McGrady deal done

[alfdogg 0]

Link~

 

Damn Rockets. First they take Barkley from us, and now McGrady.

 

It'll be interesting to see how Yao/T-Mac work together though.

 

Discuss.

[Guest FrigidSoul]

The Magic should trade Steve Francis to the Celtics. They don't need him if they plan on developing Jameer Nelson. The Celts still need a PG since Marcus Banks sucks and I think Delonte West is more of a scorer than somebody who can feed the ball to Paul Pierce and Al Jefferson.

 

I think the major part in this whole deal is Juwan Howard. Now that he isn't going to be playing Center and can move back to PF his numbers should go up again. He and Yao are going to be a major problem for other teams trying to score in the paint or pick up offensive rebounds.

[sfaJack 0]

Juwan Howard is a slightly more polished version of Maurice Taylor. The Rockets will be no better off with him than they were with Cato and, in the West, that's trouble.

 

I still maintain the Rockets' problem is not Steve Francis. While he's not a classic point, he's still a pretty effective offensive player and gives them a good threat, particularly when he drives the lane. He assist-to-turnover ratio needs work and he still fires up way too many dumbass shots, but I think those things can be fixed, at least a little bit, if he's willing.

 

I guess I'm having trouble seeing the wisdom in trading two of your top scorers (and probably your best gunner in Mobley) for one guy, even though that one guy is a superstar. Just seems like you're weakening yourself in one huge key spot (point) when you really don't need to. But I suppose it isn't fair to say that until we see who the Rockets get to play the point.

[Guest Mindless_Aggression]

I'd take Juwan Howard over Cuttino Mobley any day personally. He's not one to build a team around but he's a great 3rd option. Make Howard be the first or second and you're fucked, but I think he'll do well as a guy who doesn't have to put up huge numbers for his team, just good ones.

 

Mobley on the other hand is just way too inconsistent. And if he isn't giving you points, he's fairly useless. His scoring actually dropped a lot last year too.

 

So yeah, Houston will be better. Not a contender but damn good.

[Dangerous A 0]

One thing that'll come out of this is McGrady will be a better defender, possibly second or first team all defensive. Van Gundy demands defense from his players and before McGrady went to the Magic, he was starting to get a rep as a stopper on the defensive end the last 2 seasons with the Raptors. Then he went to Orlando and had to become "the man". With Yao in the back to help erase any mistakes, McGrady will be able to gamble more on defense and his length and athleticism make him look like a poster boy for what the Pistons championship team was built on.

[starvenger 0]

Link~

 

Damn Rockets. First they take Barkley from us, and now McGrady.

 

It'll be interesting to see how Yao/T-Mac work together though.

Yao passes, T-Mac shoots. And if that doesn't happen, well, Macgrady will want out.

[The Electrifyer 0]

Hopefully not, T-Mac isn't Kobe. T-Mac wanted to be the number 1 man in Orlando, but now that he sees he can't carry a team and has said he wants to be the man on a team with another man (something like that), he and Yao could co-exist quite successfully.

 

Now lets see if the Rockets can sign Derek Fisher.

[starvenger 0]

Hopefully not, T-Mac isn't Kobe. T-Mac wanted to be the number 1 man in Orlando, but now that he sees he can't carry a team and has said he wants to be the man on a team with another man (something like that), he and Yao could co-exist quite successfully.

 

Now lets see if the Rockets can sign Derek Fisher.

Man, I hope not. I hate Fisher, even more than I hate Ewing...

[SteakGrowsOnUecker 0]

Well I think this can be great for both teams. I think a Yao/McGrady will be a great tandem, one of the best in the West. Now while I don't think they will get to the championship level for the next year or two, they are definately great building blocks for Houston. Now imagine if Shaq heads to Dallas....Texas is becoming the center of the NBA. I think it's gonna be great.

