I will argue with you on this. No it wouldnt. Not initially at least. First of all, McGrady is a small formward, not a shooting guard. This would make JJ play 2, which is good, but his first in Houston in that position. Second, assuming we get B.Barry, he will be completely new to Houston and JVG, who is not that creative on offense to begin with. My point is, we will have a whole new backcourt, and a front court where we will have to find an extra 15 shots a game. This for a team that even w/ decent talent only won 44 games last year. Now you change your team dramatically, while trading pieces like Cat who actually looked quite good in JVG's system......not the best idea. Trade Francis, fine. Trade both Francis and Cat? No way. Why? For a player that is demading a trade we give up one of the <b>best </b> backcourts in the league? Look in the playoffs. which baccourt has performed better than Houston's? Shooters like Cat who actually play good defense dont come a dime a dozen, contrary to what many people might think. Also, he is on the better side of 30, and loves Houston and is cheap. He will not be easily replaced. Dont get so greedy over McGrady folks, that you just want to toss away Cat as a filler......He can play ball
This was posted on ESPN's: The Daily Quicky.. link is below http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/quickie T-Mac's Next Team? McGrady wants to play for the Lakers or Spurs (but would also settle for a trade to the Suns or Rockets), according to a NY Post report. Yes, and I want the power to fly, Mark Cuban's lifestyle and to date Britney Spears. There's no question T-Mac will be shipped out of Orlando; Phoenix and Houston make the most sense. Personally.. I think that the Rockets would be a much better scenerio than Phoenix.. I just dont think Amare will ever be a dominant player like Yao.. Even though he is very quick, his outside jumper is horrific. But, dont get me wrong, he has tremendous upside.. i just think TMac's game would flourish in the rockets offense =) -e
Dont underestimate Amare. He excelled at the ending of this year, the same time Yao was fading......Yao is still the better player, but I dont think that will the only key. The key will be who can get McGrady w/o tearing up their whole team. If the Suns trade away Marion and JJ, then why would McGrady want to go there? Amare and McGrady are not enough.......At the same time, if Houston trades away both Steve and Cat, why would he want to come here? Yao and McGrady might not be enough. The difference will be this. I think Houston can get the trade done w/o sending Cat. Steve has value, especially in the East. with Kidd, Baron, and Marbury putting up stinkers in the playoffs, Steve's value will be great in the East immediately. And Yao, Cat, JJ and the rest of the Rockets would be impressive to Tracy McGrady. On the flip side, Orlando shouldnt' except anything less than both Marion and JJ from the Suns. Steve will be a borderline franchise player in the East...Marion will not. Houston can win this race w/o giving up Cat
If they could, great, but if they couldn’t I wouldn’t hesitate to include Cat. I wonder how effective Cat will even be on a team with Mcgrady and Yao. Mcgrady is probably going to take 20+ shots a game. Yao is hopefully on his way to being a 20+ shot per game player. Knowing Van Gundy's offense, the team is not going to shoot a high volume of shots so there isn't many shots to go around. Cat’s role is going to be drastically reduced from previous years.
If you get T-Mac, you make sure Cat and Fracis are both gone. It may be ok if Francis is shipped out and Mobley moves to the bench. But none of these guys should be in the starting line up with McGrady/Yao, because we want McGrady and Yao taking almost 40 shots between them. The PG in such a team would have to be someone who can nail the 3, protect the ball, and feed the post. Decent defense is expected.
The Orlando Magic want two things. A star to get fans in the seats, and some bad salary relief. They probably want to get rid of Juwon Howard and his contract as well and it might cost us getting him for Cato (who has a shorter contract and would be a beast in the east). I think an offer of Steve Francis/Kelvin Cato and Mobley for Tracy McGrady/Juwan Howard and Change is the BEST offer for the magic. Francis Lue Mobley Stevenson Gooden Okafor (or whoever they draft) Cato That team could make the playoffs in the east and could be the best backcourt in the east. Its a fun team to watch and there are some good big men in the draft at their high draft position. We on the other hand would have some holes, but some power as well: Yao/ Howard Howard/ MoTaylor Jackson/ Nachbar McGrady/ Piatkowski HOLE I think finding a servicable Point that fits the pass first and can hit a jumper mold is not that difficult. McGrady and Jackson bring the ball up quite frequently and Yao will run a bit of the offense from inside. I think the offer of: Francis Cato Mobley is better than: Joe Johnson Shawn Marion and their draft pick. Shawn Marion is a bad max player and has never been close to dominant as Francis has shown signs of. Mobley is also locked up cheap for two more years and Cato would be a beast in the east. Joe Johnson is a free agent and will get some great offers next year as well. A factor not to forget is that Francis is an exciting all-star. The magic are not in a big market and want to have fans in the seats, something francis can provide. An all-star exciting point guard that did fantastic in the playoffs.
