If we have the oppurtunity to get Tmac then you go for it and let things work themselves out. I mean look at the lakers. They did pretty well when it was just kobe and shaq. The key was their role players, who played smart and knew what to do. Maybe they wont get us a ring but who wouldnt pay to see Yao and tmac playing on the same team. You would have maybe the two best matchups in the leagues with yao and shaq and tmac and kobe. I would pay hundreds to watch that, well maybe not, but you cant go wrong with Tmac, who has played with far less talent then kobe ever did. Kobe has played with the most dominant Center in the league for his carreer and I would like to see how he does when he is double and triple teamed every night like Tmac and see how he does.
Incredible ability, no doubt...but don't we say the same thing about Steve? Great tools, no brain? I doubt how much of a killer instinct he really has...I mean, his team did go 21-61 in the East. Bad supporting cast no doubt, but Steve's had bad supporting casts. Hell, in his team's worst year(28-54), Steve's team wasn't too much more talented(At the least, Howard > Taylor), and they played in the west. That said, T-Mac would be effective alongside Ming, but I don't think we should trade an arm and a leg to get him.
Great tools + brain = McGrady Good tools - brain = Francis There's a difference. Add Yao, and then start getting good role players...your on your way to building a championship team. P.S. Also note that we'd use T-Mac a lot different than we used Francis. T-Mac would be used to mainly to score, rebound and to steal a few balls. But don't forget that he's a pretty good passer as well (5.5ast/2.7to). His large frame and wing span would help him passing into Yao too! I just hope his injury heals up.
T-Mac for Francis is acceptable. Especially if Francis is not happy with JVGs offense. Also T-Mac = Ticket Sales! Brand = Worse crowd than last year
Getting either T-Mac or Brand would be wonderful. We probably would have to give up a lot more for T-Mac than for Brand....that is a given. Either way though, we are building for the future. If I was able to choose, I would choose T-Mac because he is the better player. It is much harder to get star players than it is to get role players. We can always add role players to the roster...so losing more players for T-Mac is not a concern of mine. To have TWO players in T-Mac and Yao at the TOP of their positions a few years from now would be golden. LA was able to parlay 3 championships with Kobe and Shaq...and that was with thier egos getting in the way. What could we do with T-Mac and Yao and no egos getting in the way? Imagine having an advantage over EVERY team at two positions EVERY night? That's what we would have in T-Mac and Yao years down the road. The game is based on matchups and we would have 2 huge ones in our favor. The inside, outside, punch of T-Mac and Yao would be tremendous!
What about that power forward being on one of the worst teams? He's never even been close to the playoffs.
When it comes to trades, i believe it should be about aquiring the best possible player. The bottom line is that the best teams have the best player and that is indicated by the teams who have won championships (Duncan, Shaq, Bryant...). I believe McGrady can become that type of player at some point in his career. I don't think if we possibly trade for him that the Rockets will be better of immediately but when you have a chance to get that type of player and that is that young, the team should sacrifice a season or two to get the rest of the missing pieces. Yao & T-Mac is a loooong shot though.
Agreed about TMac clearly being the better player. Yao/TMac could very well be another Shaq/Kobe. But Yao/Brand could very well be another Duncan/Robinson, and the Spurs are only 1 championship behind THIS Laker team of Shaq/Kobe, with this series probably determining who will add to their total this year. So, it seems the question has really become: Would you rather build a deep, defensive, low-key team around two dominant big men like the Spurs or a thin, offensive, star-studded team like the Lakers? Personally, I always go with size. I know TMac is a special player, but he cannot take pressure off of Yao in the paint by guarding Dirk, KG, Duncan, Amare and all the other great PF's in the West. Brand can. And he will. While certainly not the talent the TMac is, he is as consistent a 20/10 guy as there is in the league (McGrady only gives you offense), he is an extremely hard worker (where McGrady is not), and he will never quit/whine/complain the way McGrady has in the past when things aren't going well. I'd rather follow the Spurs pattern, and I bet they are going to win this series (and the title) to prove that they are at least an equal to the mighty Lakers, if not better.
Mcgrady only gives you offense? Wth? Mcgrady= not only consistent offense and smarts, but consistent DEFENSE and even rebounds, he can also get you a few assists. And Mcgrady not a hard worker?? Are you off your rocker man?? The guy is the second best two gaurd in the league, next to only KOBE, because he has DESIRE AAANND SMARTS. Plus that indisputable killer instinct. I don't care if he whines or has whined, who wouldn't whine when you're stuck on such a lousy team as the Magic, and are the only one putting up effort worth noticing? Give him Yao as a second option, and have a big guy that can dish it to him anytime he goes for the basket and gives the opposition the troubling thought of "defend T-mac or Yao? T-mac or Yao? Oh crap! too late! T-mac just drove right past me!" And the ever hussling Boki Nachbar, to help along in that passing, slashing and jumpshoot, JJ AND Brent barry if we get em. My god, the audacity to even make the statements of "Mcgrady only gives you offense" and "doesn't work hard". Shame on you my friend, shame on you.
I don't know but I would guess that it would take an incredible amount of hard work and commitment for a guy coming out of high school to eventually become the type of player that he is now. It's not like he was a scoring machine when he came into the league.
