T-Mac Era is Over

Tracy McGrady has been given permission to leave the team while the Rockets attempt to trade him. That effectively ends his tenure in Houston; one of unfulfilled potential. In his 5+ seasons here, the Rockets did not win a single playoff series while he was on the court. That speaks volumes.

For his entire career, McGrady has been told that he was a superstar. It is understandable that he would begin to believe it and let it go to his head. Unfortunately, while Tracy has the talent and the skills to be a great player, he has never had the mindset. Great players do whatever it takes to win, especially using their teammates to the team's advantage. With Tracy, it was always T-Mac first, then the team. At least that's the impression he gave out at every opportunity. He was the leading scorer in the league for two years, but those teams were terrible. So rather than help them become better, he demanded to be traded. He was warmly welcomed in Houston and given every chance to succeed. The Rockets surrounded him with a great center and as fine a cast of role-playing warriors as has ever been on an NBA team, yet he still could not win. Why not? Injuries certainly played a part. He was never healthy for a full year. But mostly, players didn't rally around McGrady. They were not as convinced of his stardom as he was. He was their best player, but he was never their leader.

Now the problem is, how do you trade him? He is the third highest paid player in the NBA. To make a trade, the salaries of the players involved must fall within 125% plus $100,000 of each other and must fit under the salary cap for both teams. Players that make even close to that kind of money are superstars, critical to their teams and not touchable. That means they would have to trade for a combination of players, most of whom could not help the Rockets this season and could affect team chemistry. This is a hard deal to make. The Rockets don't want to take on any large long-term contracts because they want to have space under the salary cap to make a pitch for a big-name player this off-season. And what an off-season it will be! Among the available free agents will be Joe Johnson (ATL), LeBron James (CLE), Dirk Nowitzki (DAL), Kobe Bryant (LAL), Dwyane Wade (MIA), Amare Stoudamire (PHO) and Chris Bosh (TOR). Put any one of those players beside Yao Ming and the aforementioned cast of overachievers and you have an instant championship contender. Houston is lucky to have Daryl Morey at the helm at this point in time. He has shown the patience to not make long-term deals for short-term gain. On a budget, he has put together a team that is one or two players from the NBA finals.

Texas does not have a state income tax. Isn't that interesting, LeBron? Dwyane? Chris? Tell your agents to give Daryl a call.