 

Now as for Orlando, I think getting Mobley, Francis and Kato will help make them at least competitive instead of being at the bottom of the East. Those three along with Howard and other young talent I think could develop well, although not for the next few season. If they keep the core group together and let them develop and learn to play together, I think they could be on to something good. I also think Francis having more room to creative and play his own style will help him have a much better season, at least statwise, over what he did last season. I always thought Francis had problems playing in the system as he did with Van Gundy last season. I've never been really impressive with Mobley, he is a real streaky player, and Kato at least showed some signs of talent last season, but that was probably mainly because he was side by side with Yao. But....knowing Orlando's luck this will all somehow fail horribly for them.

[Mole 0]

The Magic should trade Steve Francis to the Celtics. They don't need him if they plan on developing Jameer Nelson. The Celts still need a PG since Marcus Banks sucks and I think Delonte West is more of a scorer than somebody who can feed the ball to Paul Pierce and Al Jefferson.

I finally agree with you, but who would the Celtics trade to get Francis?

[Guest Flyboy]

The Magic should trade Steve Francis to the Celtics. They don't need him if they plan on developing Jameer Nelson. The Celts still need a PG since Marcus Banks sucks and I think Delonte West is more of a scorer than somebody who can feed the ball to Paul Pierce and Al Jefferson.

I finally agree with you, but who would the Celtics trade to get Francis?

Pierce? They were rumors about him going to Chicago before the Draft.

[King Kamala 0]

I'm glad the proposed Chicago-Boston trade was rejected. It was the #3 pick and Tyson Chandler for Pierce. The so-called development time for Chandler has shown that he's nothing more than an slightly above average power forward. It may be the fanboy in me but I still believe a team built around Pierce could make a decent playoff run, if you had one other star or several good veteran role players.

[Guest FrigidSoul]

Mole, if the Magic are really rebuilding they would want contracts that expire soon. So Yogi Stewart would be out of here, along with our 2005 first round pick, Jumaine Jones, and Chucky Atkins. It gives them a first round pick and allows them to free up more contract space after the 04-05 season.

 

Also the trade between the Celts and Bulls would have been

 

Bulls gets Pierce, Celts first round pick and #24 pick

 

Boston gets #3 pick, Jamal Crawford, Tyson Chandler, Kirk Heinrich, and Scottie Pippen

 

I think it fell through because Ainge really wanted Al Jefferson and felt he would be around in the middle of the draft, so drafting him at #3 would be a mistake.

[Precious Roy 0]

The Magic should trade Steve Francis to the Celtics. They don't need him if they plan on developing Jameer Nelson. The Celts still need a PG since Marcus Banks sucks and I think Delonte West is more of a scorer than somebody who can feed the ball to Paul Pierce and Al Jefferson.

No way, the Celtics are already loaded with guards and swingmen, they don't need a scorer in a PG's body.

 

Banks was beyond solid last year, a little inconsistent but he was a rookie. He hit some big shots, made some big plays and played LOCKDOWN D on opposing PG's. He'll be the man at the point. DeLonte West will be converted to the point, they're convinced he can play it. Jiri Welsch, who had a breakout year in 03-04, can also play the point. Chucky Atkins will get PT as well, though he's obviously not a part of the future plans.

 

Then they have Paul Pierce and Ricky Davis as scoring SG/SF swingmen PLUS the kid they drafted out of Ok. St....fuck loaded, they're OVERLOADED in the backcourt right now. Adding Francis makes no sense, what they really need is a big man who can score and isn't named Raef Lafrentz.

 

Orlando has a GREAT 3 guard rotation with Francis, Mobley and Jameer Nelson. Look for Francis to start and the point and then shift over to SG when Nelson comes in. There's several ways they can play those three, plus they have DeShawn Stevenson who will never be a star but is a good backup SG and can score in bunches. That's a pretty nice backcourt, and in the frontcourt they have the forgotten man Drew Gooden (who will play MUCH better without Juwan Howard on the court, he'll get the 4 spot to himself where he is more comfortable), sharpshooter/rebounding 3 Pat Garrity returns after missing all of last year, and Grant Hill SWEARS he's finally healthy *knock on wood*. Add defensive specialist Kelvin Cato and wunderkind Dwight Howard to the mix and Orlando doesn't look so bad on paper.....

