The McGrady Trade: 5.5 years later.
by KingJafi on Dec 29, 2009 10:35 AM EST
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What's going on in Houston these days with McGrady is nothing new to the Orlando Magic or their fans. As annoying as it was back in 2004, when the Magic had to lose a star AGAIN, I'm so happy the franchise ridded themselves of this guy. Today all Tracy McGrady represents to the Magic is McGrady's cousin Vince Carter (I'll get to that later) and indirectly Dwight Howard. No, McGrady isn't the reason the Magic took Howard over Okafor (McGrady definitely wanted none of that)...but McGrady is the reason the Magic had the 1st pick. For those of you that can't remember, McGrady quit (which he later confessed to) on the Magic around this time of year 6 years ago cause they were on some 19 game losing streak or something and in the process cost a coach, who later won a championship, his job. In hindsight, maybe it would of been better to trade McGrady then and keep Doc but the flipside is the Magic ultimately got the 1st pick so I'd say this situation worked out great for both the Magic and Mr. Rivers. But back to McGrady....the mediocrity continued....McGrady picked Okafor and refused to play with Dwight (you can find a Sentinel quote on that) and kept running his chatterbox to the max much like his is doing today more than 5 and a half years later. In any case, you all know what happened next, in that McGrady was traded, but I'm sure you haven't really examined the trade closely to see where both parties stand today. For all intents and purposes, the trade has practically nullified itself across the board. Ironically, a lot of the same players involved in what I call "the trade tree" were swapped and ended up playing on both teams (Francis) or the same team (James). Another funny coicidence is because of this trade, Trevor Ariza has played for the Magic and Rockets and in the process won a championship against the team that traded him. I guess he can thank McGrady's selfishness for a ring and huge contract (No, his skill had nothing to do with any of that. *wink*). Truth is the NBA works in funny ways and the McGrady deal has essentially boiled down to the this:
Vince Carter for Brian Evans, Kyle Lowry, and whatever the Rockets get for TMac this time around.
Here's how I get there:
Orlando gets:
Cato ---> traded to Detroit for Darko ----> left via free agency to Memphis
Mobley ----> traded to Sacramento for Doug Christie ----> quit on the Magic and immediately retired
Francis ----> traded to New York for Penny Hardaway (immediately released) and Ariza ---> traded to LA for Maurice Evans (left via free agency to Atlanta) and Brian Cook ---> traded to Houston for Rafer Alston (Houston also got Kyle Lowry in deal) ----> traded to NJ for Vince Carter (Note: Francis eventually made his way back to Houston before being released)
Houston gets:
Reece Gaines ---> traded to Milwaukee for Mike James ---> left via free agency to Toronto
Juwan Howard ---> traded to Minnesota for Mike James (yes, the same guy Gaines was traded for) ---> traded to New Orleans for Bobby Jackson ----> traded to Sacramento for Ron Artest ----> left via free agency to Los Angeles in essentially a free agent swap for Trevor Ariza
Tyron Lue ---> traded to Atlanta for Jon Barry ---> released by Rockets and retired (Lue eventually made his way back to Orlando)
Tracy McGrady ---> ?
So my wishes to McGrady are: happy trails my disgruntled friend...hopefully you get out of the first round with your new team...I know the Magic are better off without you and thanks for hooking us up with your cousin.
This FanPost was made by a member of the Orlando Pinstriped Post community, and is to be treated as the opinions and views of its author, not that of the blogger or blog community as a whole.
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The only way I want McGrady is if Houston buys him out in February and he signs on to Orlando for the minimum.
McGrady is not an upgrade over Carter right now. Putting them alongside one another has worked in the past. They are the type of players who can mesh with anybody.
The Magic can’t possibly find a deal that works for them when they have to send back at least 17.5 million dollars worth of salary. The only scenario that works is a buyout in February and subsequent signing before the March 1 deadline.
It's not a dunk unless your hand makes contact with the rim. Yeah, I'm talkin' to you, "Superman..."
The guy is a cancer and perennial loser. Considering bringing the guy back even for free would be completely stupid on the Magic’s part and seriously ill-advised. McGrady represents everything that was wrong with this franchise at the beginning of this decade. Though some readers of this blog may have a soft spot for the guy, he is not well liked in this community. Did you not hear fans booing him every time he touched the ball last week?
