If any of this from the Times is true (and we all know the Times has been proven to be liars before, ahem Jayson Blair, ahem), then it's a two horse race between us and the Suns. With the Suns offering a draft pick as part of the package, we should find out tomorrow what becomes of this situation, since the draft is Thursday. I think at the end of the day, the Magic will take a disgruntled Francis, but I don't blame them for trying to avoid the situation by trading him before hand to Wash or Sea. I also think that many of us are forgetting that McGrady has apparently indicated that he will only sign an extension with Houston. Without an extension on the table, the Suns don't want to give up the house for a one year rental. Orlando's is a similar negotiating position to the Houston Texans during the Drew Henson trade talks. The Texans got less than market for Henson because he wanted to play in Dallas. Drew held all the cards that time around, and McGrady holds them this time around. This is a big positive for us.
Even when I disagree with them, Clutch's comments regarding basketball, Rockets or otherwise, have always been on fire.
Well I guess with two more people dropping out off the olympic squad, Francis just killed his chances. This is exacly the reason he has never been invited before!!!!
Well its pretty much said by Tmac that he isnt signing a longterm contact unless its with Houston. This trade should happen tomorrow. Lets go to bed now and look forward to tomorrow.
More on this... T-Mac talks take new tenor By John Denton, Florida Today ORLANDO — The Tracy McGrady trade saga churned ahead Tuesday with apparently little resolution following a day of talks between the Orlando Magic and the agent for Houston guard Steve Francis. And it appears now that the Magic, seemingly determined to deal McGrady but unwilling to accept an offer from the Rockets, have reopened trade talks around the league because they are wondering if they can get a better deal. Francis' agent, Jeff Fried, said on Monday that he thought a deal that would send McGrady, Juwan Howard, Tyronn Lue and Reece Gaines to Houston for Cuttino Mobley, Kelvin Cato and Francis was imminent. But the potential blockbuster stalled Tuesday and might drag on for days now as the Magic weigh other offers pouring in from around the league. "It was just communication," Fried said. "It's still moving. There's nothing definitive. Steve (Francis) really likes Houston. You have to face reality. If Houston is set on moving Steve, which is not Steve's preference, you have to deal with reality. There is nothing against the Orlando Magic. They are a fine organization, but they are also in a rebuilding stage." Indiana, one of the teams that has held trade talks with the Magic off and on for the past month, seemed to have bowed out of the McGrady sweepstakes. Indiana has an overflow of talent at the forward positions and has reportedly been willing to trade Al Harrington and Jonathan Bender. It is uncertain whether or not Defensive Player of the Year Ron Artest is available. If the Magic had demanded all three players, it likely would have killed the deal. Phoenix, Portland, Miami and others are also believed to be interested in trading for McGrady, an all-star in all four of his seasons in Orlando. Magic general manager John Weisbrod refused comment for a second consecutive day Tuesday. But over the weekend he stressed that he would not accept a bad deal. "I have a lot of bad personal traits in terms of stubbornness, directness and lack of empathy," said Weisbrod, a Harvard graduate, "but being dumb is not one of them. "I know people think I'm goofy for being optimistic in the face of adversity, but what could be better than rising out of the ashes? The toughest job to take is to replace somebody in an organization that's at the top of the mountain. It's expected that you stay there. But there's nowhere for us to go but up." Even with McGrady averaging a NBA-best 28 points a game, Orlando finished with a league-worst 21-61 record. The Magic endured losing streaks of 19 and 13 games. By virtue of their dismal record and winning the draft lottery, the Magic will pick first in Thursday's NBA Draft. The Magic are still trying to decide between Atlanta teen Dwight Howard and Co-National Player of the Year Emeka Okafor. Both players were in Charlotte Tuesday meeting with the Bobcats, owners of the No. 2 pick following a trade with the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday. Dwight Howard's agent, Aaron Goodwin, said the Magic have yet to disclose which player they will draft. Because the Magic are also listening to trade offers for the No. 1 pick, Goodwin thinks Orlando will keep its choice a secret right up until Thursday night. "They haven't said anything to me about which way they are leaning," said Goodwin, who also represents LeBron James, last year's No. 1 selection. "It would be nice if they did, but they haven't to this point. All I want them to do is tell me before they go to the podium Thursday night. The hard thing is that Dwight has 75 people coming to the draft and they'd love to have an indication. They'd love to be able to get to the next city. So I've told (the Magic) if they could give us a heads up it would be a big help so his family could get on to the next city and show their support for the kid." Larry Bird believed the Pacers made a better offer for McGrady than the package of players the Rockets have proposed sending to the Magic. "My personal opinion is they might have got a better deal from us," Bird said Tuesday. "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." Both Bird and team CEO Donnie Walsh spoke with 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." 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." The AP's Jon Krawczynski contributed to this report http://www.usatoday.com/sports/basketball/nba/magic/2004-06-22-mcgrady-snag_x.htm
A stitch in time saves nine. Somehow, I was not surprised by his recent antics......This is the same guy who openly stated that he will play the way he wants to play and the coach will coach the way he wants to coach. Now as recent as yesterday, he is now saying that he thougth the team was building something special. Steves suffers from driblle diarrhea both on the cut and off it.
