i really just don't get it. Honestly, i've never seen a front office act this unprofessional. It really is quite sad
If this deal is not close to being done why would you lie to Grant Hill and Steve Francis and tell them it'll be official anyday now? Are we dealing with the Orlando Magic or the Los Angeles Clippers!?
Feigen nailed it in his article today: on Weisbrod - "But for now, he is the guy who left the Rockets and seven players twisting in the wind." Forget the fans ,this is unfair to people like Steve, Cat, Cato and McGrady. I am sure they would like this trade to be put behind them so they can get on with their lives.
Maybe this is what Weisbrod really wants: the Rockets to pull out so that Tmac has no other real options to choose from. As long as there is a team that Tmac clearly wants a trade to, Tmac is going to stubbornly demand a trade to that team. If there is no clear number one, then Weisbrod gets to trade with, say, Indiana or even just keep Tracy by making him resigned to the fact he will be a Magic. But this is McGrady we are talking about here. Stick it out at least until July 15th. In the meantime, start soliciting offers for the Francis/Cato/Mobley package/components. Now is the time to explore other options. Who knows, could be that the Rockets could get their hands on two really good young players and a couple steady vets instead of one superstar to pair with Yao. Seattle (Ray Allen/Lewis) and Chicago (who has a couple good points) are out there with assets. Heck Golden State might be willing to get off Dunleavy or Murphy. 22-year old point guard Gilbert Arenas or/and Kwame Brown maybe options in a Francis deal. I want Tracy, but we may be able to field a better team by not blowing our chips on a single guy. We may not be able to get Tracy at age 25, but there are some guys out there that certainly resemble Tracy at age 21.
I tend to agree with his now. This thing has become such a circus that the Rockets need to start playing a little hardball. Basically, if I am the Rockets I would say that if the deal is not official by July 1st, negotiations with the Sonics for Ray Allen will begin. This could totally damage the situation and leave absolutely zero chance of getting T-Mac, but it is a risk they need to be willing to take. The Rockets simply cannot afford to wait out the entire summer while other potential targets move around. This team as is simply will be no better than mediocre if it comes back in tact next season. The funny thing is, the Sonics actually do have a lot of talent this Rockets team could use (ie. Allen, Ridnour, Barry, Radmanovic, etc) these are all shooters who would fit extremely well around Yao. It would not be a bad consolation prize if the Magic want to keep jerking the Rockets around.
Can TM be that stupid. Certainly his people must know that the Magic appear to be poisoning the deal.
In regards to Weisbrod's tactics.... There is some truth that holding out longer might get one a better deal. But that time is about to pass. There is a level of deminishing returns here. Come July 15th when FA starts teams are going to make moves. You think Phoenix and Indiana are going to wait around for McGrady? Phoenix is going to turn their attention to Kobe and Steve Nash. The Pacers will look to move Harrington/Bender/Artest etc for some core of playeres. These teams arent going to wait around. That means by that time, the Rockets offer will be the ONLY one worth a spit. If the Rockets stick to their guns they will probably get McGrady. But they might miss out on some decent FA role players. That would suck, but the prize is McGrady so let's not lose sight of that. Ultimately though, I am VERY frustrated with Weisbrod's tactics in so much that he pulled out at the last minute and is stringing us along. Look, either we have a good deal for him or we dont. He needs to either accept our deal or move on. Just tell us!
My only problem with Ray Allen is that he is 29 with a bad wheel. When Yao gets to his peak, Allen will be coming off his. If we pursue Ray Allen, we had better get our hands on a promising young prospect, too.
I am sure Tmac and his people know what is going on here. If Weisbrod poisons the deal, he poisons the deal. Nothing Tmac can do about that except follow through on a promise to pull a Shaq on the franchise. At some point Tracy may say "Houston or next summer I will leave you dry." But either way should work for the Magic. They shouldn't be trying to trade McGrady so soon anyway. At least let him get a taste of the new, more talented squad. They might actuall win games this year.