Spreading that Calgary Flames, Montreal Expos, The U, and Orlando Magic love.
I agree.
NO Thanks on T-Mac.
"No matter where you go, you are what you are playa"-Jay Z
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Haha that was cool to read all the connections.
by derekk on Dec 29, 2009 12:58 PM EST via mobile reply actions
great point
the juwan/gooden combo was just awful for the magic…
by Half-man Half-gortat on Jan 5, 2010 9:24 PM EST up reply actions
Great post King and
i agree with u 100%. TMac! get a big one(burger ; ) )
He is a cancer!
I will see the Dolphins win a SUPER BOWL before i die(22 years and counting)
I think labeling Tracy McGrady a "cancer" is a bit much.
I write for Orlando Pinstriped Post and have a Twitter account.
"The second unit is kind of crazy because the second unit is only white guys." - Marcin Gortat
Yea I agree. I’m not really a huge TMac fan but I don’t hate him either. And much of my past memories of Magic were of the TMac days.
by derekk on Dec 30, 2009 1:23 AM EST via mobile up reply actions
Yeah, I do think he's culpable for some of his actions but it wasn't all his fault.
I write for Orlando Pinstriped Post and have a Twitter account.
"The second unit is kind of crazy because the second unit is only white guys." - Marcin Gortat
Did anybody read HP's look back at TMac's career?
Brings back some good memories, before the back ailments and trade demands.
NBA Championship or bust in '09-10!!!! GO MAGIC!!!!
Easily one of the worst trades of the decade and this franchise WASTED his best years surronding him with nothing
As much as people kill him for his attitude and motivation (and I would agree), it is staggering look back how badly they didnt give him anything to work with and he literally carried this team.
And even when trading they could have gotten soooo much for more for him than what we got with Francis (and btw trying to spin that trade by extending it by addressing the subsequent 4 or 5 trades that happened afterwards doesnt make it any better)
Even in Houston he played at a high level pretty much for 3 out of those 5 years.
"Don't wait till im gone to say I was the best"-NaS
Certified Kristin Kreuk obsessive...
Still miss em: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvvgVn0gg1E
Yeah, McGrady's prime years were wasted with the Magic. Which is unfortunate for Orlando (and him).
I write for Orlando Pinstriped Post and have a Twitter account.
"The second unit is kind of crazy because the second unit is only white guys." - Marcin Gortat
Thanks to the Hill signing
There wasn’t a lot we could put around him.
by eltharion_doa on Jan 1, 2010 10:41 PM EST up reply actions
I'm not spinning anything.
All I did was track the trade to see where all the pieces went. The fact it essentially cancels itself out shows just how bad of a trade it was. I guess you didn’t see what I was trying to get at. Also, I think McGrady was traded to Houston because that was one of the places he wanted to go to. I’m pretty sure they could have done better if they had worked out a trade without McGrady blessing (which letting him pick his destination was the least they could give him considering they never built a contender for him). The fact the guy has underachieved since he left Orlando says a lot about him, his game and his motivations though.
Spreading that Calgary Flames, Montreal Expos, The U, and Orlando Magic love.
PHX offered Marion and the draft pick that became Amare (i believe)
Good thing we got the guy who slugged someone in a game!
by Half-man Half-gortat on Jan 5, 2010 9:25 PM EST up reply actions
Orlando sent the draft pick that became Amare to Phoenix, along with Bo Outlaw, in a 4-team deal which netted them Jud Buechler.
Initially, they acquired the Stoudemire pick from Phoenix in the Penny Hardaway trade.
My older brother always reminds me of that trade.
He always says, “remember when we could have had Amare?”
I write for Orlando Pinstriped Post and have a Twitter account.
"The second unit is kind of crazy because the second unit is only white guys." - Marcin Gortat
We'd probably just have taken Borchardt 9 spots higher
Either that or taken Jiri Welsch and try to make him our point guard.
At least Jay Williams and Nikoloz Tskitishvili were already off the draft board by then.
I had forgotten how miserable of a draft that was – Yao, Butler, Stoudemire, Prince, Nene, and Boozer were the only good players with longevity in that draft (if Salmons plays well through the rest of this year, I’ll add him to the list). Six first round picks played less than 100 NBA games, and thirteen second round picks played fewer than 10 NBA games, with nine of them never entering the NBA (and Chris Owens playing 1 game).
