the media. It's all a game to threaten the Magic to get better instantly by trading the pick. Remember Tim Duncan went on the tour in Orlando a few years back acting like he was interested in going there only to re-sign with the Spurs. It would be GREAT to get T-Mac but won't guarantee a Title next season or even two or 3 years down the road. Yao needs to develop more, we need a solid PF, and if Steve is gone, we will need 2 PG's, a starter and backup. I'd rather go after a solid PF and ligit backup PG and develop Nachbar than trade Steve, Cat and others to get one player, albeit one of the best in the league. Peace.
I said it well before we knew anything about the possibilities, and I'll say it again: If Francis goes, the only gaurd I'll only be happy with that we get in return is TMac. That's how attached to him I am and how good I think he is. Normally, I'd say Kobe, too, but not with the rape trial hanging over him... I'll miss ya Steve, if you really do go... Rivaldo281, I agree very much.
I don't understand... You say that getting Tmac wont "guarantee" a Title next season or even two or thee years down the road... Yet, keeping Francis will? Ok, I know you aren't saying that. But the chances of winning a title in the future will be greater with McGrady/Yao than with Francis/Yao. That should be obvious. There are no guarantees. But lets not be blind to the fact that the odds will be in our favor with a McGrady/Yao duo. And even if we get McGrady...that doesn't mean that we can't pick up a soild PF either. Then, we'll have the best of both worlds... McGrady Yao PF ---- an unknow PF to be named later
Indeed. Steve's "good" defense can only be rivaled by Moochie's "good" defense. Seriously though. The complain over T-mac's defense should stop. For one, he has played good defense before, even got a few shot blocks. Then he got to the Magic, Hill got injured, and was turned to, to be the main scoring option. So, we know he has the defensive capabilities in him, which im sure will return to him with JVG as his coach. In the Rockets, he will be turned to, to be the main scoring option. But, unlike the Magic, he won't have to do any "carrying". Just play his role, that of a consistent scoring SG with automatic offense, returning defense, rebounds and assists(which i have no doubt we'll see more from him, with a rockets team better than his former magic team). Is it just me, or do all these "SOF" or "steve lovers" come off as really young? I mean the whole "the player is just as important as the team"loyalty yadda yadda, spews immaturity.
It might just be me but I have a feeling T-Mac will be traded to Houston but it won't invole Steve Francis. The magic are trying to rebuild w/ draft picks and money, well Houston could easily trade the TE and Cato/Nachbar/Mobley for T-Mac then they could trade the #1 pick and Grant Hill for a vet player/star or just to move down in the draft for more picks. They need players who want to be there in O-Town. T-Mac holds all the cards on this situation if he says he is leaving after this season and the only team he wants to play for is the Houston Rockets well Orlando has a problem becuz no other team is stupid enuff to trade for Mcgrady if they know he will not sign an extension w/ them. Now this is when a smart GM comes into play(CD we Hope) we know that T-mac wants to be here, and we don't have to trade Yao Ming/Steve Francis to get him we have the leverage on the magic. T-Mac is a smart man by him naming all those teams Houston,Indy, Det. he makes life hard on Orlando because now teams will not even really try to hard to get him for the sake of losing him in a year...so Houston has to be smart about this :Cato/Mobley/TE/Nachbar/future draft picks prob could really get the job done if you think about it. T-Mac and Steve Francis are real close friends and you can't tell me they dont talk about these type of things in the off season...Watch what I tell you this will happen very soon T-Mac/Francis/Yao will be together on this team Steve Francis Jim Jackson Tracy Mcgrady Mo Taylor Yao Ming Orlando would have flexiblity and Money to start all over sometimes when you lose a star player the team plays harder and better Look at the Pistons when Grant Hill left, Ben Wallace became a star,...Kelvin Cato? When a player holds leverage or demands on a team he never gets traded for fair value look how the Blazers got Pippen, look how the rockets got Francis.....just look how the raptors got Hakeem.... We traded Roy Rodgers to get Scottie Pippen.. anything can happen is this biz!
If that happens. I wont be totally bummed. But I cringe at the idea that we'll have TWO shooting guards challenging each other for the same position. Francis that wants to be a SG. And McGrady IS a SG. Doesn't matter that you moved TMac to the 3 spot. McGrady wants the ball, and so will Francis. I mean, if you think that Francis/Mobley was bad. Just wait for that dual. Add the sad fact that we still wont have a PG that can distribute the ball with any sort of efficiency.
BigRay, you are not alone. I have no idea why, but my gut is telling me the same thing. Kind of a Scottie Pippen for the end of the bench type of trade, but with more emphasis on expiring contracts.
i dont know about that lineup. Both steve and tmac will want the ball. We need a real point guard in there who can handle the ball and take pressure.
There is no way the Magic will ever, ever, ever accept Kelvin Cato and Cuttino Mobley for McGrady. Mobley has a $6.4m player option for 2005-06 so they could ultimately end up trading TMac for Cato. While McGrady has a great deal of leverage, at some point it becomes a no brainer that the $30m in cap relief for letting McGrady and Hill walk is far superior than taking on a bunch of bogus contracts.
T-Mac is the only guard I would trade SF for, period. However, don't get too excited about T-Mac. Even though he did say we were #1 on his list, ANYTHING can happen. The last thing Orlando wants to do is trade T-Mac. If they get the right offer for the #1, they will make it happen. T-Mac is a top 5 player, 2 time scoring champ, a marketing dream, and more. If Orlando can just add a couple vets, most likely a big guy, they can convince him to stay. Even though its not quite the same situation, Garnett-Kidd-JO-Duncan, didn't go anywhere last season. You don't just trade superstars or just let them walk.
Francis (and all other NBA players) can be traded on July 14th. He signed a contract extension 08.26.2002. However, Francis did not become BYC until his raise kicked in...July 2003. July 1 of any year is when all NBA contracts reflect the next season's salary. Further, from Coon: "For extended rookie scale contracts, the player's BYC begins on the July 1 preceding the first season of the extension." Since Francis's first extension season was 2003-04, his raise actually occured on July 1, 2003. The extension effectivley got retro-dated to fit with the date all NBA contracts become effective for the following season...July 1.
Well. Looks like I'm a gonna cough up da fitty. :0 At least I get the satisfaction of keeping the other $ 50.00. Site is worth it. Let's see! Put your money up. I'm still on July 1.
You know, I used to be against trading steve, but now I'm in favor of it because of the aftereffects. Once the usual suspects who start threads like this get over their initial few orgasms, it's going to leave a huge void when they don't have him to blame for lifes problems. Naturally, they'll probably turn their fire on Yao...it will be funny to watch the coalition of YOF's and Steve-bashers collapse and devour itself.
But that's assuming we have the same type of "Francis problems." We wont. If anything it will be "rebounding" or "PF needs" or "outside shooting" or "we should sign Brain Cardinal." All things we'll need to address sooner or later. Things like that.
POST OF THE YEAR!!!! Perfectly put. Yao has only been here for 2 years. Because he is younger and has more time to develope into this "superstar" other people claim he will be, the people jump on his bandwagon. If Steve leaves this team, I will be very mad but will eventually get over it. Infact, when Steve's team plays the Rockets, I will be cheering for Stevie and his team to beat us just because of the shallowness of the fans and management in the organization. I'll put the fareness of one person in his dream job above the record of our home basketball team in a heartbeat, especially when that individual has done his best to win us more games then we deserve.