I'll tell ya, my patience certainly has been tried by this Tmac trade situation. I have ranted all over this BB because of it. We decided to 'go for it' and I think we need to see it through. As much as it PAINS me to say it, if that jerk wants us to wait, I think we should wait. There was no doubt we risked alot in trying to make this deal work and I think the reward will be worth it. If we are going to risk big we need to stick with the plan and not bail out. I would hate for us to pull out because we didnt have patience and went with a lesser package of players only to wonder 'what could have been' had we gotten a Top 5 NBA player getting ready to go into his prime to team with Yao. Sometimes the best things dont come easy. I think this might be one of those cases.
Why would Tmac want to go back to the Magic? Clearly Magic management knows he wants to go to Houston and he is seeing that the Orlando management is screwing HIM and Houston around. Why would he want to go back and play for a team that is doing that? Tmac is not coming back to Orlando.
The Rox MUST give a drop=dead date to this deal. Get it finalized or move on. Must. Otherwise there is a respect issue here in parallel dimension (dementia?) to the Weisbrodian jerko.
I actually think Yao Ming is going to be very good next season. Whether or not the Rockets get T-Mac, this team can start contending as soon as next season assuming they surround Yao with the appropriate parts. The problem is, this current alignment of players is simply a bad match for Yao, and he will never reach his potential with Francis on the same team. I think the huge positive of this situation is that it has indirectly raised the value of Steve Francis. I remember about two months ago, many were wondering if we could even get Kirk Hinrich for Steve Francis. At this point, a package of Hinrich, Chandler, etc would almost be a fallback option. That btw would be the second team I would talk to in addition to the Sonics if Weisbrod keeps jerking this deal around. Im not necessarily convinced that Chandler will be better than J O'Neal like crash seems to think, but even if he becomes 75% of the player O'Neal is, the Rockets would make out like bandits in this transaction. I think Hinrich will become very similar to Steve Nash (a 17-8 type of player that can effectively run a team). Therefore, even if Chandler became a decent 15-8 type of PF that brought energy and athleticism to the frontline, that team combined with a 17 PPG scorer in Mobley and eventually the most dominant player in basketball (which I feel Yao will be) would be very tough to beat. I just dont think its the end of the world if the Rockets do not get McGrady. The major problem will be if the Rockets wait too long and simply dont get anyone meaning this team comes back intact. THAT would be a recipe for disaster.
It will be interesting to see if the Rockets put a time limit on this offer. I absolutely agree we cant bring back the same team as last year as bridges have been burned. At the same time it is just as risky and perhaps moreso to turn away from a McGrady trade and go in a different direction as the upside of McGrady/Yao is tremendous! Certainly more than anything else we could do. We jumped into this risk, will we see it though? I am sure Rockets management has a good pulse of the situation right now. Everything I have read tells me that the deal will go down (Les' comments, agent comments, player comments, and league consensus). They seem to be confident it will happen. It is just that everyone is upset at the TIME it is taking to happen. If feels like we have to have the patience of Job on this thing. Hopefully it will pay off.
Agreed. I am actually suprised that Les/CD have been this patient thus far. Contending teams need to start putting pressure on Wisebrod to make a deal, including the Rockets. As Deuce pointed out, teams won't be waiting around too much longer, PHO seemed to have already called their bluff, even though they are not completely out. If the Rockets were able to tell McGrady that he is our #1 option, but aren't willing to put up with Wisebrod much more, McGrady would immediately go to the media and request a trade to the Rockets ASAP. He is obviously not happy with the Magic front-office, but is willing to do them one last favor by keeping quiet. One thing is for sure, T-Mac is not going to allow Wisebrod to stop him from what he wants to do.
You know, Williams' job is essentially the same as George Postolos. I know for a fact that Postolos doesn't get heavily involved in trade situations. He usually just hears about it from Les. Williams was on 610 last week saying the trade that had been confirmed by people all over the place including Francis and his agents was "just a rumor." These guys are totally full of ****.
at this point I would almost tell him to go **** himself... Call up Tracy and tell him to either play in Orlando or somewhere else for a season and then the Rockets will sign him to a long term contract... Orlando would either lose everything or make a poorer trade... would serve them right. Of course that's if the talks end up moving into August.
Agreed! Remember, Williams WAS the GM, but got fired from that job. I think the only reason he still has a job with the Magic is for the times when the Magic are in the lottery and as a good luck charm to win it.
