Yeah he's no pushover . . . like the 1995 Orlando Magic Please! This has to be the dumbest sportswriter in America. What exactly has Weasly-brod accomplished? It appears that the same deal will go down as before he started acting a fool. McGrady calls the shots here -- "I wan't to play for Houston -- period" I think Weasly-brod has gotten a little powerhungry and enjoys the limelight -- "Look at Me!! What Idiots!!
With Francis and the AND1 Crew on deck now this guy will be outta a job in 2 yrs anyways when they have to relocate the team to St. Louis or someplace.
A week and a half ago Francis/Cato/Mobley for McGrady/Lue/Howard/Gaines The Last week - John Weisbrod challenges Jerry Krause for biggest jackass of the last ten years This morning Francis/Cato/Mobley for McGrady/Lue/Howard/Gaines other than making himself look like the biggest dick in the world, what exactly did he accomplish. Big deal, the city of Orlando believes this rookie, ex minor league hockey GM is in control but at what cost? GM's will certainly be wary of him anytime they are approached about a deal. Our front office is respected around the league. He's tried to screw us six ways from sunday and it'll have a ripple effect on that franchise as long as that current administration is running things.
I would love to rip Weisbrod a new one. Here is one rule of business that one should never forget considering the NBA is a very small world. "Don't s**t where you eat." Here is some more advice. If you want to get more offers for McGrady, and you have already slit your own throat in the media by forcing your superstar out of town.... you can always pick up the phone and ask for an offer rather than use the newspaper. Heck, it might even work better.
There's no doubt in my mind that when this deal gets done, Weisbrod assures the fans that "he was still considering offers over the weekend" but once he met Francis, there was no doubt in his mind that he was the right guy for the team. And the Sentinel will eat it up. After all, it'll be some great new quotables on the guy that they will be staking their team on until Dwight Howard is ready. This deal was done days ago. Weisbrod's a doof.
Look if spinning the situation in articles like this floats Weisbrod's boat and brings T-Mac here safe and sound, then who cares. I wouldn't care if Weisbrod won GM of the year for this deal. The only thing that matters is that the Rockets get the man they want with the deal that they wanted. I was much more worried about doing a bad deal like taking on Grant Hills contract, or tossing in an additional #1 pick than I was letting Weisbrod play media star. Just make the deal on Monday. After that I don't care how much lipstick Weisbrod gets on his ass.
This writer had to work hard, but he accomplished his goal: making himself look like an even bigger ass than Weisbrod.
Exactly! Kudos to Weisbrod! He did do a good job. He fooled the Orlando media just like he wanted to.
This is all fine and good for Weisbrod as long as he is trading someone as talented as McGrady but most of his trades will not be with him holding the trump card. He is going to need some give and take from these same GM's that probably have a very good memory. Later in the season when he is trying to trade someone like Sean Rooks or Pat Garrity this whole T-Mac fiasco might come back to haunt him. He may very well find his trading partners to be somewhat sparce.
In other words, Weisbrod used Francis and his agent as unwitting pawns to smoke out other offers, and now Weisbrod says he's willing to leave Francis dangling till Aug. 10. Then he puts out the word to the media that he "charmed" Francis. Charming! That'll really help build rapport with your new star and attract free agents. See you back in the hockey minors, John.
Weisbrod and Steve's agents are doing the players across the league a dis-service. From here on out, teams are going to keep their players and agents in the dark about a trade until the ink is dry.
Well, at least now that Weisbrod has the local media on his side, he is safe to complete the deal. He can always say he shopped the best deal possible.
What crash and PSJ said. Also, since he was quoting Feigen as evidence for his article, I figured I'd post the source. But, Feigen's article doesn't sound nearly as praising as his:
