slaus

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1824663

The Orlando Magic lost one superstar eight years ago when Shaquille O'Neal left via free agency. Now they may trade away another one.

Tracy McGrady, who can become a free agent next year, informed the Magic on Friday that he does not want to re-sign with the club, league sources told the Orlando Sentinel.


In order to avoid losing McGrady without compensation, the Magic are expected to explore trade options. McGrady, who has led the NBA in scoring the past two seasons, should draw heavy interest.


The Sentinel cited the Indiana Pacers, Houston Rockets and Phoenix Suns as potential suitors. One source told the paper that the Magic have asked the Pacers for as many as four players -- Ron Artest, Jonathan Bender, Al Harrington and Jamaal Tinsley -- in return.


Although McGrady could not be reached for comment on Friday, he has said he would opt to leave if he didn't think the Magic could improve quickly. Orlando fell to a league-worst 21-61 record next season and has the No. 1 pick in the draft.


McGrady had hoped the team would trade the pick for veteran help, but the club wants to keep the selection. On Friday, the team worked out UConn's Emeka Okafor, and plans to do the same with high schooler Dwight Howard on Saturday. The Magic is expected to use the No. 1 pick on one of those two players.


Magic general manager John Weisbrod did say, however, he has received trade bids that are intriguing and getting better by the day.


"There are teams offering three guys and their first-round pick. Three established players and a lottery pick is certainly a respectable offer for a team that has a lot of holes to fill," Weisbrod said. "It comes down to making a judgment of how special you think one of these two kids can be."


McGrady had been pressured by Weisbrod to make a decision about his long-range future in Orlando. Weisbrod does not want to go into the 2004-05 season uncertain about McGrady's status.


McGrady's seven-year, $93 million contract runs through the 2006-07 season. But he can opt out of the deal after next season.


Magic owner Rich Devos was expected to meet with McGrady at some point. It is unsure whether that meeting took place on Friday.


Devos was hoping to persuade McGrady to stay, citing the No. 1 pick and the possibility of Grant Hill coming back from injury.


Instead, it looks like McGrady will follow Shaq out of town -- although this time, the Magic are determined to get something in return.


"That was eight years ago and we're still trying to get our feet underneath us," Magic senior vice president Pat Williams said. "At least with the McGrady thing, we're wiser, we have greater insights into the whole process and we're better equipped to deal with it."



If McGrady is traded, he would be the fourth defending scoring champion in NBA history to be dealt away, and the first since the Buffalo Braves sent Bob McAdoo to the New York Knicks in 1976.



McGrady signed with his hometown team in 2000, thinking he and Hill could turn the Magic into championship contenders.



But Hill's injured left ankle has limited him to 37 games in four seasons, leaving McGrady with the task of carrying the team.



Despite his league-leading 28 points per game, McGrady couldn't make the Magic winners last season.


Evidently, McGrady doesn't think the drafting of Okafor would provide immediate help.


"That's his opinion," Okafor said Friday.


Yet Okafor, a two-time national defensive player of the year, would immediately toughen up Orlando's play in the paint. The Magic finished last in almost every defensive statistic last season.



Okafor averaged almost 4.3 blocks per game in his three seasons at Connecticut, and his 411 career blocks rank seventh in NCAA history. He also averaged 10.6 rebounds.



The knock on Okafor is his offense, although it improved at Connecticut. His career average of 13.8 points has many wondering if his ceiling is limited.


"I'll try to help in as many ways as I can," Okafor said. "I'm not a big guy about talking, 'I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that.' I pretty much just show up and let my play do the talking, and come season time, everybody's questions will be answered, good or bad."

whitak24

interesting. i guess this confirms what was rumored for some time now.

i would be wary of mcgrady though.....it seems like he's had more than his share of medical problems, especially for a player his age. i have to wonder how long his body will hold up.

DarkFury

They're kidding right? Bwaaa haa haa haa...


If the Pacers do that... they are STUPID AS HELL. Oh this is rich.

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whitak24

i was just watching TBDSSP and they had some nba "expert" from the NYPost on. he said that the likely deals out there are with houston (swapping mcgrady for francis) and indiana (bender, harrington, and tinsley for mcgrady). now THAT would make the pacers a scary team.

ialsohaveadream

Swap him to Houston for Francis. Both are in situations they want out of, and you could probably pick up a cheap big body from the Rockets to make the deal work.