Orlando needs to put fans in the seats, the owner must know that no matter what trade happens, they still won't be even close to being contenders, might as well not lose revenue as well. Even if S.A. offers a Parker/Manu/Filler offer, that would be the most boring team in the league, they would probably be close to ATL in terms of attendence. With Houston, they get a 3-time allstar, an exciting backcourt, and Cato. I wonder if N.J. will make an offer. They got destroyed lastnight and probably pissed, I don't know if they want to resign K-Mart for his price. Would a K-Mart (sign and trade)/RJ land them T-Mac/Howard?
I really hope that Les is watching the Astros season. They are up in attendance to the tune of 10,000 per game because of victories and new stars on the team. If we get McGrady and add Barry without gutting our team, I think we might see a similar increase percentagewise - that could make up for the extra payroll. Please get it done CD!
Agreed. But 2 things you have to look at. First of all, Cat has become a JVG type player, meaning he might still be able to play w/ McGrady and Yao. You will need his shooting and scoring. As a Rocket fan, you know scoring is not easy. So I still wouldnt include Cat, not in this deal. Secondly, Sane, If you want Steve and Cat both gone w/ McGrady here, fine. But dont include them both in this trade. Trade Cat for a 4 instead, the other weakness. If you are happy w/ B. Barry, JJ and McGrady, then trade Cat for a 4. Even if we get Hill, dont include Cat in this deal. Include the TE or Cato to complete transaction. If people are worried about shot selection and want Cat gone also w/ McGrady here, fine. But dont involve him in this trade. We can get McGrady for Steve + fillers.
HeyDude, while Cat is inexpensive, JJ is much more economical at 2mil/yr. I have some problems w/ Cat's game, I don't know if you guys feel the same. He takes shots out of the flow of the game, he makes dumb decisions (much like his buddie Steve), and he normally only heats up in first half and fades away (his jumpers) when the game matters the most. So IMO tho he is a serviceable SG for the price, but he is not really ideal. Stupid players will cost you games, and you can build a championship team with them.
Yes. But -- what do you do with Kittles (not real tradable, certainly not for big guys) so how do you replace the forwards? Howard would be a nice 20 minute guy but to replace 80 minutes of slammin'?
Khan, Howard is not making that much, only like 4 mil I think for another year or 2. Second, you are waayyy understimating Steve's value and wayyy overestimating McGrady's. I love TMac, but face it, he won 19 games in the weak East. And you want to trade away 60% of our lineup for him? His value is down. And w/ all the PGs like B.Davis, Kidd, Nash, Parker, Marbury, GP putting up complete stinkers in the playoffs, Steve's value is high. TMac is still <b>much </b> better than Steve of course, but if he is threatening to leave anyways, Francis + filler should be enough. Maybe Francis, Cato, TE for TMac + Hill. Cat is a deal breaker IMO.
Cuttino and Steve can carry any team to the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. Just look at our record against eastern conference's foes even before Yao's arrival. Rockets need to get Tmac and a useful player in exchange the no 3 and no 5. However, the problem is that Orlando must find another useful player for the Rox to make it happen. It would work out if they want Cato instead of Cat. Okur goodens/hill steveFrancis Miller Cato Not bad. This team can contend for a spot in the playoffs. If Hills can recover to be their pt forward, watch out. Rockets line-up Van Exel (free agent?) Mobley/Jimmy Jackson TMac/Nachbar Taylor/Weatherspoon Yao/ That would be best case scenario for the Rox. Rockets would be a serviceable big man away from contending with the big dogs in the West.
McGrady for Francis, other player, and a first round pick, I like that trade. I like McGrady in San Antonio too, i like the Spurs I dont like McGrady in Lakers because I hate the fakers
correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't T-MAC a 2 guard??? If we trade Steve and someone else for McGrady, who will be our point guard?? And what will we do with Cuttino?? I personally think McGrady is a ball hog, much like Allen Iverson and I do not see him fitting into VanGundy's scheme. Brand is the better choice, plus you can prolly swap him straight up for Francis. That leaves Brand at the 4 (35 mins a night) and Mo-T can come off the bench for the rest of those minutes. Cato becomes the most athletic back up Center in the league. Next all we have to do is find a point guard.
Yeah, I took 4 seconds to think it over and Cuttino would never come off the bench. If we trade Francis and Mo for McGrady, we have to trade Cuttino and maybe Pike for a point guard. That would give us: 1. hopefully a decent point guard/Wilks 2. T-Mac/Nachbar 3. JJ/Nachbar 4. ?/Cato 5. Yao/Cato Or go after Brand and have this lineup: 1. True point/Wilks or someone else 2. Cuttino/Nachbar 3. JJ/Nachbar 4. Brand/Cato 5. Yao/Cato I like the second option better!!!
I believe that JVG can turn TMAC into a good scorer with defense type of player just like what he did to Spreewell in NY..
