TMac to Houston

Crav · Post by **Crav** » June 30, 2004, 12:05 am

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=1831594

Man Texas is gonna be a scary place for teams to visit especially if Dallas gets Shaq.

Pherr the Dorf · Post by **Pherr the Dorf** » June 30, 2004, 1:25 am

Tmac will be out 27+ games with a back injury, bet on it.

flankmen · Post by **flankmen** » June 30, 2004, 10:50 am

Any thoughts on who got the best of this deal? I'm leaning toward Houston. T-Mac is a top-5 player in the league, and I'd be hard pressed to put Franchise in the top 10. Further, I think nabbing Reece Gaines in this deal is a steal for Houston. I liked his game at Louisville, and I think he'll be successfully running the point by mid-season.

Kelshara · Post by **Kelshara** » June 30, 2004, 1:30 pm

This will be very interesting to follow. Both T-Mac and Francis are extremely talented players who are so immature and at times selfish it hurts to watch them. If both of them can grow up, I see both teams possibly benefitting greatly from this.

T-Mac is among the most talented in the NBA imho. He COULD be in the same league as Kobe and LeBron (yes LB will be that good). It is really only up to himself.

Francis has exceptional skills as well, although probably one level bellow T-Mac.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » June 30, 2004, 2:12 pm

T-Mac got his wish. His success in Houston depends on if the team has enough supporting cast around him to win games.

I'll wait for all of the trades to be completed before speculating on next season.

Raistin · Post by **Raistin** » June 30, 2004, 5:10 pm

The magic got the better deal. Of course they should have tried everything to get Shaq back.

Why do you say the magic got the better deal? TMac's can opt out after this season. Since Tmac wasnt happy the magic didnt get a vet to help,he was going to opt out. Opting out would caause him to be traded with nothing in return,since teams wouldnt want to pick up his 20+million dollars for the remaining 2 years.

It was either trade Tmac now, and get something to work with

starters on a playoff team coached by Van Gumby> or get nothing.