Tmac won't sniff $10 million a year.....come on...who is going to pay a guy with his injury history $10 million a year in this economy. Someone will offer him MLE, and maybe someone else will offer him a bit more...but $10 million a year? Not unless the guy comes in and scores 25ppg, but in order to do that , he would need to dominate the ball, and those days are LONG LONG gone. When Tmac says he played this style in Orlando he is lying out his arse....he played the give me the ball style in Orlando. The Rockets run as a team, not with one guy having the ball, but with ANYONE having the ball. I doubt Tmac if healthy would average more than 18ppg in this system...and ...he is NOT healthy... DD
Couldn't agree more. Let me add something. If TMac somehow managed to stay healthy and crack the 15ppg on DECENT fg percentage, i think we or any other team could offer him around 8 millions. BUT... in order to do that he would need to play this offense, succeed on it, and show the league that he has become a willing team player and not a volume scorer. If he tries to sell himself as a volume scorer both parts will lose, Rox for having a player that will play but won't favor the team. And TMac will be exposing himself to more injuries and to cause and "allen iverson effect" on other teams when considering offering him a contract. I hope, that for once, he choses the winner option over the flashy and looser.
I'm just glad that none of us are the Rockets' GM, because we would be screwed with all of these lame scenarios... Go Rockets, with whomever Morey, Adelman and Alexander decide!!!
This is exactly what i meant by saying his presence could hurt the team more then help it. I don't mind having the guy back for a cheap contract and he is productive because for 8 million would be a very productive player as a 3rd or 4th option. This team won't improve if his contract and production don't improve. The only way his production will improve is if the contract improves. It's hard to make the playoffs and advance when both is injured and 70% of the cap space is taken. The was a past management mistake when they got him from Orlando they immidiately extended him with 2 years left and he underachieved. If he can be productive equivalent to what Finley or Stackhouse used to be or better then that is good enough for me.
I agree with you on that. If he comes back healthy and strong, we would prob make it into the playoffs as the 8th or 7th seed. Some people will consider that a success, but that would just mean we get knocked out by the lakers/spurs/portland or denver. We will end up with nothing. in fact that would increase Tmac's value, by then he would prob demand more. But if don't come back strong, we miss the playoffs. I feel that is a better situations with a chance for a high draft him.
I hear you. The thing is, though, this time it seems like it's more up to the direction they give the team/McGrady over what he chooses. I say that because in the past he's used language like he was the one propping the team up, probably because their biggest tactic was to throw him or Yao the ball. But lately he sounds genuinely impressed by how his team has performed and progressed without him. He's sounding like he's going to be a more unselfish player because he won't act like the pressure's all on him. Then again, he's well aware of what this season means to his financial future, so you might be right; he might just take the ball and run to try and patch his name back up before his contract expires. Let's hope not, eh. He's a little older, sounds a little wiser...we'll see.
Both Yao and Tmac are due for a healthy season. I'd hate to trade them away only to see them play a full season with another team. Tmac is overall a better player than Yao but if we had to trade one of them, I'd pick Tmac. If this offseason has taught me one thing, it's that 7 footers are hard to come by. A 7 footer that can bring 20-10 is almost impossible.
Lol In his first season his scoring numbers dropped from somewhat 28-30 pts to 25 as a two time scoring champ. He was fine with it. Why do think it is his ego telling him to ball hog but his habit? Although in my opinion he has come a long way and did play within the team's concept which was a dynamic combo concept with role players under JVG. Then RA came and most of the guys I remember did have problems getting used to it. Stop pretending that Tmac was the only one. He may be not as effective of a scorer as Kobe, may sometimes be lazy on defense but that guy was trying in HOUSTON. What he did in Orlando, why do you care? BECAUSE his last season with his INJURIES? That man is emotional and weak but you can't tell me he is doing it on his own ON PURPOSE. He has made the mistake in the playoffs to take it on HIMSELF. He has understood that it's not his team. He officially HANDED this team to YAO alone. I guess it's his fault Yao got injured after that. I really respect your opinion DD but you are way too harsh when it comes down to McGrady. I can understand but may I remind you that you said as long as he is a ROCKET, you would support him? Well.....
The only one who complained about it, and not once but both years was your boy Tmac. Because he LAID down and quit....and not just last year, JVG had to BENCH HIS LAZY BUTT for doing the same thing a couple years earlier in the Golden State game after the team had clinched the playoffs. I do not respect that type of effort, or lack thereof. I will support him, until he is traded away. Look, I think he has a flawed character, and that he may say he has changed, but his history and what he does on the court will say otherwise. I don't believe in him anymore, he has lied to this franchise enough, his words are meaningless, the guy just doesn't have it in him..... And now, with Yao also injured, this franchise can not AFFORD to put their trust in TWO injury prone players......so one has to go.....and to me, the clear case is the one that has battled with the organization, quit on his teamates, questioned his coach, and laid down in NBA games, and that is TMac. I don't care that occasionally he hits for 13 in 35 seconds, I care that we get a player that comes in and plays hard and competes.... DD
Fair enough. Get it straight. Tmac is not my boy. I just don't see him this negative because when you know who he is then you take the good with the bad. He's had a lot of issues, him and the media which I don't want get into details. I am about the same age as those guys and I feel when you are about to turn 30, you reflect a lot of those things. Thru projects like in Darfur I am confident he will be humbled than he was coming to this league. Turning to superstardom in Orlando. That I can relate to. I know he disappointed you in a couple of other areas too, like he has a child with another woman. It is up to Morey how he views the situation.
THis is where I think you and I differ. I don't think any player that reaches T-mac's level can be labeled "Lazy". He certainly has his flaws. But lazy isn't a fair descriptor. Lacking passion? At times, yes. That I'd agree with. But lazy makes me wonder if you have a personal bias. I am not going to evaluate t-mac based on some prototypical ideal notion I have of basketball. And I don't think that's in the Rockets best interest. Our goal is to win. And t-mac has a lot to help us in that category. That's the fact you keep dismissing. Heck, Allen Iverson still brings a lot to the table as well. T-mac is older, but he's also wiser. He's worked hard to get back in to think, and he is saying all the right things. He's a Rocket, and deserves a chance from the fans to redeem himself. Let's see what he has accomplished these last 8 months. I am willing to give him that chance, evaluate and then decided. Why is it so hard for you to do this as well?
