Pacers after McGrady.

[Jackal]

Pacers need T-Mac for offensive attack

June 16, 2004


Go get him.

Tracy McGrady, that is.

Assuming he becomes available, which likely will be the case after the Orlando Magic's frustrated star meets with team owner Rich DeVos on Friday and shares his thoughts on his long-term commitment to that organization. McGrady, who has three years remaining on his deal, has an opt-out clause at the end of next season, and the Magic are not going to risk losing him the way they lost Shaquille O'Neal -- for absolutely no compensation.

So how about Indiana?

If the Pacers want to make it happen badly enough -- and they should want to make it happen pretty badly -- they will find a way.

Let me say it again:

Go get him.

"We could make it work, absolutely," Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh said Tuesday. "I have spoken to somebody in their organization, and I sensed there was interest there. What they're telling me is, there's a good chance he's going to be traded. So, yeah, a player like that out there, we're definitely going to be interested."

How to do it?

McGrady's salary cap number is around $14.5 million. The Pacers would have to send Orlando players whose combined salaries fall within 15 percent of that number. So it's like this: Start with Al Harrington ($6.3 million), who will get traded in the media no fewer than 50 times this summer. Then it's an issue of deciding who that second player might be.

Jonathan Bender ($6.5 million)? That would be my preference, but it might not be Orlando's choice.

Ron Artest ($6.2 million)? That would be hard to swallow, but for McGrady, it's a deal I'd make, however grudgingly.

It's a price worth paying to have the Shaq-and-Kobe of the East.

(And no, I don't think the Magic would happily take Austin Croshere and his big contract off Walsh's hands. If we're going to talk about trades, let's talk about ones that might work for both teams.)

"Once everybody agrees on the principals, our two guys for their one, you can make it work," Walsh said. "It wouldn't be that hard."

For his part, McGrady, who is friends with Jermaine O'Neal, has mentioned Indiana as one of the teams he'd be willing to join as part of a sign-and-trade deal. The only caveat for the Pacers: Making sure McGrady would be willing to sign a long-term deal to remain here. Indiana isn't going to mortgage its future for a one-year rental.

Now, keep in mind, you can throw just about anybody's name out there -- George Mikan, for instance -- and Walsh will say, "Sure, it's always worth following up with a phone call." And rumors, big ones, are born.

But this is not one of those.

The Pacers are interested in McGrady, and should be interested in McGrady. And Walsh made it clear Tuesday, he and Larry Bird are willing to move anybody except O'Neal if it means making a deal that catapults them past Detroit.

"Is anybody untouchable?" Walsh was asked.

"No," he said. "No one. Except Jermaine. He's our franchise player."

Not Artest?

"No," Walsh said.

Not Bender?

"No."

Last summer, the Pacers had a lot of base-year compensation players, making a blockbuster deal virtually impossible. That's not the case this season, at least not after July 1. If there was ever a time for the Pacers to cash in on their incredible depth, this is it.

McGrady is not the only huge name being floated out there. How about Kobe Bryant? If his legal troubles are resolved, he is going to be somewhere other than Los Angeles next season. And there aren't many teams who have more to offer than the Pacers.

(If this happens, please remember, you heard it here first. If it doesn't, well, never mind.)

We've also heard a lot about Golden State center Erick Dampier, although that talk has been cooling lately.

McGrady, though, is the one that makes the most sense. All he gives them is everything they need. An outside scorer, another option that takes pressure off O'Neal, a perimeter player who can create shots against the league's increasingly stingy defenses, and an obvious heir to Reggie Miller.

Yeah, he has some baggage. But it's more of the carry-on variety. Move him to a good situation where the team is winning and he's not required to score 40 a night, and he's reborn.

The Pacers know they are close now, closer than they originally thought after watching the Pistons defeat the Lakers. But they're not going to yield to the temptation to stand pat, to have a Colts-like offseason. Indiana did nothing at the trade deadline this season, and watched as Detroit made one of the most dramatic, season-altering deals ever made when they picked up Rasheed Wallace.

Now, it's the Pacers' turn.

The name is McGrady.

Go get him.

[magius]

i'd like an o'neal-artest-mcgrady connection. that would be unreal.