"When you make your final stand
I'll be right there
I'll never leave
And all I ask of you is
Believe"
I kinda tuned out after talking about Doc Rivers.
Doc is sort of a bad coach as far as strategy and rotations go (as well as game management, if you ask me). He’s good at managing personalities, but that’s about it. Before Tom Thibedeau and 2 Hall of Famers came calling, Boston was terrible with him as the coach. It could be argued that Rivers almost cost the Celtics the title in 2008 with his constant insistence on playing Sam “I was two years into being washed up already” Cassell. People forget they got seriously pushed by inferior teams that year before pulling themselves together against LA.
Regardless, T-Mac isn’t coming here unless it’s for the minimum next year, and even then he’d have to come off the bench unless he get a chance to show a remarkable turnaround with some other team by the year’s end. I think he could accept that. I just think the whole “play 7 minutes and then put on your warmups for the rest of the game” routine was a bit much for him to take, especially considering that Houston wouldn’t give him a timetable on when they would increase his minutes.
I think he has something to offer a playoff-caliber team in regards to at least being a playmaking wing, but who knows. I do believe he has continues to get way more grief than he deserves from people, though. I mean, if the guy wasn’t playing, people would be riding him for getting paid to do nothing. He works out all summer and comes back early from microfracture surgery and wants to play more, and people still ride him. They play without T-Mac and the team is lauded for it, but if T-Mac plays while Yao is hurt, he’s expected to carry the team to success himself. People need to get off the guy’s back.
Mark my words.
McGrady will not come to Orlando even if they could have him for free. I’m pretty sure the owners for the team don’t care much for him and it is mutual.
Spreading that Calgary Flames, Montreal Expos, The U, and Orlando Magic love.
Humor me, please.
It’s OK if you’re still living in 2001 and still think McGrady is some superstar. Yes, he might not have been surrounded by talent but the guy is a bitch, plain and simple. He isn’t some whipping boy because he has some huge contract. This stuff is self-inflicted over a career. The guy actually said “it’s great to be out of the first round” when his team was up 3-1 in the first round. He quit…QUIT…on the Magic in December of a season. That quit statement came from him, something he admitted to actually doing. Frustrated or not, that is unacceptable. He refused to play with Dwight Howard by saying he didn’t want to be part of a rebuilding effort (mind you, they only reason they were “rebuilding” and had the number one pick was because the guy QUIT in December). Then years later he says he wanted to play with Howard just didn’t see eye to eye with management; yet you can also find him quoted as saying “I do not want to play for the Magic if they draft Dwight Howard.” Let’s move to his time in Houston…he pulls the same old injury line over and over…yet once again cannot win a playoff series. I saw a fact the other day that said that McGrady is the player with the most points (17,308 points) in NBA history not to have won a playoff series. That’s not just being unlucky that’s some of his own doings…look at Kobe, the guy has won a playoff series with straight up bums. LeBron made it to the Finals with a bunch of rec league players. But worst of all, the guy leaves his team in Houston and gets a season ending surgery without consulting with the team. Yes…that’s pretty much quitting on your team AGAIN. And that’s just what made the national sport news. So please don’t give me this “oh poor TMac, everyone hates him” bs…it is a decade worth of selfishness and immaturity that he obviously still pulls today. His “the world against me” cries are old and teams have caught on. I know you might be a McGrady fan and all, but I was a lifelong CWebb fan and I can admit that CWebb was the reason he was unsuccessful all those years.
Spreading that Calgary Flames, Montreal Expos, The U, and Orlando Magic love.
Uhhh, I didn't say he was a superstar.
I said I think he might have something to offer a playoff team coming off the bench as a playmaking wing. Pretty sure that’s exactly what I said, and pretty sure that is a far cry from being a superstar. As of right now he’s not going to have the chance to show if he can make, as I remarked, a “remarkable turnaround” because according to a few insiders, Houston would rather pay him to stay away and let the contract expire than make a bad trade or buy him out before March.
Ownership + management should have refused to trade Tracy McGrady back then.
A McGrady + Dwight combination would have been lethal. That trade set the franchise back several years. It made it far more difficult for the Magic to build a contender.
Yet Orlando made it to the Finals last year so it's a moot point.
I write for Orlando Pinstriped Post and have a Twitter account.
"The second unit is kind of crazy because the second unit is only white guys." - Marcin Gortat
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