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

I've already done that because I believe T-Mac will become rocket next season

 

as long as we get tmac i dont care if there's 3 or 5 teams involved. d-fish also noted that he wants to play for the rockets if the tmac deal goes through.

 

Don't leave me out of the fun.

I pledge 10 dollars as soon as the trade is official...


...in the name of good karma.

 

ditto.

this is becoming tortuous.

*edit*

and count me in for $10 when the deal goes through.

karma baby!

 

Since T-Mac has made it clear, that he will only sign an extension with Houston, I think this deal will bring McGrady to Houston, sooner or later. What "Mr. Wise" might be doing is looking at 3-way partners in the deal, where Francis goes somewhere else, if for no other reason, to give his fans hope, who have been offended by Francis's mouthing off about not wanting to go to Orlando. He has a PR nightmare going on here. All the Magic fans are up in arms.

CD seems to be helping in that department too. If what Chad Ford says is true, he's been talking to WAS and PHO about their picks, perhaps as part of this deal. It is smart on CD's part to get PHO interested in a deal for their pick at #7, so they don't shrew the deal with ORL. CD seems to playing this pretty well.

Wiesbroad's last minute changes of the deal, is classic Harvard MBA training in negotiation. Get someone to get the hook in their mouth, where its very costly for them to back out, then change the deal, and get them to ante up more. Francis's public statements are also forcing him to delay the deal, because of PR with Magic fans. Houston has had a lot of control in this deal, since everyone else is only able to offer a package without a promise of T-Mac signing an extension, and I'm sure Wiesbrod has been trying to change that. Of course, letting everyone else know the contents of your deal may cause others to offer better ones at the last minute too, forcing Houston to sweeten it. But, the objective of this type of posturing is to sweeten the deal, not lose it.

I think that Wiesbrod is just trying to find out all the possibilities that would enable him to make a better trade, figure out how to approach this better from a PR standpoint with Magic fans, and see if he can't get the deal sweetened. But, at the end of the day, I think we'll still end up with McGrady ... and maybe a pick, somehow.

Ironically, his bigger issue is knowing if he's going to have Cato or not, not Francis, to determine whether they go with Howard or Okafor. Francis is only a trading chit in this deal and doesn't affect who they choose in the draft.

 

I dont think iv spent more time on this site ever!
This is just gettin outa hand, T-Mac please step up and demand u get traded to Houston. Yao and U will have a Deo not even Koby/Shaq can stop!

 

"Suckers!"

 

God, I hope we find out something more definate tonight or tomorrow morning. I would hope teams would want a definitive plan going into tomorrow with the draft so they can prepare and so on. With all these rumors of picks going here and there, I just hope something is finalized tonight. Please CD, GET IT DONE!

 

What if Francis ends up in Phoenix..

 

Agreed! You would think they would have this resolved by now!

Anyone in Houston....What are the local sports shows saying? Do they have any feelings either way?

 

Fine by me. As long as we get TMac. I think a lineup of SF3, Marion, Joe Johnson is pretty good

 

Never trust a guy with his shirt buttoned all they way up with with out a tie on.

 

Does anyone else sorta want Clutch to lock the thread, then the website, then the Rockets offices, then the internet? I hate everything right now.

 

I checked the Channel 2 (NBC affiliate in Houston) website and there was absolutely nothing on TMac

 

hmm i just started thinking this as well.. what if they move steve to the suns for marion

 

Excellent point!

 

Hilarious! Yes, from my perspective, truer words have never been spoken.

 

From the Chronicle Posted a 5:04pm

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Tracy McGrady isn't leaving Orlando any time soon.

Although at least seven teams are serious about acquiring the two-time NBA scoring champion, there won't be a trade before Thursday night's draft.

"We're certainly not going to rush anything," Magic general manager John Weisbrod said Wednesday.

McGrady's seven-year, $93 million contract has an opt-out clause that can be exercised after next season, and he has said he will leave unless the team dramatically improves. But the Magic have vowed to trade the four-time All-Star rather than let him go without receiving compensation.

That happened to the Magic in 1996 when Shaquille O'Neal signed with the Los Angeles Lakers.

If McGrady is traded, he would be the fourth defending scoring champion in NBA history to be dealt, and the first since the Buffalo Braves sent Bob McAdoo to the New York Knicks in 1976.

The Magic also own the No. 1 draft pick, and Weisbrod is patiently sifting through offers for that as well.

"These are the two biggest chips he have to use to improve a team that was pretty bad last year," Weisbrod said. "There's no time pressure. We're going about it as methodically as we can."

Orlando is coming off a 21-61 season, its worst in 12 years. That was the season before the Magic selected O'Neal with the first pick in the 1992 draft.

Earlier this week, many league sources said McGrady was very close to being sent to Houston in a multiplayer trade. The Rockets also would have received Juwan Howard and Reece Gaines while shipping out Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato.

But Weisbrod said that deal is far from certain and Orlando is still weighing its options.

He also dismissed reports that the Magic-Rockets trade was derailed by Francis' dismay about going to the team with the NBA's worst record.

"Taking a couple of calls from Steve's people, his main issue is frustration with Houston over, I guess, how he perceives they've handled it or commitments they've made to him in the past," Weisbrod said. "It was unfortunate the kid was put in this position because he is asked all these questions that there was some deal immediately pending and he was in it.

"That wasn't fair to him (because) that certainly wasn't the case."

Francis' agent, Jeff Fried, did not return repeated calls for comment today

 

ESPN just quoted the Orlando GM - McGrady probably won't be traded before the draft - they will take their time in making the trade.

 

@#%*!