Magic: We'll be better without McGrady's attitude Mike Branom / Associated Press Posted: 6 minutes ago Orlando general manager John Weisbrod believes the Magic will be a whole lot better without departed star Tracy McGrady. Weisbrod took some parting shots Wednesday at his former player, implying McGrady wasn't capable of leading a winning team. "It starts with how you define a superstar," Weisbrod said. "I think a superstar is defined by wins, by making the players around him better and by making the team better. On that part, my perception is a little different than most." Marking only the fourth time a defending scoring champion has ever been traded, McGrady was sent to Houston in exchange for point guard Steve Francis, shooting Cuttino Mobley and forward Kelvin Cato on Tuesday. Orlando also parted with power forward Juwan Howard, and guards Tyronn Lue and Reece Gaines. McGrady was an All-Star in each of his four years in Orlando, averaging 28.1 points, and quickly became the Magic's most popular player. But his behavior during last season's 61-loss disaster convinced Weisbrod that McGrady was part of the problem. In McGrady's place are players who want to win. "We're here to fill voids the Magic know they have lacked in the last couple of seasons," said Francis, a three-time All-Star. "You're going to get a gutsy effort every single night from all three of us. There's no trying to be too cute or trying to be too cool basketball from us." Added Mobley: "I don't think we have a loser mentality at all." Francis said it was obvious the Magic lost heart last season after an early 19-game losing streak. It was during the slide that McGrady - selected team captain in the offseason - startled the organization when he openly discussed quitting. "You have to display a sense of urgency. I thought their players didn't do that," Francis said. "Once they got on a losing streak, it looked like they hung their heads." Weisbrod said that by the All-Star break, it was clear McGrady wanted out. When McGrady told team owner Rich DeVos two weeks ago he wanted to be traded to a contender, that made it easier for the Magic to part ways. "We just came to the conclusion that if he wanted to leave, we thought that could very well be best for our basketball team," Weisbrod said. McGrady can opt out of his seven-year, $93-million contract after next season, so it appeared he held leverage through the unspoken threat of his team receiving no compensation if he left. But Weisbrod refused to limit his talks to teams where McGrady wanted to play. "There were seven or eight teams that were perfectly comfortable trading for Tracy whether he wanted to go there or not, whether he would opt in or not," Weisbrod said. "So, we certainly weren't in any kind of corner." Last season, Francis averaged 16.6 points and Mobley 15.8 as Houston's starting backcourt. At times, they struggled against new coach Jeff Van Gundy's desire to make center Yao Ming the team's focus and both players saw their statistics drop from the previous season. "We were basically a half-court team," said Francis, who shot a career-low 40 percent last year. "You know we wanted to try to run, but it was tough. We didn't really work on running in practice enough for us to be real comfortable in the games with running."
Maybe he was contemplating taking a couple of second round picks to send him off to a place he wouldn't stay. All part of the deals he had on the table.
I can't stand Weisbrod anymore. I am glad the deal was done and I wish we will never have to deal with Weisbrod again.
That's a little rough. I mean, I'm glad we traded Steve, but come on. I'd be surprised if Weisbrod makes it through 2 seasons with the Magic.
Orlando will be better off not having the leagues Most explosive and Top Scorer?.. the weasle never ceases to amaze me!!
Weisbrod: "Sure! LOTS of teams were offering packages for Tracy! Isiah offered us Allan Houston. Can you believe that? Wow! Atlanta offered us Jason Terry - that's their franchise player, right there! Danny Ainge called us, and let me tell you, Ricky Davis isn't a guy to sniff at." Anyone else notice how that tool never talked about those other teams he was "talking with"? Evan
Damn McGrady is in their head! It's amusing to listen to Weisbrod constantly rip McGrady. I haven't heard the Rockets say one bad thing about Francis and company despite problems. Does this leave any doubts about whether it was the Rockets or Magic who leaked the info? But it's good to see Weisbrod drag his reputation through the mud. If a superstar is defined by wins, wasn't it McGrady they carried the Magic for several years after their other superstar, Grant Hill, was on the shelf? Talk about forgetting the past after one bad year!
Does anybody else think that Wasitbrod is a c0ck teaser? He always sounds like beating around the bush every time I read his words.
He's just never going to understand that dribbling exhibitions are not part of a well-structured offense. Never.
I wouldn't place much stock in this. There are a lot of bruised feelings from this affair. T-Mac basically forced his way out of Orlando and hamstrung the Magic's ability to get the best deal for his services. What do you expect them to say: "Thanks for the ream job T-Mac". Get real. If this was Yao forcing a trade to the Lakers, how would YOU feel?
I just meant that they both have chips on their shoulders that I don't think should be there. Steve had his chances here. And Weisbrod could've made more of an effort to keep T-Mac.
The Rox team with SF, Cat, EG, Cato won 40-45 games before Yao came onboard in the western conference. Now with SF, Cat, Howard, Cato, they should be able to win at least 40 in the Eastern conference, so they will go to the playoff.
Come on guys. It is normal. After each trade, both teams will come out claiming to be the winner of the deal.
You know Rockets get the better end of the deal when everyone in Rockets organization stress that both team got what they need while Magic media and GM tries everything to look like winner of the deal.
