11/05/24
June 22, 2004
T-Mac to Houston?: A provisional trade is in place for Tracy McGrady to go to Houston. The Rockets seem to be following the Lakers model - pairing a huge center with a top scorer.
posted by dusted to basketball at 12:51 AM - 11 comments
Steve Francis is a selfish pass-free zone of a baby who took basketball away from Vancouver before he ever played a pro minute, and is now slowly taking it away from China. He can't be hustled to the outer swamps fast enough. T-Mac, even without a supporting cast, adds 10 wins and at least one playoff round to Yao & Houston next year. Bet on it.
posted by chicobangs at 03:19 AM on June 22, 2004
Emphasis on 'even without a supporting cast'! Because Houston has traded away their entire guard corps ( Moochie, Francis and Mobley ). If this goes through as reported, the third best player for Houston will be Eric Piatkowski! Since we discussed Ralph Wiley's passing - Wiley also predicted it would be McGrady who would become the next king of the league (not Kobe). I kinda hate see more of that East-to-West talent migration, but McGrady didn't do much for the East last year. I have a friend who theorizes that the East - West gap is due to the West having better General Managers, so they snag all the good players out of the East. I guess the Blazers GM is the exception (Rasheed Wallace, Jermaine O'Neal).
posted by BobbyC at 06:26 AM on June 22, 2004
I dunno BobbyC: Jimmy Jackson has played pretty well the past few years as defensive stopper who can put up numbers on a given night when others are struggling. I think that Nachbar is a very capable sixth man and is only going to keep improving. Maurice Taylor (if he plays hard) is also pretty nice to have as a fallback if you let Cato leave. And you already mentioned Piatkowski. This is a pretty solid core here....perhaps a little soft at defending slashing PGs, but Van Gundy will handle that by channeling everything to the big fella. Then you have to imagine how re-energized McGrady will be by exiting purgatory and playing with a pass-first big man. Give them a year, cut off some of the older dead wood, and I like this team's chances.
posted by smithers at 07:22 AM on June 22, 2004
I guess the Blazers GM is the exception (Rasheed Wallace, Jermaine O'Neal). That's two GMs... Trader Bob, who we all hated, and John Nash, who appears to be kowtowing to the whack job fundies that find their way into the editorial section of the Boregonian.
posted by togdon at 12:32 PM on June 22, 2004
I agree with Smithers. In two years, this team could very well be the 2000-2002 era Lakers all over again -- the league's premiere one-on-one player coupled with a potentially dominant, singular big man. Find the role players to compliment them (your Derek Fishers, Robert Horrys, and what not) and you've got a team.
posted by filthyboy at 01:02 PM on June 22, 2004
That Clippers deal looks better for Orlando than the Rockets one. However, if you're a Rockets fan.... Yao and TMac? Silly! This is going to be one wierd off-season.
posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 02:18 PM on June 22, 2004
Frances is whining yet again, says he doesn't want to go to orlando at all.
posted by corpse at 03:04 PM on June 22, 2004
Don't sleep on Nachbar. He can shoot, drive the ball, and rebound. His defense is a little suspect but practicing under Van Gundy helps. The kid's got a bit of a mean streak to him. He'd rather "dunk on your crown" than lob up a 3. Could be a very good complementary piece if they capitalize on the potential we saw during the playoffs.
posted by lilnemo at 04:06 PM on June 22, 2004
Before I forget, I'd like to echo chicobangs sentiment, especially in light of Francis' "statements". Rockets "official" telegram: Dear Steve Francis, stop We're trading you to a club that resembles an expansion team. stop Please stop calling us. stop Yao Ming is the center of the universe. stop Take Kelvin "I look like the alosaurus(sp?) in Disney's Dinosaur" Cato with you. stop Tell Cuttino we will miss him. stop Unofficial transcript of phone call received by Francis' agent, from former owners of the Vancouver "Garage": Oh no Stevie! The Rockets are holding you hostage!! They're going to trade you against your wishes!! How you like me now Bitch?!
posted by lilnemo at 04:20 PM on June 22, 2004
He'd rather "dunk on your crown" than lob up a 3. For the way that he punked Karl Malone back earlier this year (the Malone torn jersey thing), Nachbar will always get an all-star vote from me. Just imagine if this trade happened and the Mavs wound up with Shaq (something that I neither want nor think will happen). Toss in the Spurs, and the Texans would get cockier. Well, once football season is over and they remember about a sport called hoops.
posted by Ufez Jones at 06:11 PM on June 22, 2004
Yesterday I was gonna collect the links for Tmac to Houston and Indiana and the Clippers and Dallas. The Clippers rumour was send Corey Maggette, Chris Wilcox and the No. 2 to Orlando for McGrady. Orlando takes Okafor and Dwight Howard with the first two picks in the draft. But Houston sounds good to me. Yao would be better without Steve Francis if I can believe what I read.