McGrady: If traded from Orlando, Rockets are first choice

he would know considering his team was up like 2-0 or 3-1 or something like that and detroit came back and buried his ass...with that being said....

i hope this offseason will move a lot faster...

 

This was the last note in the article:

Rumor mill: The buzz among general managers was that the Dallas Mavericks were not protecting point guard Marquis Daniels, an Orlando native.


You are now an enlightened human.

 

More info: Mark Cuban and Nellie want to keep Daniels in the worst way so I'm guessing that the Mavs will protect Daniels and leave Steve Nash or Finley unprotected.

 

Finley maybe. Nash gets protected, IMO.
Daniels unprotected? Unthinkable. Unless there's a heckuva Bobcat - Mv deal on the horizon.

 

why does it matter if nash is unprotected. He is gonnna opt out of his contract so he is a free agent.

 

Timing. Bird rights.

 

Daniels is a free agent and cannot be protected.

 

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/061204dnspomavslede.eeb0.html

Mavs expose Walker to draft

Status of forward's contract could interest expansion Bobcats


01:20 AM CDT on Saturday, June 12, 2004


By EDDIE SEFKO / The Dallas Morning News



Antoine Walker is among four players the Mavericks left unprotected for the expansion draft that will take place later this month.

All NBA teams except for the two still playing in the NBA Finals had to submit their list of eight protected players to the Charlotte Bobcats by Friday.

According to two sources, the Mavericks left off Walker, who started all 82 games last season after being acquired in a trade that sent Raef LaFrentz to Boston. They also left Tariq Abdul-Wahad, Danny Fortson and Tony Delk unprotected.

Antoine Walker, who started all 82 games for the Mavericks last season, is entering the final year of a contract that will pay him $14.65 million. Walker, a forward, is entering the final year of a contract that will pay him $14.65 million. If the Bobcats select Walker, it would give the Mavericks a trade exception for $13.5 million, which is what Walker earned this season. That exception could be used to acquire any player or players earning that sum.

The Bobcats must select at least 14 players in the expansion draft, and no more than one from each team.

The thinking around the league is that Bobcats head coach and general manager Bernie Bickerstaff will search for financial bargains in the expansion draft, making it unlikely he would take a high salary such as Walker's. But since Walker's contract is up after next season, he may have some value in trade scenarios that could convince the Bobcats to take him.

The expansion draft is June 22 or 23, depending on when the NBA Finals end.

Harris, Hawks still waiting: Mavericks assistant coach Del Harris remains one of the top candidates for the Atlanta Hawks head-coaching position.

The Hawks continue to talk to several other interested parties, including Detroit assistant coach Mike Woodson and Indiana assistant Mike Brown. However, it is believed that the Hawks are more interested in somebody with head-coaching experience. Harris has been a head coach for 13 years.

After arriving back from China earlier this week, Harris said he's waiting regarding the Hawks' job and would prefer not to comment.

The Hawks have given no timetable for a hiring to replace Terry Stotts other than sometime this month.

E-mail esefko@dallasnews.com

 

T-Mac's Quandary

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/spor...n12,1,1664982.story?coll=orl-sports-headlines

By Brian Schmitz | Sentinel Staff Writer
Posted June 12, 2004

CHICAGO -- Orlando Magic owner Rich DeVos will say hello to what could be the future of his basketball franchise next Friday in Orlando. And sadly, he also could be saying goodbye to part of its past.

DeVos will come to Orlando to determine where the Magic stand with Tracy McGrady, the frustrated superstar who has threatened to leave.

DeVos also will meet potential draft picks Emeka Okafor and Dwight Howard, one of whom could be critical to the floundering club's rebuilding plans should T-Mac decide to exit.

It might all add up to a telling day for the Magic.

"That seems like the thing to do now. And that will give [DeVos] a chance to have some one-on-one contact since all of the contact has been between Arn [Tellem] and I or Tracy and I," said Magic General Manager John Weisbrod, who has exclusively represented the team in discussions with Tellem, McGrady's Los Angeles-based agent.