Look, if we acquired McGrady to pair with Yao, then Mo Taylor would be a very solid PF for us. Let's say that in averages 6 rebounds per game instead of 10. His offensive punch more than compensates for the 4 rebounds he doesn't get. Look at the scoring punch with Yao, Taylor, Boki / Jackson, McGrady and a true point guard (I'd do a minor trade for Steve Blake of the Wizards). The only fly in the ointment would be JVG. His offensive sets would hamper McGrady -- would he be a 30-point scorer in JVG's system? -- and Van Gundy seems too stubborn to design plays dictated by his players' talents.
Hmm, Tmac complained about not being "The Man" in Toronto, so he split the first chance he could to sign with hometown Orlando. In Orlando, the team disintegrated around him, culminating with this year when: A. They became a team in the bottom 2-3 in the entire league. B. They lost enough games at the beginning of the year that Tmac felt he needed to have his coach (and a former Coach of the Year) fired. C. And to top it all off, their superstar, who you claim "has DESIRE" and a "killer instinct", publicly stated he had trouble staying interested in whether or not his team wins and was considering retirement! This is not the consumate professional of a Kobe, Duncan, or Michael Jordan. Tmac is a tremendously talented prima donna with a chronic back and history of bailing out on teams whenever his coach, teammates, or fans offend his gentle nature. He and his cousin Vince Carter seem to have a lot in common. There was a time when it was Carter who was the next "next Jordan", but look at people's opinion of him now: soft, undedicated, and often disinterested. Is all this baggage worth his tremendous talent?
That team would've "desintegrated" around Kobe. And for all his "baggage", I just didn't see it at all affecting his game, and that's what counts, his consitency during game play. I couldn't careless if he publicly called out JVG, with a camera dead on his face, if he kept on being consistent and playing as good he does when the game starts, till when it ends. And who knows, perhaps he had high hopes, joining the magic with Grant hill etc Playoff dreams of some sort, or his team being some real threat to the east and west. And he gave it a chance, and now this year he got really selfish and said "to hell with it, if i gotta do everything" and did it, CONSISTENTLY. All during gameplay,. After the games, I don't care how much he whines or complains etc. I say, if you can back it up during the game, and do what you're paid to do, consistently and without hesitation with a killer instinct. Then whine all you want, you're doing your part. Like people have said here, we would not be bringing in T-mac to be the Rocket's buddy, or to be some playmaking PG or our "michael jordan" to pick up the games of our players who are too damn stupid to do it on their own. Yao's the only one who has an excuse, it's his 2nd year, it's reasonable to give him time. What we would be bringing in T-mac for, is to be the player he is, not the person he is. And as a player, he is consistent, and does demonstrate DESIRE and SMARTS during gameplay. And is a well rounded superstar who does what he does best, A LOT of things, o and d, plus rebounds and a few assists. Difference between him doing everything and Steve doing everything? SMARTS, CONSISTENCY and "killer instinct". You can't tell me Kobe is a stand up citizen a "Michael Jordan",personality wise. He whines too, he'd whine probably more if he were stuck on the Magic's current roster. Hell he's on a winning team, and whines here and there, he wants to test Free Agency this comming season remember? Professional? Well, if you mean he's a professional during gameplay. I agree, but so is T-mac.
T-Mac is the better player, therefore get T-Mac. I know it doesn't always work, but it seems that the team that gets the "good, hard-working" players or the higher quantity usually comes off the worse. Yes, you can point out counterexamples. But it just happens that way too much for me to want the superstar. *The obvious exception is the often genius move of trading an old, declining superstar for a bunch of young hotshots.
Isnt size more difficult to get than SG's or SF's? This is what I think about. In JVG system, defense and rebounding is what he wants. Like the Spurs. Getting Brand does both. But Thumbs intrigues me with his post. If we trade for McGrady and get it done, the Taylor would be ok at PF. I didn't think about him in that light. Or I forgot to anyways. But, Taylor was a 20pt scorer before coming to Houston. The thing is that Taylor doesn't rebound well. And with Yao barely getting off the floor, we gonna get dogged on the boards.
Size is always harder to get than equally talented SG's and SF's but we are not talking about getting Tim Duncan here we are talking Brand. Mcgrady is better than Brand at his position. Much better. Brand is a talent a potential all star but Mcgrady is a super talent a potential MVP hall of Fame. That is the Difference! What will make the biggest difference for the Rockets. Replacing Mobley with Mcgrady or Cato and Taylor with Brand. In my opinion Mcgrady wins that hands down. Now if you say Duncan instead of Brand then you have a different story. But Suffice it to say we only have a slightly better chance of getting Mcgrady than Duncan, and only a little more of getting Brand. Pipedreams are fun to think about but are only wishful thinking.
My thinking is that those four rebounds translate to 4 points a game (50% shooting efficiency by the opposing team -- and that figure is generous). That is only two extra baskets by Mo. He's quite capable of that and more. At the same time, Mo made some real rebounding strides this year. There were some games (not enough unfortunately) that he was a force on the boards (the JVG influence?). Also, he was once the best player on the team in making the entry pass to Yao Ming. Sometime in mid-season he started shooting all the time rather than passing to Yao. I don't know why.
Totally agree. Brand brings premium Defense, blocks, rebounds and scoring. TMAC will bring the fans in bunches, will average 5-8 points higher than Brand but he will jack up more shots in the process.
Who are you kidding? The Rockets, this past season, were one of the top pick and roll teams in the league, and if you have ever watched Orlando play, you would know that McGrady is very effective in these situations as a vast amount of his offensive output is directly dependent upon him getting "free" off of screens.
