http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/ This one has headlines too. http://www.orlandosentinel.com/spor...n22,1,3237849.story?coll=orl-sports-headlines T-Mac, Francis deal in works A proposed trade for Houston's all-star guard would include up to 3 other Magic players. By Brian Schmitz - Sentinel Staff Writer June 22, 2004 The Orlando Magic were working on a blockbuster deal Monday to send all-star guard Tracy McGrady -- and perhaps as many as three other Magic players -- to the Houston Rockets. According to several league sources and other reports, McGrady, forward Juwan Howard, point guard Tyronn Lue and perhaps point guard Reece Gaines will be traded to the Rockets for all-star guard Steve Francis, guard Cuttino Mobley and center Kelvin Cato and/or Bostjan Nachbar. The salaries among the Magic and Rockets players involved match up, coming within 15 percent as required by the league. The deal might not be finalized until July because of salary-cap complications. A league source said that for some of the Rockets involved, Orlando might not be their final destination and they could be dealt elsewhere. The Sentinel first reported several weeks ago that McGrady preferred to play with the Rockets if he were traded. McGrady said he wanted to team with a big man such as Houston's 7-foot-6 Yao Ming. Francis' agent, Jeff Fried, said in a story on the Houston Chronicle's Web site Monday that Rockets General Manager Carroll Dawson had told him the trade was not yet complete. The multiplayer deal had to clear some salary-cap hurdles and, according to Fried, some maneuvering in today's expansion draft. "I spoke to Carroll and it was not a done deal," Fried said. "It's close. It's subject to a few contingencies." Magic General Manager John Weisbrod did not return several calls. Magic Senior Executive Vice President Pat Williams told The Associated Press that "Tracy has indicated he would like to play elsewhere, and we're trying to see what we can do. The issue is where he would sign [a contract extension]. Teams want to know what Tracy's plans are." McGrady was not happy with the Magic's rebuilding plans and Francis isn't thrilled, either. "Steve's preference is to not go to Orlando," Fried said. "Steve's tasted the playoffs. [The Rockets] got a series under their belts. He was looking forward to going further with the same Rockets team but with another year of experience together. This is certainly not his preference. He loves Houston." Francis has averaged 19.3 points, 6.4 assists and 6.1 rebounds in five seasons in Houston. He averaged 19.2 points, 8.4 rebounds and 7.6 assists in the Rockets' first-round playoff loss to the Lakers. The Magic are also bracing for the Charlotte Bobcats' advances on their No. 1 draft pick. The expansion Bobcats might try to entice the Magic not to snare the player the Bobcats want, believed to be Connecticut center Emeka Okafor. That would mean the Magic would take Atlanta high school star Dwight Howard. The Bobcats reached No. 2 in the draft order by swapping picks with the L.A. Clippers, who move to No. 4. L.A. also acquired Charlotte's No. 33 pick and the Bobcats agreed to select Clippers center Predrag Drobnjak in today's expansion draft. Bobcats Coach and General Manager Bernie Bickerstaff said in a conference call that "we would consider" offering the Magic some sort of perk to either swap picks or persuade the Magic not to take the player the Bobcats covet. Bickerstaff said he would be happy to start his team with either Okafor or Howard as the cornerstones. But he wants to build on defense and has raved about Okafor, the 6-10, 257-pound shot-blocking forward recognized as college basketball's best big man. Weisbrod said he is inclined to keep the pick, but it was not known Monday if the Magic had decided to take Okafor or Howard. "All I know is that Dwight's prepared to go to Charlotte or Orlando," said Aaron Goodwin, Howard's agent. Brian Schmitz can be reached at bschmitz@orlandosentinel.com.
I say we each take 15 minute shifts hitting refresh on the floridatoday.com site. When you get relieved, you can go take your smoke.
Ya it's too bad there isn't a way for us to smoke and sit in front of the computer at the same time. Wait.
Now I suspect that a hacker made a bad joke and kept us all up? Let's all do something about Internet security
wait just one second.. i need an ashtray and lighter but i think i can make it work.. dude i've used less before, trust me
Wow! Non-definitive news - well this is a first! I'm in. Weisbrod's parents must have really abused him as a child "Mommy loves you...well not very much...if at all - I wanted a girl...Mommy loves you" "Daddy loves you...well only because I have to say it...but Daddy loved another woman but your w**** mom couldn't remember to take her pill at the same time every day....oh well, screw it, Daddy loves you" (the above is mere speculation)
weisbroad is playing this whole thing like a fiddle and I hope nobody is dumb enough to believe any of it. We're getting Tmac and that's it. He wants to come across as being deliberate, doing all the due diligence on SF as possible. He wants to come across as the man, like he is the one that brought Steve to the table, and convinced him that he is brilliant and Orlando is the best place in the world to play basketball.. Whatever. I'm tuning out of his soap opera. The smoke and mirrors is nothing more than a weak attempt to cover the fact that TMAC has owned this situation from the beginning and will get what he has demanded. Tghere may just be enough dumb poeple in Orlando that may bite on this ridiculous story that he is weaving. By the way, the Howard pick further suggests that this deal is going down. Okafor and Cato are too duplicative. Need at least one dynamic low post scorer . . . and that's clearly howard. Someone wake me up when TMac shows up.
They have 5 minutes to tell me something or I say we put about 15,000 messages in the e-mail accounts and see how they like jokes then Off topic: Can you not put HTML code in the message box? Im trying to get that to work so someone can post the webpage itself so that can't happen again
Has this been posted yet? I didn't see it. Was reported on ESPN at 1:44am EST.... Thursday, June 24, 2004 Rockets' Francis OK with going to Orlando Associated Press ORLANDO, Fla. -- Houston star Steve Francis has dropped his objections about being traded to Orlando, possibly paving the way for the Magic to send Tracy McGrady to the Rockets. When news of a prospective deal broke earlier this week, Francis was adamant about not wanting to leave Houston. Orlando general manager John Weisbrod then put talks off until after the draft Thursday night. But Francis' agent, Jeff Fried, told the Magic that there were no objections about coming to Orlando, and a call between Francis and Weisbrod after Thursday's draft smoothed matters even more. "I couldn't say we're really closer to anything, but this was a good first step," Weisbrod said early Friday. Said Fried: "Steve was very impressed with the way John has a vision for the team, and the way he wants to win. It seems they really hit it off." Although Weisbrod offered no specifics, the deal is believed to be McGrady, Juwan Howard and Tyronn Lue for Francis, Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato. McGrady, tired of carrying a mediocre franchise, has said he wants out of Orlando and vowed to exercise the opt-out clause that goes into effect at the end of next season. But the Magic decided to trade McGrady, the two-time scoring champion, because they don't him to leave without the team receiving compensation. After Francis' complaints were made public, Weisbrod said he didn't want to let them lie. But he did appreciate the loyalty behind them. "That's a better way to be than, 'I'll just fly to whatever place is next," Weisbrod said.
Going to go ahead and lock this.... obviously if they come up with a story (not likely), feel free to create a new thread. Florida Today looks to have just screwed up on this one.
