Ok so do we give Tmac another year, or shop him this summer?

I don't expect T-Mac to lead us to a win with this depleted team, but I don't expect him to shoot like garbage all series long either. To shoot 38% and 58% from the stripe is inexcusable, period.

And with all that, we could still be tied in the series.

 

I agree his shooting has been absolute rubbish. It should be his 1st priorty this offseason

 

It is true that Tmac is among the highest paid individuals in the league (partially because its hard for players to get paid that much anymore) and he isn't a top 5 player but he is far from the worst contract in the league. Its not even that bad of a contract.

I don't even consider that an argument for trading him, especially since we have Yao on a relative bargain and other than Rafer, Battier, and the expirings no one else is making any significant money.

We're in a decent financial situation, we're just not in a good HEALTH situation.

 

Tmac, Battier, Landry, Brooks, Jackson, 1st pick, 2nd pick, fut pick for-
Marion, Blount, Banks, 1st rd. pick

They can then sign Jamison or Brand and Diop to fill out the roster. Brand and Jamison want to go to a win now situation, investing a lost in a broken down Marion and rookie guard added to a gimp Wade is not win now. Tmac Battier...Wade at point where he isn't undersized... being another part of that deadly duo... that's win now. They get two solid prospects and a proven veteran. Tmac and Wade would be a sick backcourt.

Diop
Brand
Battier
Tmac
Wade

We get a good pg to compete with the West and a versatile forward to boot.
We trade the future for a title shot. We nab Artest in the offseason.

Ming
Scola
Marion
Artest
Rose

 

I had to sift through you're disdain for McGrady but i think i could make out some of your points and they are solid.

We have alot of hustle players and tmac isn't one of them. He isn't a great defender and other players step up when he isn't there.

The one problem is that this team is just not good without him. Other than a steal involving a cast of young players (which isn't great because our star big man has had a series of leg injuries and is no spring chicken himself).

 

I think if we have something good for him, we must do a trade. He's my favorit player but he's not the solution four Houston. I will try to send him in Detroit for Hamilton as a basic trade, then Morey Piston's GM could include something else to balance the trade because McGrady has more value than RIP.

 

McGrady isn't going to hold Yao Ming back. Yao Ming is ultimately responsible for his own fate. As long as he continues to have the drive to get better that he has shown thus far there's no reason to put that on McGrady.

Edit: It has already been posted.

 

See I don't think trading T-mac is a solution to our problem at all. He has two years on his contract to run regardless and if you think about it its probably because JVG has worked his ass off. Him and Yao in the last couple of years.

If we got this type of help:

Pg
Backup Swing
Backup Center

we would be much better on the injury front I think. Not to mention actually competing. I think our team is already fairly lucky. Landry and Scola this season have shown they can effectively plug a major hole in our lineup (PF) through the draft of all things. We got fat expiring contracts to try and address the PG problem and we can use our MLE to fix the backup swing.

I mean its not like we haven't tried before. Steve Francis, Mike James, Bonzi Wells anyone

 

So you advocate keeping, at a cost of over 20 million per season, a player who is injury prone, incapable of consistently hitting free throws, reluctant to penetrate, lazy on defense, possesses a low basketball IQ, has a questionable shot selection, and an inadequate work ethic.

What, in your opinion, are his upsides that outweigh these glaring deficiencies?

 

Of course. Im not even convinced his completely healthy at the moment. Lets not mention we are coming absolutly close to beating a Jazz team 2-0 at a Home ground where they are literally invincible, without Yao Ming and Mcgrady shooting absolutly horribly for the last two months. IF your only taking the sample size of this last 3 months then sure. Taking into account a deep bone bruise, rear medium ligiment strain and a shoulder strain you could account for everything to be honest.

We are taking teams to the brink with Mcgrady playing below par. Every season we deal with the same thing with Mcgrady, he gets injured BUT he never gets time to rest. Why? because our team can't win without him. We did this season but it neatly coincided with good additions that have had significant impact on this team.

I seriously and honestly think this team is a PG and Swingman away from being championship contenders. Say all you like about Mcgrady but we are a 55 win team with him and Yao in and out of the lineup consistently. This playoff series just seals the deal for me. We are literally so close to beating Utah right now. Imagine if Yao was healthy, Mcgrady was healthy, Rafer was healthy, Battier was healthy, and Landry was healthy.

Story of our season really. So close yet so far.

 

i seriously want to come up with some good answers. but i'm having a real hard time debating myself to come up with one now.