Of course, after that happens, I bet Orlando hits it big before Houston. It's just the Ewing Theory folks, don't blame me.

slaus

If the pacers get McGrady, they'll roll through the east without a problem.

ialsohaveadream

Not necessarily. It depends what they give up to get him.

bachviet

Indiana still has to go through Detroit if Rasheed stays.

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dbax791

Yup - Detroit is a nice young team without any egomaniac superstars. Even if Indy got T-mac, I wouldn't call it a gimme.

Showtime

This news is 2nd to the Lakeshow. Kobe or Shaq > TMac.

Both Laker hall of famers are on the block right now. Tmacs back may improve on the right team or he could have the Grant Hill disease and basically play really good for about half the season. He's definitely worth the gamble for any team IMO.
No one mentioned that he could end up in L.A. playing along side with Kobe.

-jel

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slaus

They wouldnt be a good fit together because both like to shoot a lot and basically play shooting guard. The lakers need a young interior player who can go and crash the boards.

ialsohaveadream

I'd love to see a Kobe-TMac Lakers team. They'd fight so much they'd kill any chemistry and they'd never win.

bachviet

We are going to have 2 balls so they both could shoot.

Dave_7

If I were as pompous as the Lakers Organization, I would trade Shaq back to the Big O, one-for-one for Tmac, just to spite him. A Yao/Tmac tandem would be fun to watch. Sadly, though, I fear Tmac will be traded to the Valley of the Sun, and will remain there in obscurity... for ever.


Dave.

ialsohaveadream

I think it's T-mac's fate that wherever he ends up, he's not going to win a championship. Although if the Suns went through with a deal that sent Stoudemire and Marion to Orlando, the Magic might get one. That's a nice core to work with, then the Magic could trade Okafor for some help at the point.

slaus

McGrady should have originally stayed on Toronto with Carter but if he cant coexist with his own cousin I doubt he can with anyone else.

baggio248

Update:

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Showtime

All I can say is yay!

-jel

cheapie

i can see it if they chop artest off. but come on...

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attgig

sportscenter is saying that that the orlando/rockets deal is going to happen.

and the bobcats traded for the #2 pick and Peja Drobjnak for their #4 pick and the their second round pick.

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bachviet

The #2 pick belongs to the Clippers. The Clippers are looking for a point guard.

T-Mac moves West and becomes another Penny Hardaway.

ialsohaveadream

The comparisons with Penny are pretty warranted. Good job Orlando for making the best of the situation and trying to pick up Stevie Franchise, Mobley, and Cato.

whitak24

yeah....great comparison to penny. great, explosive, athletic player who ended up slowed by injuries and never reached the potential people thought he had. i wouldn't be surprised to see the same thing happy with t-mac.

the problem with players like penny, tmac, AI, carter, etc is that their biggest strength is their speed and the ability get around defenders. for players like that, if they lose half a step, their game is gone.

bachviet

MJ used to be like that early in his career but he worked hard to improve his jump shots and it helped him tremendously.

gear02

oh lord...I think I'm going to cry...

I have no idea what the Houston front office is smoking...

What do you guys think about this?

ialsohaveadream

Well, if I'm an Orlando fan...I love it!

Of course, Francis supposedly doesn't want to play for Orlando. If they make it a 3 way trade they may be able to get someone on that same level, but who?

And BV, I don't think McGrady has shown the maturity (yet, at least) to develop his game to compensate for when his skills start declining.

whitak24

i dunno.....i'm not sold on "franchise", so i don't know that getting rid of him is necessarily a mistake. basically, you're trading a guy with a questionable attitude who can't get yao the ball for a guy with questionable health (and perhaps a questionable attitude as well).

ray

I effing hate Steve Francis. I would rather have no players on my team than Steve Francis. Same goes with Kobe. I would rather lose, than see Kobe play on either the Clippers or the Magic. :sigh:

GraingerGuy

I'm not sure about this....

Francis and Cato I understand...but Mobley too? Not so sure about this....

edit: I didn't know that they were giving us Juwan Howard and Tyronn Lue also.....

Ok....I understand now. We'll see.

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gear02

apparently, they're also giving us one of their unprotected players, and the Chronicle expects that to be reece Gaines, their #1 last year (#15 overall) that's not that bad...