There's no way this can go on past Thursday right? I mean, would Orlando go into the draft undecided on this deal? I am starting to know how it felt to be a Vancouver Grizzlies fan.
Francis is leaving a residue of ill will in many more people's mind around the NBA, Houston and America. Can it possibly end well for him now? Damn!
Still more, from the Washington Post: http://msnbc.msn.com/id/5272481/ The representatives for Houston Rockets guard Steve Francis tried yesterday to prevent him from being traded to the Orlando Magic by seeking a third team willing to take part in a blockbuster NBA deal, a source close to the talks said. The Rockets and Magic are close to an agreement to swap Francis and Tracy McGrady, the NBA's leading scorer, in a deal that involved four other players. But Francis would prefer to play for a playoff contender and his District-based agents, Jeff Fried and Nate Peake, contacted more than five NBA teams yesterday about trading a player to Orlando for Francis should the Rockets and Magic complete their deal, the source said. Each of the teams contacted by the agents expressed interest in Francis but had to address their own salary cap issues, said the source. The source said the Rockets and Magic have decided to wait until after Thursday's NBA draft to finalize the trade. Fried told reporters yesterday morning that Francis was unhappy with the proposed trade and that while the 6-3 point guard and three-time all star has nothing against the Magic organization, he wishes to continue to play for a playoff contender. The Rockets were 45-37 last season and made the playoffs for the first time in five years. "[Francis] was in the playoffs and helped the Rockets make a run on the Los Angeles Lakers," Fried said. "He's already been through a rebuilding period."
just sign the paper and tell us its done but don't make it "official" till thursday so I can get some DAMN SLEEP!!!!
Well it looks like Francis's basketball IQ isn't the only thing that is low. I don't get his motivation for this. Did he think complaining would get the trade nixed and he'd get to stay in Houston? Did he think that if he did that everyone in Houston would say alright we missed out on possibly the best player in the league, but hey we'll still have Stevie Franchise so we are awesome? Did he think that hey if I get this deal screwed up then I can tell them where I want to go and they will trade me there? None of those are really valid. If the trade falls through (I still don't think it will) Steve will be more hated by Rockets fans than Kermit Washington. No way the rockets keep him and no way do they say "Hey Steve, where would you like to go?" Whining to the media may have worked once but the law of averages is closing in on him. the best advice anyone could give him would be to be quiet and work out a trade to get himself out of Orlando.
I know! Unless his agent is Don Corleone himself I don't want this bs! I've been backing Francis all the way this season but if this trade doesn't work out the Rockets are screwed!
I don't believe this. First Steve comes out with comments right after the end of the season about "respecting the business" all this other crap, so that we thought he would be mature about this situation. And now this. He's messing this whole thing up and by throwing his little temper tantrum. Now this is two times in his career where he cries his way off a team. Or maybe not because he can screw up this deal.
So they're basically conceding that a team in the EAST based around Francis, Mobley, and Cato has no shot at making the playoffs? Sounds a little pessimistic to me.
LETS NOT DO A SCOTTIE PIPPEN HERE! If this deal falls through, send his Ass to the Hawks, Clippers, etc...!! Thats exactly what we should of done when Pippen held us hostage. Instead they send Pippen exactly where he wanted to go.
