http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/Sports/NBA/sptMAG01022606.htm February 26, 2006 McGrady deal was a bust By KEN HORNACK Staff Writer ORLANDO -- Steve Francis, Kelvin Cato and Cuttino Mobley ended up spending barely more time between them with the Orlando Magic than Darko Milicic did as a notorious non-achiever with the Detroit Pistons. The less said about Doug Christie, who was obtained for Mobley last season from the Sacramento Kings and turned out to be as much of a high-maintenance headache as his wife, the better. Based on those events, the inclination is to look back and claim the Magic got fleeced in the seven-player trade they made with the Houston Rockets in the summer of 2004. After all, Tracy McGrady and Juwan Howard are still with the team that acquired them. But the Rockets, who make their only visit of the season this afternoon, are in no position to gloat. The only time they've been above the .500 mark was after opening night, and McGrady's health and personal issues are every bit as troublesome as they were toward the end of his four seasons with the Magic. Meanwhile, the trading of Cato to the Pistons for Milicic and Carlos Arroyo paid off handsomely Friday night as the Magic snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 102-89 victory over Seattle. The two of them combined for 26 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two blocked shots with just one turnover. And if assistant general manager Otis Smith hadn't been able to ship Francis to New York last week, Arroyo would never have gotten a chance to run the offense for the entire fourth quarter. Is it still too late to say goodbye to John Weisbrod, the former Magic GM who was smitten with Francis and alternated between taking verbal potshots at McGrady and being sideswiped by him? "It was a concept that they tried," said forward Pat Garrity, one of only three Magic players left from before the trade with the Rockets. "It didn't work out. And I think Otis did the right thing. He made a move to change things and to have a plan for the future. "A lot of times, things look good on paper. And then when you put them into practice, they don't work. That was something that happened here. So you just move forward." McGrady, who admitted he thought about quitting basketball during the Magic's 19-game losing streak early in the 2004-05 season, has struggled to move forward lately. Between missing 13 games with back problems and trying to cope with an issue that he did not specify at the time, he talked during All-Star weekend in Houston about being unable to focus. A meeting with Charles Barkley appeared to lift him out of his funk, as McGrady responded with a game-high 36 points for the Western Conference. But on Friday night, Rockets coach Jeff Van Gundy had to use his 17th different starting lineup because McGrady, who endured the loss of several family members and close friends during his years with the Magic, had yet another death to mourn. After winning NBA scoring titles in each of his last two seasons in Orlando, McGrady began the weekend tied for ninth with a 25.2-point average in his second season in Houston. The Rockets have gone 9-2 during February, but their overall record is only three games better than that of the Magic. The Magic appear to have responded favorably to the trading of Francis. They have shot better than 50 percent from the floor in both games since the deal, and the nine turnovers they had against the SuperSonics were a marked improvement for a team that was ranked 25th in that category. "You've got to go out there and do your job and be professional about it," guard DeShawn Stevenson said. "Any day, you could be gone. Any day, you could be here. So you've just got to make the best of it." ken.hornack@news-jrnl.com
Stongly disagree. Last seasons' Magic benefitted from a very easy early schedule where they beat teams by outscoring them. Once they got into tougher games, their defensive weakness was really exposed. A large part of their defensive weakness was recurring injuries to Kelvin Cato who stuggled to stay healthy all of last season. The 04-05 Magics' high-water mark was Dec 10th when they were 13-6. The first 13 wins consisted of: Lottery bound Bucks (home) Lottery bound Hornets Lottery bound Lakers who were 3-4 at the time (home) Lottery bound Jazz (twice; once w/o Kirilenko) A good Pacers team 86-86 (home) Lotttery bound Blazers (home) Lottery bound Hawks A .500 Sixers (home) Lottery bound Raptors (home) Lottery bound Knicks Grizzlies who were struggling to replace Hubie and who were 6-12 at the time (home) Lottery bound Warriors (pre-trade for Baron Davis) Even in the early wins, they were giving up 100 points with regularity and that wasn't going to change when the schedule got tougher.
The trade still works out in our favor. We still have McGrady and Howard. McGrady is worth more than Penny Hardaway. They have nothing to show for the trade. The Mobley trade was a disaster. They only did that trade because the players were complaining about Francis and Mobley dominating the ball. They should have kept Mobley and traded Francis earlier when his value was higher.
there's some truth in your arguments, but the magic would have made the playoffs if they had an nba-caliber coach AND not traded cat.
i frogot to add: had the magic stayed put and made our trades (gaines for james then for rafer, and lue for jb) they would've had a nice team in the east.
I don't understand the logic of this guy. Mcgrady sucks because His whole team has been injured? Last time i checked, Mcgrady was a bball player and not the team physician in charge of everyone's health.
Still bitter up there in Orlando I see! The Rockets are a few games out of the playoffs and capable of making a run in the postseason. This despite having the entire team ravaged by injuries. How does that make the McGrady deal a bust from the Rockets side of it!?
McGrady's "request" to come to Houston didn't leave them much to negotiate but they messed it up worse in the after trade trades. Timing was part of it but Cato was the only one they got fair market value for.
No mention of the fact that, if we hadn't encountered mass injuries, we were slated to be the best team in the West this season (and we're just now starting to show how accurate that was). No mention of the fact that, in the first year after the trade, the Rockets went to the playoffs and the Magic went to the lottery. No mention of the fact that the Rockets, even after a devastating season, are fighting and in strong contention for a playoff spot right now (3 1/2 games back), while the Magic are 7 games back with no hope in sight. No mention of the fact that, since the trade, the Rockets have defeated the Magic four out of six times.
Magic Trade: TMac/Howard/Lue/Gaines Magic Receive: Christie/Arroyo/Milicic/Ariza/Hardaway Houston Trades: Francis/Cato/Mobley Houston Receives: TMac/Howard/J. Barry/Alston