[Jackal]

I think Orlando would want Artest, just a feeling I have though. They could settle for Harrington and/or Bender if McGrady puts pressure.

[Full Surface]

Artest for McGrady?

Wow.. that's like having a sandwhich over a lobster for dinner.

[magius]

yeah im pretty sure orlando would prefer artest over bender, but beggars cant be choosers if im indiana id offer bender-harrington and maybe some picks rather than include artest, because i think an artest-mcgrady backcourt and o'neal to anchor down low would be simply amazing defensively and offensively. yes i think tmac could be a great defender given a shotblocker, and we all know artest already is giving us 2 good-great perimiter d-men and a fairly good last line to funnel into in o'neal. sounds good mcgrady-oneal is better than nothing, but mcgrady-artest-oneal equals recipe for something special. just my gut.

[Jackal]

Artest for McGrady?

Wow.. that's like having a sandwhich over a lobster for dinner.

*sigh* If you're reffering to my comment, you perceived what I was trying to say incorrectly. If given the choice of Bender/Harrington/Artest, which would you choose? Ok.

Lol, I just don't want to see O'Neal, McGrady + Artest Magius, it's scary.

i think tmac could be a great defender given a shotblocker

Without a shotblocker, McGrady's defense isn't too shabby. He's got good defense.

[Full Surface]

Artest for McGrady?

Wow.. that's like having a sandwhich over a lobster for dinner.

*sigh* If you're reffering to my comment, you perceived what I was trying to say incorrectly. If given the choice of Bender/Harrington/Artest, which would you choose? Ok.

Even if those are the players that the Pacers are trying to offer, I still feel that it's a joke.

[LouisvilleLip]

I posted this in the harrington to bulls section already.

On the subject of mcgrady to pacers I think its something the Magic might have to do considering if he leaves after the upcoming season they would be left with nothing in return atleast they could trade him and get some quality players.

For the pacers it would be a perfect fit even if they had to sacrifice Artest. With Jo behind him on d, Tmac should look a lot more consistent on the defensive end. If this trade with Harrington and Artest for tmac did happen the pacers better hope Bender is ready to step up and play.

[-BHZMAFIA-]

HMM, if I we're the Magic I would do McGrady for Artest and Harrington. Harrington can become a great player and Artest is already an all-star. The 2 for 1 deal will really help Magic in their depth issues. The fact is, McGrady will look very bad in a Pacers jersey. I can't picture in those jerseys at all

[fgrep15]

According to one source, the Magic have asked the Pacers for as many as four players -- Ron Artest, Al Harrington, Jamaal Tinsley and Jonathan Bender -- in exchange for McGrady. To make it fit under salary-cap rules, the Magic would have to send at least one other player, likely Juwan Howard.

Walsh told the Indianapolis Star that only star power forward Jermaine O'Neal was untouchable.

Sources say the Magic have asked the Rockets to send back Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato, which would give them a new starting backcourt and a big man. Those sources also indicate the Phoenix Suns might be in the mix, talking with Orlando about acquiring Shawn Marion, Joe Johnson and center Jake Voskuhl for McGrady.

It's unlikely that any team would trade for McGrady unless he agrees to a contract extension, which gives him considerable leverage in where he could be traded.

The Suns should never do that trade, the other teams maybe, but the Rockets one seems a little too much.
Indiana's is okay except Juwan Howard?

[LouisvilleLip]

<click>

Thats the sound of Bird hangin up the phone if the magic front office actually proposed that trade.

So they want our dpoy/allstar, very close to being 6thman of the year, our startin pg and our player of the future Bender for just Tmac and makes teams worse Juwan Howard.

Walsh or Bird would be crazy to even think about that accept that trade.

[magius]

you always ask for too much and negotiate from there. Indiana probably already has an idea of what they are willing to give up for tmac and know larry will stick to it, and just hope the magic get desperate.

If i am the magic, i wait until the season starts, because okafur looks good and garrity and hill may come back. dont give up so fast, tmac is just unhappy they are losing and is not gay enough to care whether the public knows it or not. It's hard to see tmacs trade value going down even if orlando sucks as much as last year (which is very unlikely). in fact, if any of the teams that want tmac start off on the wrong foot (one of them probably will) his trade value will very likely go up.