 

Houston has the BEST 1-2 punch in the league now that Kobe and Shaq are on the outs, and honestly the rest doesn't matter. As long as they play D and lace their shoes properly this team is an easy 50 game winner. Howard, Mo Taylor, Jimmy Jackson and Spoon will play well, now all they need is a PG. D-Fish looks like a great fit, he's VG's type of player, fits their needs (bring the ball up the court and give it to T-Mac, spot up for shots, play D). If he's smart he goes to Houston.

 

Good deal for both teams.

[alfdogg 0]

Rockets also got Reece Gaines in the trade, for what it's worth.

[Brett Favre 0]

The Magic didn't need 'em anymore with the drafting of Jameer Nelson. I like the trade for the Magic especially if Grant Hill is healthy. IMO, people are overatting T-Mac with Yao. It'll be good, but not as good as the T'Wolves, Spurs, and possibly the Kings.

[nogoodnick 0]

I dont see Francis being around long enough for Howard to develop. Sure Steve may act like hes cool with Orlando but if they start sucking hes gonna get pissy. I don't know how you pass on Okafor. He's solid and with him I think they could make the playoffs next year.

[Guest Mindless_Aggression]

I still think Juwan Howard is being overlooked in this whole thing, he really could be a factor, him and McGrady were the second highest scoring duo in the league last year. He's not just a throw in and from all accounts, is a really good locker room guy too.

 

Tyronn Lue occasionaly shows flashes of having a really good game. I still think Houston killed Orlando on this trade.

[Precious Roy 0]

I agree that Houston gets the better end of things, simply because McGrady is far and away the best player in the deal and because they also have better parts in place already. Howard will be a great fit for them because they have T-Mac and Yao, but from Orlando's perspective he's a throw-in because he didn't mesh with Gooden on the court and doesn't fit into their future plans. He was a questionable signing for them in the first place.

 

I give Houston the edge, but Orlando came out looking pretty good all things considered.

[razazteca 0]

I bet Juwan Howard will be traded before the All Star game break. I don't know if its his salary or his work ethic but it seems that he plays for 3 diff teams a year.

[alfdogg 0]

Check this out.

[starvenger 0]

Francis looks reaaaaaaaal happy to be there, doesn't he? I think that's almost his "I can't believe Vancouver drafted me" face...

 

OK, the Rockets now have Ewing (who I hate), McGrady (who I kinda hate since he ditched Toronto) and they may get Derek Fisher (who I loathe). If they get Eric Snow as well, I'm leaving Houston...

[ant_7000 0]

I think the Magic got the better deal. Who's going to run the point in Houston? Who's going to rebound? because Yao or Howard are not double digit rebounders. Orlando will make the playoffs this year because of Francis and Mobley, eventhough it might hurt Dwight Howard's development. Drew Gooden will get to play PF on the regular so his numbers will go up. Maybe, Grant Hill might be able to play this year, who knows.

[Precious Roy 0]

Yao averaged 9 boards a game last year, 15th in the league, in only 32 minutes a game. His career high is 20 boards, against Detroit of all teams. Howard, Mo Taylor and McGrady rebound well, and all Weatherspoon does is rebound. I don't think they're worried about rebounding. As for the PG, word is Derek Fisher wants to play for them.

 

And Steve Nash is officially a Phoenix Sun again. Nash-Johnson-Marion-Stoudemire. Not bad......

[Guest Vitamin X]

So who can the Mavs trade for Shaq NOW?

 

Also word is that LAL are trying to lure Duke Coach Krzyzewski (how the fuck do you pronounce that?) out of the college ranks. It's said one of the major reasons for this is because Kobe said he would DEFINITELY play for Coach Z and as we all know, the Lakers are doing all they can to keep Kobe from playing for that OTHER LA Team (and that would be the absolute STUPIDEST decision Kobe could make...)

[The Czech Republic 0]

Coach Krzyzewski (how the fuck do you pronounce that?)

Kruh-sheff-ski

[Steviekick 0]

Houston will do very well next season. Derek Fisher will propably join up with them. JVG likes point guards who know their role in the team, and Fish knows his.

[Guest Smell the ratings!!!]

Francis looks reaaaaaaaal happy to be there, doesn't he? I think that's almost his "I can't believe Vancouver drafted me" face...