[Orlando Sentinel] Magic blew it with T-Mac, must watch as star shines

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May 2, 2005
by David Whitley


HOUSTON -- Tracy McGrady was in no mood to smile, but he couldn't help himself. His new team had just lost to the Dallas Mavericks, when the subject of his old team came up.

It wasn't exactly a smile. It was more an I-told-you-so grin, without the I-told-you-so.

"You know what, I don't have to say anything," McGrady said. "Just look at where the Magic are now."

The more time passes, the more everybody else is saying it. What was Orlando smoking when it traded McGrady?

Sure, the Rockets are in the process of blowing a 2-0 series lead against Dallas in the NBA's Western Conference playoffs. McGrady had 36 points in Saturday night's loss -- but only two during a fourth-quarter fizzle by the Rockets.

That makes good ammo for the T-Gack crowd back in Orlando, which revels in McGrady's struggles. It's typical in a divorce, where you hope your "ex" ends up living in a trailer with six hound dogs and Penny Hardaway.

Sorry to inform you that McGrady has a 34,000-square-foot mansion. His Range Rover still has a Florida license plate, but he has happily moved on. And regardless of what happens against Dallas, T-Mac has gone west and established himself as the most dynamic and desirable player in the NBA.

"There are real good players in the league. There are great players in the league," said Houston General Manager Carroll Dawson. "But how many players can score 13 points in 35 seconds?"

And yes, he's even playing defense now.

So to summarize -- the Magic blew it.

"Ask them now if they would take him back," teammate Jon Barry said. "Just don't ask John Weisbrod."

Weisbrod traded a future Hall of Famer for three players and a headache-to-be-named-Doug-Christie later. It's easy to dissect what went wrong and play Monday Morning GM. But those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.

The Magic apparently are doomed to lose a once-in-a-lifetime player every 10 years. We'll never truly know whether the Shaq Dynasty could have been saved. With T-Mac, there is no doubt.

"It could have been prevented," he said.

Be it ever so humble, there's no place like Auburndale. McGrady wanted to stay in Central Florida. If only the Magic had given him a reason to do so.

Let's be clear, T-Mac was not guiltless. His attitude deteriorated as the losses and Jeryl Sassers piled up. He admitted he slacked off during some games last year. That has been seized upon as the smoking gun, forever branding him as the lazy, self-centered source of the Magic's faults.

"I read things in the paper like that, and I marvel," Dawson said. "That's not the same guy we have here. He's low-key, very low-maintenance, a great teammate and unselfish."

That's what he was about 98.7 percent of the time in Orlando. The GMs who babysit Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, Ron Artest and on and on would have loved to have had Weisbrod's problems.

McGrady's version of slacking was still worth 28 points, six rebounds and 5.5 assists a game. And if every NBA player who coasted in a game were banned, there would be no NBA.

None of which made it right not to give 149 percent. What made it understandable was working for an organization that was incapable of providing you with any help.

McGrady looked around last year and saw a 1-19 start. He noticed a fourth cast on Grant Hill's ankle. He knew five guys would guard him every possession. He winced as every other pass thrown to Andrew DeClercq was fumbled into the third row.

After three years of carrying the franchise, his spirit finally broke down. Unfortunately, that happened just as Weisbrod was taking over basketball operations.

Weisbrod has many managerial talents, but tact and indulging weakness are not two of them. His relationship with McGrady quickly passed the point of no return.

Ownership should have stepped in. Whatever McGrady's flaws, they could have been handled. And if it came down to a choice, good GM candidates come along every year.

"How many times does a guy like Tracy come around?" Dawson said.

The Rockets still are pinching themselves, afraid they'll awaken to find Steve Francis is still in uniform playing one-on-five. Steve-O's entertaining streetball style makes him a coaching nightmare, but Weisbrod was enamored by his fiery persona.

If only McGrady had taken a swing at Amare Stoudemire, he might still be in Orlando. Or he'd at least been spared hearing Weisbrod tell the world what a namby-pamby he was.

The irony is how much more tolerant Weisbrod has been of Francis' flaws. You didn't see McGrady skipping practices after the NBA All-Star Game, or kicking photographers and getting suspended at critical times.

Considering everyone knew McGrady wanted out, getting Francis, Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato wasn't a bad haul. It just never should have come to that in the first place. And no GM should try to justify a trade by bad-mouthing the player he dealt.

"That was just straight Bush League," Barry said. "Tracy never went after him. Then it became a verbal war."

If the point was to enhance McGrady's reputation as a malcontent, it worked to a large degree in Orlando. If that makes you feel better about the trade, feel free to embrace that image.

But McGrady was patient for three years as the players around him got worse, not better. The Magic should have shown a little more patience with him.

He is, after all, still just 25 years old. He won't win a title this year. The Rockets might not even make it out of the first round.

But everyone expects the next half-dozen or so years to be special. Meanwhile, Magic fans are hoping Dwight Howard arrives before the moving vans do.

"It's like night and day here. They're all about winning," McGrady said. "They know their roles, and we don't have people upstairs coming down and trying to control things."

That's as close as he came to really talking about the past. It was getting late Saturday night. He wanted to get home, and he was far more concerned about Dallas than Orlando.

McGrady said he missed the old town and its people. But when it came to his old franchise, he couldn't help smirking.

"I don't have to say anything," he repeated.

License plate aside, McGrady knows he's going places. Magic fans only will be able to look back and wonder why they couldn't go along for the ride.



David Whitley can be reached at dwhitley@orlandosentinel.com.