Orlando Magic GM John Weisbrod believes the Magic will be better off without Tracy McGrady because the superstar talent and NBA leading scorer did not rise to the occasion of leading his team to victories.
 
Meanwhile, Steve Francis said Orlando's acquisition of him, Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Kato will turn the tide on the Magic's abysmal record this past season.

Weisbrod implied that McGrady does not have the leadership qualities to take a team to the top.

"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."

While an All-Star in each of his four years in Orlando and the Magic's most popular player, the behavior of McGrady during last season's 61-loss season convinced Weisbrod that McGrady was part of the problem.

Francis, for one, believes he and his fellow former Rockets will change the Magic into a team on the upswing starting next season.

"We're here to fill voids the Magic know they have lacked in the last couple of seasons," said Francis. "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."

Weisbrod told the media that by the All-Star break, it was clear McGrady wanted out.  Then McGrady told team owner Rich DeVos two weeks ago that he wanted to be traded to a contender.

"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.

The Orlando Magic finally traded Tracy McGrady to the Houston Rockets.  The superstar McGrady had demanded a trade and a deal for Steve Francis had been discussed for the past several weeks.  It was completed Tuesday.

McGrady is the NBA's top scorer for the past two seasons and he will join forces with the 7'6" Yao Ming.  On paper, the duo is a formidable pairing, perhaps second only to the Los Angeles Lakers' Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant.  But with controversy brewing, the Laker tandem may not stay together for next season.

The complete trade:  Orlando will receive the all-star point guard Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato for McGrady, Juwan Howard, Tyronn Lue and Reece Gaines.

The trade establishes that Houston's future is now.  Under first-year head coach Jeff Van Gundy, the Rockets made the playoffs last season for the first time since 1999.  This year they will be expected to reach great heights.

Orlando preferred to keep McGrady but he made public his plans to opt out of his contract after next season.  The Magic had already lost Shaquille O'Neal to free agency with nothing in return, so Orlando's new general manager John Weisbrod had to make a move.

After weeks of anticipation and a lot of back and forth, the blockbuster trade sending Tracy McGrady to the Houston Rockets appears close to being final.

Under the terms of the trade, the Magic will send guard McGrady, forward Juwan Howard and guard Tyronn Lue to the Rockets for guard Steve Francis, guard Cuttino Mobley and center Kelvin Cato, according to a source that says the trade will be announced Wednesday.

Though apparently close before the NBA Draft, the deal has been delayed as Francis expressed dissatisfaction with leaving Houston and Magic general manager John Weisbrod halted the process and began to review the situation carefully.  

Weisbrod also appeared to be waiting for additional offers for the superstar McGrady.  Now after more talks with the Magic organization, Francis feels comfortable with Orlando and the Magic management is ready to pull the trigger.

Perhaps the chance to play alongside high-school star Dwight Howard has persuaded the three-time all-star Francis to drop any objections to the deal, according to his agent.  

Tracy McGrady is the NBA's leading scorer and will give the Rockets a fiersome inside-out tandem along with Yao Ming.

Francis was swayed in part by the fact that Weisbrod and the Magic thought highly enough of his game to want to acquire him in a trade for McGrady.

Steve Francis said Sunday night that he was planning to fly to Orlando today to meet with the Magic.

"I think (today) I'm going to Orlando," Francis said. "I don't know, but I think I'm going."

Apparently, if and when the deal goes through, the Magic want to keep Francis as their point guard.  But Mobley and Cato could be packaged in other deals.

Weisbrod looks forward to meeting Francis, saying that he's anxious "to look into the white's of Francis' eyes" and get a true sense of the all-star's interest in playing for the Magic.

"You know, I was mad, but now I'm cool about everything," Francis said.

Orlando Magic general manager John Weisbrod has assumed the posture that the trade of Tracy McGrady for Steve Francis is not much more likely than many other deals he's considering.  

But this is days after the Rockets and Magic had hammered out the struture of the trade and advanced far enough that Francis was notified of the deal and subsequently put on the phone with Weisbrod.

