okay... i have to say. even if we just get T-Mac and a league average PG like Tyronne Lue, we'd already be frickin awesome. Yao, T-Mac, Barry -- contenders. Yao, T-Mac, Barry, good PF -- jeez... too good to be true.
If you want to get TMac, I'm not sure Francis would do it - or any combination w/Francis. Yes, Orlando will probably have to trade TMac, but that doesn't mean they can't get someone very good in return. I'm sure there's going to be a lot of teams interested, and a lot of players offered - everyone from Jermaine O'neal to Jason Kidd. Regardless of who you think is the better player, from Orlando's perspective, I think they would require Yao Ming in the trade or no deal at all. That being said, I don't think it would be too bad at all if you saw the following line up next season: Tracy McGrady Steve Francis Kelvin Cato Maurice Taylor Bostjan Nachbar You would definitely have the best backcourt in the league.
that's very interesting... the lineup you propose can arguably be better than the one this year. as good as Yao is... T-Mac is a proven superstar... better than Kobe perhaps, his growth has just been stunted on a horrible team whereas Kobe has gained the clutchness on the biggest stage. This team may not be able to compete with the best in the west... but it's still good, perhaps better than the current lineup.
I agree, the only reason why Orlando GM is announcing this is that he wants to advertise T-Mac. The truth is that he isn't coming back next season, so Orland might as well get something in return for him. Orlando is probably expecting the best of offers. But most of the big names are taken (KG, Duncan, Dirk, etc...), but after a while, Steve Francis-Cuttino Mobley-Cato for McGrady-Lue, might start looking good for them.
If we took back Hill (probably a must in getting Orlando to agree to any deal, accomplished in part by sending off the entire TE and reducing Orlando's cap figure), would we get the benefit of Orlando's insurance policy they took out on Hill? Is this assignable? With 3 years and over $47 million to pay out on his contract, unless Mark Cuban buys this team this summer, this is simply a hit the Rockets wouldn't take without some insurance benefits in place. I thought I saw somewhere that if Hill played in more than x number of games (10%?) in a year, then the insurance policy wouldn't pay for that year. This became an issue when Hill was hoping to play some games at the end of this season. It of course became moot when Hill was not able to even do this.
Who would have though that NY could get Marbury by offering McDyess,Lampe,Eisly,and a foreign player? The reason why they got him was because they took another max contract with it. The Magic has played the cap game and results have been mixed. The players served up , with the exception of Francis are somewhat cap friendly. Mobley , who is a decent player who makes decent money can be moved later by the magic for maybe someone like Ricky Davis or a expiring contract. Cato contract runs as long as Hill's contract(07). I'm willing to bet that a Francis,Mobley,?,Cato and Gooden led team in the east is at worse a 4th seed. Throw in that high lotto pick they will have and they can be pretty good by eastern confrence standard. I'm not saying the Rockets are the only team that can make a deal for McGrady, but think about how many teams can give up a all star type talent in Francis and a good role player like Mobley and a big player and still have enough to contend and convince McGrady to resign. You can pretty much eliminate any team in the east. If you took any team in the east and replaced their best player with Mcgrady, how many would be good enough to resign. A case could even be made for a team like Indy,Detroit, and Jersey. Go over to the west and name the teams that can offer a better package. Everyone will say the Clippers, but the Clipps will probably have to offer Brand and Q. If they were sorry with those guys in the lineup, replacing a 20-10 guy like Brand in the west only makes them the Magic of the west and McGrady would bolt after the season. I truly belive the Rockets are one of the few teams that can offer contracts to match and good players to match the contracts and still have enough talent to get McGrady to resign.
If the Magic trade McGrady, then it would mean that McGrady has already told them he's not coming back or that he's not decided yet. In that case, the Magic are at a disadvantage and would not get equal value for McGrady. The only way out of this is if McGrady says he needs more time to decide and in turn offers a guarantee that he won't leave for nothing (sign n trade) at the end of his contract.