[hmm]

.

[allamerican08]

Can someone explain to me the point of all these trades? Even if one of them happens?
T-mac goes to Indiana while Indana looses its core players? and now Indiana is Orlando pre trade? Same with the Suns? How can a team trade its core players for a superstar who will score 30+ but will loose?
T-mac should only be traded for a draft pick, unless its to already looksing ballclub.

[Amphatoast]

I guess Indiana feels JO+T-mac would be like Kobe+Shaq (bigman+guard) and just will need role players to support them.
They didn't win with their squad this year, so maybe its time to experiment and give reggie 1 last chance at a ring

[magius]

foster
o'neal
mcgrady/miller
miller/mcgrady
sign a decent d point.

pollard
howard
croshere
jones
anderson/johnson.

It could work, but if i were indiana i would really pull not to include artest in the deal, and then this team would be awesome to say the least. give up some first rounders or something.

[air gordon]

<click>

Thats the sound of Bird hangin up the phone if the magic front office actually proposed that trade.

So they want our dpoy/allstar, very close to being 6thman of the year, our startin pg and our player of the future Bender for just Tmac and makes teams worse Juwan Howard.

Walsh or Bird would be crazy to even think about that accept that trade.

hehe i read the same exact thing on another forum by artestfan...
i do agree with this. indiana didn't spend all these years waiting on/developing harrington and bender just to give away BOTH of them

[magius]

Bird says Pacers made better offer for McGrady
By JON KRAWCZYSKI
Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS -- Larry Bird believes the Indiana Pacers made a better offer for Tracy McGrady than the package of players the Houston Rockets have proposed sending to the Orlando Magic.

"My personal opinion is they might have got a better deal from us," Bird said today when asked about the reported deal that would send McGrady to the Rockets for a package including Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley.

"Take nothing away from the guys that have been traded. I like our guys. I know our guys are talented and hard workers, but when you go after Tracy McGrady, you have to give up something, and the price was just too high for us."

The Rockets were said to be the leading candidate to acquire McGrady from Orlando, with officials from other teams saying Houston was offering a package including Francis, Mobley, Kelvin Cato and/or Bostjan Nachbar for McGrady, Juwan Howard, Andrew DeClercq and Tyronn Lue. Because of league salary cap rules relating to Francis' salary, such a deal could not be finalized until mid-July.

Both Bird and team CEO Donnie Walsh spoke with Magic general manager John Weisbrod late last week about McGrady, but did not hear back from him after their initial talks.

"No question, when you have a player like Tracy McGrady out there, you try to pursue it and see what it was going to take to try to get involved in it," Bird said. "Obviously they didn't like the players we put out there and really, we didn't get down to details. We just asked them what they would like and they threw some names out there and the price was really too high for us."

Reports have swirled for more than a day now that the Rockets and Magic are putting the finishing touches on their deal, but the Magic said they did not expect to make an announcement Tuesday night.

While Bird would not say which players the Magic asked for, he did say the Pacers have received a number of inquiries regarding forwards Al Harrington and Ron Artest.

Harrington, one of the top sixth men in the league last year, told Bird at their season-ending meeting that he would like to be traded if he wasn't going to start for the Pacers next season.

"There's a lot of interest in Al," Bird said. "We're not really shopping Al. I wish Al was happy here and everybody else was happy, but sometimes a change of scenery will do both teams some good."

Artest, the defensive player of the year, didn't help his case when he was fined for skipping his season-ending meeting with Bird.

The Pacers were also mentioned in rumors surrounding the Lakers' Shaquille O'Neal, but Bird wasn't optimistic that O'Neal or McGrady would land in Indiana.

When asked if they were out of the running for an available "superstar," Bird said, "At this point with Shaq and Tracy, yeah. We hear that Tracy's probably going to Houston, but you never know, something might happen. If he's out there, we're going to go after him."

Whether the Pacers get back in the race for McGrady or not, Bird made it clear that they will continue to be a player in the trade market, partly because of their considerable youth and depth.

"We have a lot of guys with a lot of talent," Bird said. "We can put packages together to go after these guys."