McGrady To Houston Thread (Update: Francis will visit Orlando)

Well what do you expect Yao to say. He's played the good soldier his whole life. He's not going to rock the boat even if he preferred it if Steve and Co stayed. That said, he'll make a great team with T-Mac and he knows it.

 

The bobcats selected Zaza Pachulia! NO SNAGS THERE!

 

I expect Yao to grow a sack. Whoops, did I say that out loud?

 

Okay guys here is something that i just heard talking to Steves Main Guy here at the club. He came in to drop off some stuff and he told me that Nachbar is part of the trade.

I told him there has been no reports on espn etc, he said 610 was talking about it and other people in the rockets organization said he might be part of the deal, which really pissed me off.

He then went on to say that he can't believe he never really got time to play since he actually is a really good player and not afraid to throw down on people etc etc, but was never given a chance as a rocket and will really surprise people soon if he plays.

I don't know how valid his statement was but i have done business with him and Francis and never heard BS before but let see until it becomes official.

 

Houston guys.....any updates from 610 as was hinted at earlier?

 

I think they just said no deal would be done tonight. I could be wrong.

 

So this means we either keep Cato or the deal is bigger than guessed? If we're giving up freaking Nachbar too, we better get back someone else whos at least decent or a draft pick or something.

 

That is good for Boki Nachbar. He deserves some significant minutes.

 

Yeah i am hoping to god he is not part of the trade and that he just heard speculation because that is just wayyyy too much to be giving up.

 

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/2641741

Bird says Pacers made better offer for McGrady
By JON KRAWCZYSKI
Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS -- Larry Bird believes the Indiana Pacers made a better offer for Tracy McGrady than the package of players the Houston Rockets have proposed sending to the Orlando Magic.

"My personal opinion is they might have got a better deal from us," Bird said today when asked about the reported deal that would send McGrady to the Rockets for a package including Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley.

"Take nothing away from the guys that have been traded. I like our guys. I know our guys are talented and hard workers, but when you go after Tracy McGrady, you have to give up something, and the price was just too high for us."

The Rockets were said to be the leading candidate to acquire McGrady from Orlando, with officials from other teams saying Houston was offering a package including Francis, Mobley, Kelvin Cato and/or Bostjan Nachbar for McGrady, Juwan Howard, Andrew DeClercq and Tyronn Lue. Because of league salary cap rules relating to Francis' salary, such a deal could not be finalized until mid-July.

Both Bird and team CEO Donnie Walsh spoke with Magic general manager John Weisbrod late last week about McGrady, but did not hear back from him after their initial talks.

"No question, when you have a player like Tracy McGrady out there, you try to pursue it and see what it was going to take to try to get involved in it," Bird said. "Obviously they didn't like the players we put out there and really, we didn't get down to details. We just asked them what they would like and they threw some names out there and the price was really too high for us."

Reports have swirled for more than a day now that the Rockets and Magic are putting the finishing touches on their deal, but the Magic said they did not expect to make an announcement Tuesday night.

While Bird would not say which players the Magic asked for, he did say the Pacers have received a number of inquiries regarding forwards Al Harrington and Ron Artest.

Harrington, one of the top sixth men in the league last year, told Bird at their season-ending meeting that he would like to be traded if he wasn't going to start for the Pacers next season.

"There's a lot of interest in Al," Bird said. "We're not really shopping Al. I wish Al was happy here and everybody else was happy, but sometimes a change of scenery will do both teams some good."

Artest, the defensive player of the year, didn't help his case when he was fined for skipping his season-ending meeting with Bird.

The Pacers were also mentioned in rumors surrounding the Lakers' Shaquille O'Neal, but Bird wasn't optimistic that O'Neal or McGrady would land in Indiana.

When asked if they were out of the running for an available "superstar," Bird said, "At this point with Shaq and Tracy, yeah. We hear that Tracy's probably going to Houston, but you never know, something might happen. If he's out there, we're going to go after him."

Whether the Pacers get back in the race for McGrady or not, Bird made it clear that they will continue to be a player in the trade market, partly because of their considerable youth and depth.

"We have a lot of guys with a lot of talent," Bird said. "We can put packages together to go after these guys."

 

I get the feeling he is part of the trade and that is the reason for waiting on Reece Gaines to be included in the deal.

 

Did anyone else hear this?

 

Yes I heard that, but they didn't really mean it, they said that it may still be done later on tonight, that you never know.

 

That's just a sad thought at the moment. I think even without Nachbar Olrando gets just about enough of what they want.

I just haven't heard his name swirled around it much lately and how the deal would include him...but i guess we won't know until the info becomes official and if it does come down to him leaving i would be very upset even though i am happy we are getting McGrady.

 

Trying to keep their audience...

 

Nevermind, I just heard it on 610.

The guys said that the "car" was there and the permission to do it right have after the expansion draft. But he says it looks like it won't be done tonight cause there is nothing planned.

But said that they may leak it to the newspaper tonight, thats what teams usually do.

 

Rockets sent their media folks home for the night so likely no announcement tonight.

 

I'd be real upset if Boki was included into the trade

 

I think if Boki was in the trade it is going to shock a lot of the rockets fans out here. I know other people will think it is just a thrown in or something but to all of us it's a bit more than that.

 

It might shock Yao also.