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

Interesting... I don't think that let's Steve off the hook, but it certainly should refute the harshest of his critics.

 

No, it only contradicts the exact words out of Steve and his agent's mouths.

They all flat out said that they don't want to play for Orlando.

Weisbrod is saying thats not the case.

 

Spin it like Condaleeza, baby

 

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/bk/bkn/2643925

I just don't know who is copying from whom is rehashing what any more.

And Weisbrod is an ass.

 

I think we may have found out why this is getting out of hand

we have weisbrod...


we have Gomer...



but which one is this ?!?!


....now this situation is getting creepy !

 

the second has his shirt unbuttoned and the third is wearing a tie with his shirt unbuttoned at the top...neither

 

Hey they read my e-mail on 610, I said we at ClutchCity would boo Steve if this deal doesn't go through.

Well that's my sense of it.

(Charlie said he thought the Rocket fans would easily forgive Steve)

 

I wouldn't boo him...

This whole situation is irritating though

 

Winning cures all. If we dont get McGrady because it is perceived that Francis mucked it up then fans will boo him. But if he returns and plays really well and we win people will cheer him. But he would have a lot to live down if we dont get McGrady.

 

I won't boo him yet. It's not like he's Scottie Pippen or anything. But depending on how the deal or doesn't go down, it will be very difficult for him to win back my respect.

 

I'm going to boo him, the same way I booed Chris Simms at Texas Stadium during the 2001 Big 12 Championship.

 

Seven teams in trade talks now.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1827052

By Chad Ford
ESPN Insider

Tracy McGrady may be wearing new colors next season, but don't put him in a Rockets uniform just yet.


Magic general manager John Weisbrod said Wednesday that Orlando is still in the process of fielding trade offers for McGrady and hasn't ruled out the All-Star's return to the team next season. Weisbrod said Orlando is weighing offers from no fewer than seven different teams for McGrady.


"I know because of the magnitude of the deal and the magnitude of him as a player it is a big rush to people to try and conclude where he is going to be, but all those options are still open," Weisbrod said Wednesday. "He could still be here, and obviously he could be traded. I would say there are at least seven teams that are still under consideration.


"There are plenty of deals out there right now if we wanted to do a deal for Tracy," he added. "There are plenty of deals out there right now obviously if we wanted to do a deal for the No. 1 pick. ... These are the two biggest chips that we have to use to improve a team that was a pretty bad team last year. There's no time pressure."


According to multiple reports Monday, the Rockets and Magic were close to finalizing a McGrady-for-Steve Francis deal that included multiple players, but two issues have popped up over the past few days that may have led the Magic to assess other options.



Francis, who has no veto power over a trade, said he doesn't want to play in Orlando.



Other teams interested in acquiring McGrady have sweetened their offers.


Nothing is settled, and Weisbrod said a McGrady trade is unlikely to happen before the draft.


"We certainly would have a good idea as to what our options are, what we could conceivably do with Tracy before we go into the draft, but there are a lot of pieces that go into it," he said.


"I don't really read the papers or follow the media, but I've just heard because of all the GMs that are calling in that it has been reported or the assumption is out there that it is done, or Houston is the team. That is certainly not the case. We are still weighing all of our options."


A source in Houston confirmed on Wednesday that the Rockets no longer are the only team involved. In fact, multiple league sources say that Orlando's hottest talks on Tuesday were with the Suns.


The Magic are trying to pry Shawn Marion, Joe Johnson and the No. 7 pick in the draft away from the Suns. According to sources and reports, the Magic believe the Suns have the most to offer. However, Phoenix wants to keep Johnson and is reluctant to put him in the mix, preferring instead to deal Marion, Casey Jacobsen and the No. 7 for McGrady.


The stumbling block to making that deal happen may not be Johnson or Jacobsen, however. McGrady is still insisting he'll only sign a long-term contract extension with the Rockets. Because McGrady can opt out of his contract at the end of this season, teams are insisting that he waive his opt-out clause or sign an extension before trading for him.


If the Magic and Rockets consummate a deal, the official announcement might be held up depending on which players are included. Since Francis' contract extension went into effect this year, he is considered a base-year player, meaning the Rockets can take back only 50 percent of his contract value in trade until June 30.


Sources have told ESPN.com that the base-year compensation concerns about Francis are overblown. There are workable combinations of players that would make Francis tradable immediately if the Magic choose to pull the trigger. Some combinations of players and salaries would require the Rockets to wait until after June 30 for Francis' base-year status to expire. In that scenario, the trade could not be completed until after July 15 because of the NBA's moratorium on player movement from July 1-15.


The original deal with Houston, first reported on Monday, also had Juwan Howard, Tyronn Lue and Reece Gaines heading to Houston while Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato went to the Magic.


McGrady would not comment Tuesday on any potential trades.


"I don't know what you're talking about," McGrady said when questioned by the Orlando Sentinel.


The Rockets are still McGrady's first and most likely choice. However, that deal still may hinge on Francis. The Magic spoke with Francis' agent, Jeff Fried, on Tuesday and Wednesday in an effort to smooth things over.


"Steve's preference is to not go to Orlando," Fried said. "Steve's tasted the playoffs. [The Rockets] got a series under their belts. He was looking forward to going further with the same Rockets team but with another year of experience together. This is certainly not his preference. He loves Houston."


Weisbrod says he understands Francis' initial reaction.


"He doesn't have any aversion to coming to Orlando, from what I understand," Weisbrod said. "He has an aversion to leaving Houston, based on everything he has been through with them and some of his commitments and understanding as to what they told him his future was there. ... It was unfortunate that the kid was put in that position because he is asked all these questions as if there was some deal immediately pending and that he was in it, and that wasn't fair to him. That certainly wasn't the case."


All of this trade talk is creating enormous confusion around the league as the draft approaches. The Magic hold the No. 1 pick and claim that they still haven't decided whether to take Emeka Okafor or Dwight Howard.


"We have not made up our mind," Weisbrod said. "One of the reasons why we pushed to have the answers for ourselves in terms of at least what our options were, and where the Tracy thing could conceivably end up, was because you want to weigh that information into your pick."


"We love both of those kids. We would be comfortable drafting either of those kids, and now it comes down to how the rest of the pieces are going to fit and how do you see the dominos going down throughout the rest of summer."


Sources told ESPN.com Insider on Tuesday that the Magic were leaning toward taking Howard with the No. 1 pick if they make the trade with the Rockets. But if they instead decide to make another trade, there are scenarios where Okafor appears to make more sense to Orlando.

 

All Chad Ford did was cut and paste various articles and put them together... wow, that's ingenius.

 

He has flip flopped so many times in the last few days.

Its become comical. I keep checking his archive just to see what angle he will come up with next. lol

 

And he gets paid for it too!

 

Why would Weisbrod be talking to Steve if there wasn't a deal going south?

 

This is all that matters.... ^

 

Just because it may impact the McGrady deal:
According to ESPN, the Mavs now hold the #5 pick in the draft. Is this step one toward a larger deal possibly trying to unite Shaq and McGrady (or Francis)?