http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_y...0aA--?slug=ap-magic-mcgrady&prov=ap&type=lgns Magic GM wants McGrady to make a decision -- soon By MIKE BRANOM, Associated Press Writer April 14, 2004 ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- The Orlando Magic are willing to trade Tracy McGrady in the offseason unless the NBA's scoring champion tells them he wants to stick around after next year. McGrady, who signed a seven-year, $93 million contract that runs through 2006-07 season, can opt out of the deal following the 2004-05 season. Magic general manager John Weisbrod said Wednesday he wants McGrady to stay, but wants his star to make a decision by July 1 because ``I have no intention of starting next season with an `I don't know.''' Weisbrod, who took over as Orlando's GM last month, said if he knows McGrady won't be back after next season, trading him would be the best move for the team. ``I don't want that misinterpreted that I'm looking for a way to trade him or we're predisposed to trading him,'' Weisbrod said. ``We're obviously not. We'd like to build the thing around him.'' McGrady's deal gives him an opt-out clause after the fifth year of his deal, an attractive alternative if there's no turnaround in the NBA's worst team. The Magic were 20-61 entering Wednesday night's season finale against Philadelphia. ``All things being equal, I think he'd like to stay in Orlando,'' Weisbrod said. ``But there are a lot of factors that don't make all things equal -- we're a bad team right now without any (salary) cap room.'' Weisbrod wants a decision by July 1 for a reason -- it's the first day teams can begin negotiating with free agents. Past that point, Weisbrod said, the situation would become a distraction. McGrady is on the injured list and didn't attend Wednesday's shootaround. His agent was traveling and was unavailable for comment. McGrady's contract may make trading him difficult. He's due to make almost $14.5 million next season, and teams would be leery of acquiring McGrady unless they knew he would re-sign. ``He's still in a position, if he wanted to get traded, to dictate where he got traded to,'' Weisbrod said. McGrady averaged 28 points this season, leading the league for the second straight year. Last season, his 32.1 points made him the youngest player to average at least 30 per game since the NBA/ABA merger of 1976. But the season soured long before knee tendinitis shut him down with a month to go. His shooting percentage of .417 is a career worst, as are his 2.67 turnovers per game. Also, he emotionally faltered under the burden of being named team captain, especially when a franchise-record 19-game losing streak early in the year doomed the Magic's playoff hopes. CD, Pls make this happen.
yeah i was about to post this. The thing is, it may sound like a dream for him to come here, but it still may be possible. They want cap room, so our TE will help some. McGrady has always said he'd love to play with Yao, and i think he's realized the one man show mentality don't work. I guess we could work something out like take grant hill's contract but i dont know the details.
BS. Any team that doesn't look like it is absolutely doomed to suck will be willing to take their chances on McGrady's free agency. I'm surprised the GM would push him like that. It seems like an invitation to a trade demand.
Unless the GM had already made up his mind to trade him, and is merely seeking to win the PR side of things by forcing McGrady's hand.
McGrady probably already knows. He just needs to let the Magic know. Even tho Grant Hill's contract is ridiculous, he's someone that if you are forced to take, you're kinda like, that's not too bad, he's grant Hill. So it's not that bad.
WOW, great to see this out in the open like this! While it makes sense, I wasnt so sure that the Magic would be so 'quick' to make this decision. Not to mention to make it so public. With their GM throwing this out there, this REALLY could stir up the Trade talks with many teams this season. Bottom line is we have to know what happens with the Magic and the draft. If the Magic get Okafor that might be enough for McGrady to stay. But McGrady is not going to stay if they get a HS player. That will be the turning point in his decision. While a package of Mobley/Francis for McGrady is pretty decent you have to believe a team such as the Clippers could put together a Brand for McGrady package that might be interesting to them. I am sure the Magic would try to unload Hill if they could to any team packaged with McGrady. Althought that would be quite a salary combo! Clearly the Rockets should be looking into obtaining McGrady. A McGrady/Yao duo would rival Shaq/Kobe. It would be huge. Dare I say it......SPLASH!
I don't think Francis and Mobley are gonna be enough. They'll want a frontcourt player so Cato will likely be included in any proposed trade. Either way though, if T-Mac agrees to re-sign with the Rockets, you make that deal!
Did McGrady say he wanted to play with Yao? If so, the Rox need to jump on this. A Yao/T-Mac duo would be the nastiest in the league.
The only way to get T-Mac is in a trade. He isnt a FA. I think it says his cap number is at 14.5M and Francis is around 10M. We have a 6.9M Trade Exception we can use in a trade to match salaries. Once again, the bonus that is the T.E. that we got in the Glen Rice trade. I am not sure we can use the T.E. with more than one player though. (i.e. Francis+TE+Mobley+Cato for T-Mac+Hill etc). Maybe GATER can enlighten us on that.
McGrady has always spoken well about Yao Ming. I think it would be attractive to him. I personally think he would jump at the change to play with a solid low post player such as Yao. He is tired of doing it all by himself.
Maybe Tmac likes to be the second option? 2nd option doesnt mean scoring less (look at Shaq [first option] and Kobe [team scoring leader]) .. I think Tmac could still score just as many points but he would be doing it easier.. wow.. what a duo Yao would feed a cutting Tmac in the lane while Yao would benefit from the attention Tmac receives also.. add BBarry to the mix we have an awesome team. I just dont know if we have anything the magic want? low post players? (they have JHoward and DGooden) .. Center? they have Hunter. SF3 / Cat and MoT and Cato are probably our best assets .. whom would you take in return for Tmac? well I dont care how CD makes it work.. BBarry - PG JJackson - SG TMac - SF Cato - PF Yao - Center this looks like a pretty solid team to me.. J
Dream on, guys. WHy would TMac want to come here? give me some reasons. He has a better chance for a championship in San Antonio or LA. I definitely want him here if that's possible.
What are the Spurs going to offer for T-Mac? They don't have the contracts or the star, since they won't trade Duncan, Orlando would want in return. Pretty much the same applies for the Lakers, unless they trade a resigned Kobe for T-Mac, which is a possibility. I doubt he'll end up in Houston, but if he gets traded, I think we're a team that can make a damn good deal for Orlando, since we have SF and the TE.
from rvpals: SA or Lakers? If I'm SA why would I want to give a chunk of that team for T-Mac? Kobe's not leaving LA, you're dreaming. But the bottom line is Orlando's not happy about these devolopments any more than we are about SF's play this year. How many max players in the league are there that must go? I'd say we're in the same boat and SF + whatever can at least buy the Orlando organization some time to regroup. If your in the Leastern Conference having the starting pg in the All-Star game for West at least should get keep some of the less-knowlegeable wolves at bay while they make their case: "TMac wanted to go, he's been in a funk, we wanted to keep him. And we're a lousey team with him here anyway and we need to adress that". Dreamcasting? No. We could be the most attractive option.
Its not about what the Magic want from our team. If TMac is going to opt out in a year if he stays in Orlando then they need to trade him to a team he wants to be with. If he likes the team he will agree not to "opt out" if he is traded there. Don't know if he can resign a new deal. So this way TMac holds the cards. It doesn't matter if there is a better deal for Orlando by another team. If TMac says no then it wont happen.