All of this could cast doubt on the new Magic GM and whether he is a reliable trading partner.

It seems that the consensus around the league is that an agreement had been reached, not something Weisbrod would be able to back away from painlessly.

For what it is worth, Grant Hill, with whom Weisbrod is thought to be honest, said, "A little birdie told me it's going to happen.  It's going to happen.  That's part of the business of professional sports."

Does Grant Hill know a bit more than the rest of us? Apparently so as he believes the much discussed Tracy McGrady for Steve Francis trade is finally about to go down.

"A little birdie told me it's going to happen . . . I think," Hill said with a laugh. "I think it's going to happen. . . . That's part of the business of professional sports and he's going to go on and do well here in Houston with coach (Jeff) Van Gundy and Yao Ming, and hopefully we're going to go on and do well with the guys we have. Life is about change and sometimes change is necessary, but sometimes change can be good. But I think for the Rockets and the Magic it can be good for both."

Hill admitted that he was sad that he's not going to get the chance to play alongside of McGrady for a full season.

"On one hand, I'm excited about the possibility of playing with Francis, Mobley and Cato," said Hill, who didn't play at all this past season and is hoping to finally return healthy next season. "I think they can really help our ball club. With myself coming back and being healthy, the first pick and with some changes we can really turn this thing around fast and be a playoff-caliber team.

"On the flip side, I was there for four years and never had the opportunity to be healthy and really play a whole year with Tracy. So we will always wonder what could have been."

Rudy Tomjanovich will likely be named as the successor to the Phil Jackson throne in LA, barring any unusual circumstances.

Tomjanovich, a proven winner, will have his work cut out for him, inheriting a good team caught up in very turbulent times.  If Rudy T is indeed named head coach, the team he has next week could be an entirely different team one month from now.

?Never underestimate the heart of a champion!?  Famous words from Coach Tomjanovich after his second championship with the Houston Rockets.  He knows he will likely have a team of champions, but will the heart still be there as well?

Apparently the Magic aren't in a rush to ship their star Tracy McGrady out to the Rockets. They were speaking with Steve Francis and he returned to Houston last night, but the talks did look positive to Magic GM John Weisbrod.

"I don't look at it as a final hurdle but a good first step," Weisbrod said. "I promised Steve's agent when we got through with the draft that we'd talk again. I had a conversation and I felt like we connected. While it was over the phone, I felt it was a good productive conversation.

"Last night was a good first step, and I look forward to following up on it.

"But it doesn't put us any closer to anything being final."

Isiah is always in the news these days, whether dealing with potential free agents, or this time, former superstars. Apparently Thomas has spoken to Patrick Patrick Ewing recently about returning to the franchise where Ewing carved out a Hall of Fame career. Ewing is under contract with the Houston Rockets an as assistant coach on Jeff Van Gundy's staff.

In fact, a person close to Ewing said the former Knicks center would consider only a coaching position with the club. Ewing approached the Knicks two years ago about the possibility of returning, but the organization informed him that it didn't have any positions open. Ewing then took an assistant job with the Washington Wizards before reuniting with Van Gundy and former Knicks assistants Tom Thibodeau, Steve Clifford and Andy Greer in Houston.

During that the time, the Knicks have hired more than a dozen new coaches, scouts and front-office executives without offering a job to Ewing. Thomas met informally with Ewing at the predraft camp in Chicago two weeks ago and had preliminary discussions about him coming back to New York.

Ewing still owns a home in the New York area and would prefer to be closer to his family. One of his best friends is Knicks assistant coach Herb Williams. John Starks, another one of Ewing's close friends, is a part-time analyst for MSG Network and is said to be under consideration to replace Reed if he does leave. The Knicks are also considering creating a position for Earl Monroe, who broadcasts about 10 games a year on the Knicks radio network.

In an expected turn of events, Steve Francis' agent has announced that his client no longer has any objections of joining the Orlando Magic.  He will join the #1 overall selection, Dwight Howard, as the nucleus of a rebuilding franchise.  Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato will also become members of the Magic.  The Magic are now instant playoff contenders in the anemic Eastern Conference.