Forgive my skepticism, but you registered this month, and have 20 posts. And you somehow know the deal is done despite many reports to the contrary? Because you "heard it from a guy close to Francis"? You have to know how suspicious this sounds. again, nothing personal, but I am still awaiting confirmation. Trust me, I want to believe you.
That's a fair point! And that is what I HOPE is the case. Perhaps those newspapers are just mucking up the works in terms of stirring stuff up. And perhaps ESPN is right with their reports. But I just wish we got some sort of "official" sign from BOTH parties, a news conference or something saying "the deal is done, we are just waiting until July 1st." I just dont like reading that Orlando is STILL fielding offers! That is what disturbes me. Either they ARE or they AREN'T. If this deal was as good as done they wouldnt STILL be fielding offers!
I thought waiting until july 1 was because of Steve's BYC status. If the deal was set to be annouced last night as originally planned, then wouldn;t waiting until July 1 mean that Steve's cap number goes up and the magic would have to throw something else in the deal?
I'm not saying Francis has no right to play this game. I'm saying that if Francis has the right to play it, and to do so at McGrady's expense, then McGrady has the right to play the same game. And McGrady has more power. Live by the threat, die by the threat.
The deal is contingent on his number going up. The new higher number is the working number. That's why in theory we have to wait. I dont mind waiting for it to become official July 1st, but what I DO MIND is this waffling I hear. If the deal is DONE then it wouldnt continue to be reported that Orlando is taking offers still, that Orlando has cold feet. That is NOT a done deal then.
And we have to hope that McGrady's resolve to come to Houston is stronger than Francis' to not want to go to Orlando. I just fear that McGrady might get talked out of coming here by Jermaine Oneal or someone.
I've posted this in multiple threads, and I am still awaiting a rebuttal. Here is the difference: TMac is telling the Magic that he will exercise the opt-out clause that the Magic put into his contract. Thus he gives them these options: a. Keep him and hope they can rebuild around him enough to change his mind before he opts out, but risk losing him for nothing. b. Try to get something of value (which they are) in trading for him. Steve, on the other hand, is under contract for years. If Steve wanted to do the same thing as McGrady, he'd tell the Magic: "Hey, I am not going to re-sign here after my contract that I signed is up, FYI. You may want to explore trading options." That would be the same. Instead, he and his agents have planted the seeds of doubt, and are basically trying to kill the deal. If the deal doesn't go through, the Rockets get Francis back, and have the following options: a. Keep Steve and have a terrible relationship with a disgruntled player, who has stated (through his demon agents) that he doubts he could return to Houston, and that he would be "scarred" by the trade attempt. b. trade Steve and get screwed because he's devalued himself so much. Besides, even if you don't agree with this, you're ok with Steve b****ing about the trade, but not with Rockets fans b****ing about Steve killing the deal that would have brought them Tracy Freaking McGrady?
It's fine if some are skeptical about what I say, skeptical about ESPN is a different story though. Most of those reports are from papers with agendas, either to make the Magic look dumb, or Francis look like a punk, or to make McGrady look like a punk. I'm sticking to the people who have a reputation to uphold, not from the papers that have plenty of Richard Justice's running around. I doubt they're still fielding offers, it's all a bunch of BS IMO, Stoudamire for McGrady straight up would be a dumb move, Stoudamire, Marion and the 7th pick in the draft for a one year rent on McGrady should land the Suns FO in a looney bin. Then there's the Bird comments, well most reports have his offer leaving out, O'neal and Artest. I wouldn't worry about it...
One of the TVs in my office has been left on ESPN or ESPNNEWS for the past few days because of this. I haven't seen anything this morning that would back up your claim unfortunately...unless I missed it but they replay the broadcast every hour
I completely agree with your take...nothing better than a little rolleyes for effect, even if the argument is incorrect...
What you say is logical, but there are 2 things I am worried about: 1. I thought the Suns were previously hesitant to include Joe Johnson, and that was what killed their deal. Now, it's reported that they are amenable to including johnson with Marion and the #7. I still think our offer is better, but maybe not if the Magic get pressured into dealing Steve for less than value. 2. What if the Pacers reconsider and add Artest to the deal?
i'm thinking like a lawyer...but it feels like tortious interference with a a contract Elements: 1. Pl had a contract - Rockets/Magic have a deal in place 2. Def/Francis willfully and intentionally interfered with the contract 3. the interference was a proximate cause of Pl's injury; and 4. plaintiff incurred actual damages. Now obviously there is not a cause of action for the Rockets against Francis in this...I know that. But this is the analogy that keeps coming in my mind. The guy is absolutely bound to his contract...he signed it and is reaping the benefits of it. In exchange, he gives up certain rights...he agrees to the collective bargaining agreement...and he knows that the Rockets could trade him. In order to avoid that, he goes and complains to the media. Even if I could defend him and empathize...I can't respect it.
NJRocket, to be fair, ESPN IS reporting this deal is about done. Marc Stein last night on SportsCenter, Andy Katz this morning on Mike & Mike Radio Show BOTH said that the deal is either done or about done and that teams around the league are treating it like it is done. ESPN's Jim Gray says it is about done. Here is the article that says that updated at 8:18am this morning http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1825839 Seems like all of the ESPN reporters are saying it is done. But other newspapers, NY Times and Florida Today are saying that other talks are going on. That is the problem.
He's talking about the link on ESPN.com frontpage that says: "The Rockets and Magic have finalized a deal to send Tracy McGrady to Houston for Steve Francis, ESPN's Jim Gray reports." That's another thing that has me concerned. If it's finalized, where's the update on the channel? Where's Rocketeer's picture of TMac in the Rocket's uni on the front page of ESPN.com? Why isn't it even mentioned on the front page of CNNSI (or even on their NBA page)?
1. They're saying they don't want to include Johnson, the deal is probably Marion, 7th pick, and Casey Jacobson... 2. They can I guess, but it's a sideways move for them, they gain offense but lose defense, the only deal that would get them better is to trade role players like Harrington, Bender, Foster, etc. for McGrady.
He doent count. It is his job to stir up trade talk. The rest of the guys are actually REPORTERS that report on the news and then later might offer commentary. Ford is about offering commentary and twisting the news to fit his angle of the story.
1. Just saw the reports about Phoenix. Good news. 2. It could be argued that it would be a sideways move for them, but there are several things I'm thinking about here: a. They rid themselves of the "head case" Artest b. They get an acknowledged superstar and the acclaim that brings (not to mention fan dollars from Jerseys, ticket sales, etc.) c. If they had been able to score on Detroit just a little more, they would have been in the finals. d. At this point, anything that can screw the Rockets, will screw the Rockets.
