Basketball news and rumors

T-Mac/Juwan Howard/Reece Gaines to the Rockets for Francis/Cato/Mobley? I think this deal is good for both teams. T-Mac wants out of the Orlando in the worst way - who can blame him when the team record is 21-61, and your teammates are Tyron Lue/Howard/Gooden/injured Grant Hill/Keith Bogans/Pachulia. The problem is T-Mac wants to win now however top management at Orlando want to go through a rebuilding phase. With what orlando has now, I don't think they can make the playoffs next season and if they did they wouldn't advance past the first round. They just don't have the team chemistry clicking and they are too weak in the middle. Furthermore, and more importantly Orlando doesn't want to lose him to free agency next season and have him walk away with nothing to show for it (ala Shaq in '96 to Lakers). Dealing him now is the right move. T-Mac gives his all for the magic, no doubt - recall his 61 points last season and is a spectacular player. However, I think another factor for this trade is his attitude - his reluctance to attend practice, whinging that he would retire mid season, trying to call the shots on who they should draft, etc....

I think bringing in new faces is good for the magic - they need a change in attitude and more depth and new personnel. Adding Francis/Mobley/Cato along with Emeka Okafor (with the first pick) along with Pat Garrity,Gooden,Tyron lue (as a backup to francis) should given them a decent starting 5. Who I really like in this trade is Cato - who has been dimissed by many in this trade. Orlando needs some toughness in the middle - Howard and Gooden weren't getting it done. Combine Cato with Okafor and there are gonna be a lot blocked shots, rebounds grabbed, and an intimidation factor. However the down side is that not a lot of points are gonna be scored in the post. Without Yao in the middle calling for touches, Francis and the Cat are gonna be given the go ahead to put up a ton of shots. If Orlando adds a couple of decent free agent reserves, I think they can be back in the playoffs this season.

For the Rockets, Francis wasn't getting it done. Sure he changed his game to suit the defensive minded Van Gundy, but you've got to get the ball to Yao. The offense has got to revolve around Yao Ming and Franchise couldn't cope with that. Francis and Mobley were taking the majority of the shots in their offense and at times were ignoring Yao. I don't see Francis defeering to Yao. Similary, I'm not sure if T-Mac is gonna defer to Yao either. However, 1-2 combo of Yao and T-Mac is much more of a threat than last season's lineup. It kinda reminds me of Kobe - Shaq, however Yao is not at the stage where he is as dominant as Shaq.

However all the above trade rumor could be blown apart if Orlando decides to veto the trade and deal with Suns/Pacers. Both offers are attractive but i'd deal with the pacers for potentally ron artest/al harrington/bender.

What's happening to the USA basketball team? It seems that Rip and Ben Wallace have declined invitations to join the team and Carmello Anthony has been added. I don't agree with Melo joining the team simply that they need a shooter like Rip to combat the zone defense which is going to be employed by the majority of teams. They should have added Michael Redd, who is an excellent outside shooter and can heat up in a hurry.

As the team currently stands they have the following guys:
- guards - Marbury, Iverson, Lebron, Dwyane Wade
- forwards - Duncan, Stoudemire, Matrix, Jefferson, Carmello, Boozer, Lamar Odom
- centers - none

Team USA doesn't have a center right now although sources indicate that Okafor has been added to the team.

The team should have added Michael Redd and Brad Miller (to play center). Brad Miller was having a killer first half of the season and is a versatile big man that would have added some interior toughness to the team.