well the problem in that scenario is what if mcgrady doesn't get better, or worse yet, worsens.... you than lose all trade value he would probably retain this offseason. it's a dicey situation.
LMAO!!!! LOYALTY!!???? I near spit on my keyboard Loyalty ??? From Clutchfans? haven't been here long have you Rocket River
i think most of the people here only voted yes because of the question mark on his health. i don't really have a problem with that. kg is phenomenal but t-mac when healthy is a PERFECT compliment to yao ming. t-mac's had a few pain free games this year and has looked as good as he has in the any of the past 3 or 4 years. i think once he moves past the dissapointment and struggles he's been going through and starts fresh next season, we'll get the old t-mac back full time. his recent comments about being fine in the future as long as he has his big man and his coach atleast reassures me that he thinks he can still be himself. anyways, it's better then hearing he doesn't even want to show up at the arena at times. t-mac should be entering his prime over the next few years provided his back holds up. a t-mac at last year's level combined with yao ming's continued domination is imo the best possible combination you could put together in the nba. i'll take the risk that t-mac will be fine.
Of course you make this trade. I like having TMac here but I think these back problems will never go away. We need someone to be consistent and Garnett would be. Add to this a top 10 pick in this years draft and were right back in it next year
Well, I think that's the most significant part of the analysis, right there. I think most people here still love T-Mac and want to see him staty here. But if he's going to miss half the season every year from here on out, his salary will keep the team in the basement. My guess is that the back spasms and other problems will continue. And if that's the case, we need a change. But please understand, I SERIOUSLY hope I'm wrong about his back.
Imagine both Yao and Tmac enter their prime at the same time. Add a few shooters and decent role players and these guys will be counting their rings when they retire.
Last time I checked....the first set of twin towers didnt get us a ring and everyone makes it seem like its easy to go out and get "sharp" shooters. Heck...even the U.S. team didn't have a legitimate sharp shooter last yr.
Tmac didn't have ANY back problems last year. He took a bad fall this year. There is nothing more to it than that. I expect him back at full force next year and challenge for league MVP.
He didn't have any last year but he has had problems in the past. I don't think there's any way you can know how his back will be next season.
why would Minn do this?? They would be trading their city Icon for a disgruntled, oft-injured player, albeit a very talented one. I would not do it anyway, as KG is not a closer. Every championship team needs someone who can break down defenses at the end of the game... a la Billups, Kobe, Cassell, etc. Unless we get someone of that ilk, I say forget it and hope TMac gets better
You're right, in that it's been very hard to ascertain what exactly is going on with his back. Is it the same spasms he's dealt with for years? Or something new? IMO, it's a bad sign when the organization gets shadowy on a subject like this. If it's not a disc problem, you're right that he can work through it long term with proper guidance by the docs/trainers. However, today's Chronicle featured an article in which McGrady himself mentioned a bulging disc: I would love to see him come back and give us a championship with the N&I Yao. However, if he really does have a disc issue, I would pull the trigger on the Minnesota deal in a heartbeat. I'm loyal to the team first, longtenured drafted guys second, longterm non-drafted guys third, and guys that are relatively new to the squad last. I'd say that Yao is going to be that person sooner than we might realize. The kind of center that can get position at will, grab a high pass and get his shot against anyone or kick it to the outside (when we finally get a dedicated gunner). Also, every championship team has to be able to shut teams down cold in the 4th, and who would be able to go inside against a Yao/KG combo? That's just frightening. Evan
This is seriously ridiculous. I really hope we don't trade T-Mac. Unless it meant getting rid of Juwan Howard. Then you'd have to at least think about it.
I hate to even entertain a McGrady trade, but I think we just have to listen seriously to offers. Clutch is right that if he's healthy we want him and if he's not no one does, but what if we just can't be sure? In that case, if another team's willing to consider a gamble I think we have to listen. Maybe I'm remembering wrong, but didn't we get T-Mac with a clean bill of health? And is anyone really surprised anymore when he goes out for weeks with back problems? I mean, we're all disappointed but can anyone say they're surprised? A lot of people here are saying it's too soon and that we ought to give it another year. At the end of that year though we'll either be pretty sure we were right to keep him or we'll know we weren't. If we know we weren't, we'll be lucky to get Francis and Taylor back for him. So if a great deal presents itself this summer, I'd be inclined to pull the trigger. The T-Mac/Swift for Allen/Lewis proposal that gets batted around here would be a no-brainer for me though I don't know why Seattle would bite. The idea of Garnett in a Rockets uni makes me wet, but if we can't put shooters around them it's a tough call. And it's a tough call as to whether we can find reliable shooters on what would be left in the budget -- league minimum salaries and pretty much nothing else. What I keep going back to is that if the bulging disc issue is still real -- if a any issue still exists with T-Mac's back that can't be confidently corrected -- I think we'd be fools to think next year would be significantly different than this one. Most of the people in favor of keeping Tracy for next year project him at 90-100% and Sura back in the lineup. It's that kind of semi-blind idealism that gave us our 05-06 Rockets and I've heard nothing to suggest we ought to go into next year any more confident than we are right now. That being the case, if Seattle or Minny's offering anything like what's being talked about here I'd bite the bullet and do it.
Minnesota will not touch Tmac unless doctors tell them that his back will be fine in the future. I know I wouldn't want to risk screwing my team up for the next 5 years for a player who may not be able to play up to his capabilities due to a lingering injury.
Good one batman. I'd also point out that the sudden surge of Yao should not cut TMac any slack with regard his on-again off-again health problem. I see quite a few posters here are satisfied with a dominant Yao + a 80-90% TMac. Sorry buddy, that's not good enough. You are placing your loyalty to one superstar over the Rockets team. We have seen YOF labels flying all over the place good time or bad, but this is a clear case of TMac Only Fans exposing their identities.
I'm saying no. I do not want T-Mac to be traded, i want him to rest, get healthy, get confident and team up with Yao to tear the league a new ahole. Let's just focus on getting the right peices around them.
how many times doctors said grant hill would be fine and how many times hill ended up visiting them again for more operations?