"It just makes sense to let your owner get a feel for it and actually talk to the kid instead of just getting the stuff that he hears and reads. But the purpose of [DeVos'] visit is to be here when Okafor and Howard work out and get all the birds with one stone."

Neither McGrady's camp nor the Magic are divulging which way T-Mac is leaning.

McGrady has said he is "90 percent certain" of his decision. Weisbrod said Friday that he had a "sense" of what the outcome will be but said, "I'm not going to speak to it, and I just really can't compromise the integrity of what I have going on with Arn.

"I have a sense that I know which way the situation is going to end up. I'm not going to say it's a result of him leaning one way or another. I'm not sitting around asking for an answer every day. That's just not the way we do things."

But DeVos' arrival appears as a last-ditch attempt to head off a McGrady exit, a plea to assure T-Mac that the club will take necessary steps to improve quickly.

Various clues point to his possible departure. The silence, for one. If everything was indeed rosy with McGrady, why wouldn't the Magic have clicked their heels and pushed season-ticket sales?

McGrady dodged a Sentinel reporter Friday after a workout, and Tellem did not return phone calls, a day after Magic President Bob Vander Weide told the Sentinel that he and DeVos want to know from T-Mac "whether Tracy is in or whether he's out."

Vander Weide said that the franchise wants an answer from McGrady before the June 24 draft so they could finalize their rebuilding plans.

"We want to look Tracy in the eyes and say, 'What do you want to do?' No matter what the agent is suggesting or not suggesting as to options for the kid," Vander Weide said Thursday. "At the end of the day, I think it's really important that both Rich and myself say, 'Tracy, tell us where your heart is, and we can work through it, whatever it is.' "

McGrady, who can opt out of his seven-year contract after the upcoming season, did not return calls to his home again Friday. But McGrady, holding a basketball camp in his hometown of Auburndale, told the Lakeland Ledger in Friday's editions, "I want to stay home, and they know I want to stay home. But at the same time, this is a business."

The Magic know it is a business, too. And Vander Weide says the team doesn't want history -- and misery -- to repeat itself in Orlando.

If McGrady does not want to stay, the Magic will trade him and get some compensation for him, something that did not happen in 1996 when Shaquille O'Neal bolted for the Lakers.

Vander Weide said the Magic want to "rebuild through and around Tracy." But if he wants out and to play for a playoff team, the Magic, grudgingly, will be forced to trade him before the season.

Vander Weide also indicated that the Magic are waiting on McGrady's' decision before deciding whether to keep or trade their No. 1 draft pick.

Weisbrod, curiously, did not characterize the situation that way and bristled at the suggestion.

"It doesn't all boil down to Tracy's answer. You know, we have some involvement in it, too. Whether we trade him or not, it's up to us; it's not up to Tracy," Weisbrod said. "I'm not going to speak to it, but like all of this stuff that we're hovering and waiting for Tracy's answer, that's not the case.

"We're going about the business of running our basketball team. We're doing that in the best manner that we can. We're not kowtowing, awaiting an answer. We're in discussions with his agent and weighing all of our options."

CAMP NOTES: The Magic, according to league scources, will not protect DeShawn Stevenson, Reece Gaines, Zaza Pachulia and Britton Johnsen in the expansion draft. Stevenson, a restricted free agent who was acquired in a midseason trade for Gordan Giricek, was a surprise choice. The expansion Charlotte Bobcats can take up to one player from each team. . . . Duke guard Chris Duhon, who is on the Magic's second-round radar, also is scheduled to work out June 18 in Orlando.

 

T-mac will leave

Unless Orlando ponies up a lot of cash to get some decent veterans, there is no way in hell that they will be a playoff team after one, two, three, heck, even four years down the road. The sad truth is that the Magic need to upgrade in MULTIPLE positions including the bench. Even in the depleted Eastern conference, you have to believe that this year's playoff contenders are watching Detroit's secret to success and thinking about emulating it much like Western conference teams tried to upgrade to oust the Lakers.