 

Did anyone hear Van Gundy take that jab at McGrady earlier today in the spurs game?

 

Haha this is very cute, there are so many things wrong with this trade not only from a salary standpoint. This trade is not good for both teams.

Houston: Blount is a cancer, he is a very soft big man, we already have Yao, what we need now is a bruiser. Banks is also a head case, although he is a very good shooter. A lot of people are saying T-Mac is overpaid for what he does, getting Marion is even worse, because for the salary he is making, you would expect him to be 2nd option and Marion can not create his own shots.
If Yao happens to be injured, Marion can not do 1/2 of what Tmac is doing now. You think Tmac buckles under pressure, wait till you see Marion.

Miami: I'm quite sure you know other teams also watch Houston's games and watch McGrady and also hear all the criticisms against him. Wade is injury prone and has not been the same since his surgery, adding Mcgrady to the team would be fronting the injury all star team. Also, why would a team trade for an injury prone used to be all star player when they can get the next lebron or cp3 in Beasely or Derick Rose.

 

and that was?

 

Honestly, unless we are getting a legitamite PG that can shoot and pass, along with signing (or add in trade) another guy that can shoot (someone who is shoot only is fine like Kapono), we can't give up TMac.

I think TMac has a lot of flaws and gets lazy at times, but honestly we have no creators on this team besides him.

 

I thought it was very obvious that T-Mac is untouchable.

But after reading a few pages of this thread I am hearing some opinions that say otherwise, so I just want to voice my own opinion. Its a no-brainer! DO NOT TRADE McGRADY! He is our top scorer, posts over 20 points, around 8 assists, and 7 rebounds consistently. Who else other than Yao(who is also definitely untouchable) come any where close to those stats?!

If you trade away McGrady you're basically rebuilding the team, as you're more likely to get a few weaker players in return. McGrady is part of the very core of our offense, and he also plays defense.

If you're looking at Melo or A.I. those are two really good perimetre scorers who handles a lot of the team's possession of the ball, and Camby a top defender who many would consider to be a better defender than Yao. Are they winning? They've only just managed to get a playoff spot, so if we get A.I and some other insignificant back-up players to make the deal for T-Mac, then we're just lost a lot more than we've gained from the deal.

T-Mac is only 28 right now, which is the age in which most players peak biologically right? I mean why give up a player who's only recently reached their peak and are still the top contributer to the team?

 

His upside is that he is one of the few players in this league that can even have an injury depleted team like this in the postseason. Yeah, he is sucking ass this postseason, but please list the other wing players that you can replace him with and we would still be in the postseason. I say wing players because the player also has to be able to score, grab boards, and set up the offense for others (no one else on this team can create shots). I count two wing players....Kobe and Lebron. Who else ya got for me?

Now if you want to say we pay him too much for what he gives, then please tell me what team will give us quality talent for what we even feel is an injury prone star?

If you can't list attainable guys who would be better, or guys that we can get in exchange for him, then please shut-up. Ok, bash him all you want...but realize how hard it is to just get rid of him. The best bet is for us to stay healthy, let him be option #2 (since he clearly doesn't want to be #1), and improve the rest of the team.

 

The more I think about TMac and Yao should be given one more year to see where it leads. The main thing that is keeping this team from becoming an elite team is health. Bring in Mike Miller and another player that can create their own shot.

 

1. mcgrady may be our top scorer, but he has big issues. horrible meltdowns in the 4th, free throw shooting, and questionable leadership

2. we are most likely not going to rebuild if we trade tmac. if we trade him, we are most likely getting 2 borderline great role player- star players or another superstar in return.

3. iverson plays like he is alot younger than mcgrady. he still attacks the rims relentlessly. and is a streaky shooter jsut like mcgrady.

4. mcgrady may be 28, but i bet you, he won't even be all-star player after he turns 30. he is way injury prone. he plays like he is 33.

 

I think that this thread should have had a poll attached to it since the title of it is a question that consists of a yes or no answer.

I wonder if Magic Johnson still thinks that Yao or T-Mac needs to go via trade.

For T-Mac, could part of the problem he's been having for the past two seasons be a result of him playing out of position--SG rather than SF? The main thing I see what trading Shane Battier would do for T-Mac is that it would enable him to play at his more natural position of SF. On the other hand, trading Battier away would result in the team losing his defense, hustle, and leadership qualities.

I think that with or without T-Mac, the play from the PG determines whether this team will win or lose a game with one of the best teams in the league, pure and simple. I sure like the thread titled "We Need Rafer Alston to be Successful" (http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=147330).