Great points leebigez. Much of that is what I was trying to say earlier in the thread. Honestly, the Rockets should they pursue this, have a good chance of making this trade IMO. The chance to pair Yao up with McGrady is just too good to pass up. I would be going all out for this move.
What Magic will do to T-mac this summer: If they are in total rebuilding mode, they probaly want very high lottery draft pick, some expiring contracts and would have other teams take one of their own bad contracts (name Juwan Howard or G-Hill). My guess is Juwan's contract will go with T-mac and they'll test Hill's ankle this summer. If Hill's Ankle did not heal, they may begin thinking buy out of his contract. If they want fair value for T-mac, with so many big names (Kobe, VC, PP, AI, Cweb and SF) available this summer, we may have a small shot. My guess is if Kobe is availble, he will be Orlando's first choice, straight up trade is a real possibility. If not Kobe, Magic is going to ask teams not only give up their star, but to take some bad contracts.
I think he did mention that he wouldn't want to leave the team high and dry, if it should come to that situation. If we have a shot at all, it probably involves Steve and Cat and Cato for McGrady and Howard. With McGrady in town, we could actually afford to spend the MLE, say, on another player; McGrady + Yao = potential championships.
Kobe can only go sign and trade, Philly is a bad team, changing Pierce for McGrady makes them no better, Cwebb is intersting, but i doubt Sac will cough him up. Why would McGrady want to go back to Toronto?
The Rockets should offer the farm for McGrady! haha.. but yah.. the rockets should consider trading anyone except for Yao.. Yao is a unique player that can never be duplicated, however, players like McGrady are easier to come by.. As much as I LOVE francis and the fact that he is a very loyal person; Francis plus 6.9TE for McGrady sounds daaamn good... Yao- McGrady vs Shaq-Kobe would be a disgusting match up.... -e
Hmmmm. Let's see! What the Magic would want is a combination of young talent, expiring contracts or outright cap space (via TE or via a team with cap room) and draft picks. I don't think taking on Grant Hills contract is a "must" for Orlando, as it would have to come off the books in the near future (a la Terrel Brandon). Obviously, teams for which McGrady would want to play will offer more for him, as they'll have him committed under his contract. Kobe is not an option, people forget that Kobe actually will be a free agent. The only way T-Mac ends up in LA is if Kobe wants to help the Lakers and Shaq by doing a s&t deal which he has absolutely no incentive to do. SF3 looks very attractive from Magic's perspective. He is not as good as T-mac, but obviously there aren't hardly any players that are as good as T-Mac. SF is still young (unlike AI), he has huge fan appeal (with the exception of course of ClutchFans BBS). I say the Rockets have a very good shot, unless Orlando decides to go Kiki and is only interested in picks and expiring contracts. Can someone remind me what was the deal for T-Mac that we had with Toront and fell through? I am blanking on it. Was it for Dream?
why would u trade mcgrady for yao. Mcgrady couldnt do it himeslf in orlando what makes u think he can do it in houston. Sure he would have SF but still. U need a big man.
yup.... there has only been ONE dominating guard in league history that you could build a team around w/o a big man, and his name is Jordan. If you take notice, almost every team in the west has a dominating big man!
This is a dream scenario, but a number of things need to happen to have it come to fruition: 1. McGrady will have to already agree to an extension in principle with the the team he's going to be traded to. 2. Tracy will have to like the city he's being traded to. I'm assuming that Houston will be high on the list, despite the fact that he lives in Payne Stewart's old mansion. 3. Orlando must decide to retool, not dismantle. If they decide to go Denver route and get a bunch of expiring contracts, then we're f*cked. 4. Orlando lands Okafor in the draft. They decide to build some depth and go with Francis, Jackson, Gooden, and Cato beside him. 5. Orlando doesn't require Grant Hill as part of the deal. Grant will never play ball again.