The Rox offer the most compelling prosition to Orlando. We have YOUNG veterans who can fill MULTIPLE spots for them. Again, I honestly think our old team of Cat and Francis x-Yao would have been enough to carry us to a 7 seed or better had we been in the Eastern conference the past two years pre-Gundy. The Magic will want fair compensation but much of that compensation may come in the form of MONEY.

Judging from this article, I get the sense that Weisbrod and DeVod are both cheap-Os who don't want to spend up. Yet, if they really want a playoff caliber team, they will have to spend up to make up for their previous years planning mistakes. That's why I don't see how they will be able to meet Tracy's demands.

Tracy may be able to force a trade, and the teams with the most to offer will be the crappy sub 500 non-playoff bound teams. While the Rox may not have as much to offer, we have YAO and a marquee center does wonders in landing talent. Even if T-Mac doesn't end up here in Houston, I am 100% confident that we will make out like bandits in this year's free agency sweepstakes.



theSAGE

 

Never underestimate the ineptitude of Carrol Dawson, the man who had nothing to show but the contracts of Maurice Taylor and Moochie Norris for two summers with 3 draft picks each, $10 million in cap space, and a $4.5million trade exception, as well as managing to handcuff our future by trading away draft picks for a team to take on Glen Rice's contract. Never underestimate Carrol Dawson.

 

same thing im worried about.

 

yes, CD makes all the decisions. Les Alexander along with the many coaches and scouts of the rockets just sit back while CD ruins the team.

 

Fine. Never underestimate the ineptitude of Rockets' management. Is that better, smartass?

 

True that cabbage.

I just feel like we're headed into a "renaissance" period where free agents and veterans alike will want to join us b/c we have great potential to win championships. It harkens back to the Hakeem days when free agents galore said: "I wanna play for a contender. I wanna play for Houston."

I do sincerely think that T-Mac is impressed with Yao. He had a chance to see him in the regular season at his finest as well as during the All-Star game. T-Mac's game dovetails nicely with the Yao inside out thing and I think T-Mac knows that too. Yao's defensive presence plus T-Mac's offensive firepower would spell big trouble for many teams.

Not to get off-topic but I think CD's biggest problem isn't trying to procure talent per se, but rather the tendency to overpay for average players. Contrast that with say a Joe Dumars who's been able to procure talent at great bargains. My hope is that Orlando is as inept as it was to let Shaq leave and to trade away Ben Wallace.



theSAGE

 

I completely agree.

 

That may very well be the case but I still don't see Houston having the ability to offer all that much to Orlando in order to make this trade happen. Just because T-Mac listed Houston as his "top" choice does not mean all that much because he's still obligated to play in Orlando for the 2004-2005. Orlando may well trade him but it will be for a lot more than what the Rockets can offer.

 

Really? It seems to me that SF + TE for T-Mac + JuW is a deal that would be real hard for Orlando to top.

 

What better deal is out there? I can't see anyone putting together a better package than us.

How do you figure? They've already stated they're not going to trade him if he doesn't want to be there - they don't want a repeat of the Shaq situation. Why would any other team gamble on trading for him if they don't know if he would resign?

 

Hillboy: Sorry, that was a typo on my part. I meant to say that they've already stated they will trade him if he does not want to be there.

Look, I completely understand where you're coming from. I've always considered myself a realist and one of the first ones to shoot down bogus trade ideas. But you have to admit, the stars really seem to be lined up in our favor this time. Considering the factors that have been discussed ad nauseum on this BBS, that he himself said he wants to be here and that no other team can put together a better package, barring some miraculous 11th hour trade of Andrew Declerq for Kevin Garnett, you have to feel pretty optimistic about our chances in this one. Right?