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.

Jack "Goose" Givens, a first-round draft choice by the Hawks in 1978 and currently a popular Orlando Magic television commentator was arrested late Monday on charges of sexual battery and lewd molestation of a 14-year-old girl, the Orange County Sheriff's Office said.

Joel Glass, director of media relations for the Magic, would not comment on the arrest, saying "We reserve comment until we know more specific details."

Givens, 47, was arrested about 11:30 p.m. Monday, said Cpl. Carlos Torres, a sheriff's spokesman. Givens is expected to go before a judge this morning for his first court appearance. He was being held on $25,000 bail.

The Sheriff's Office released few details about the incident late Monday but has scheduled a news conference for 11 a.m. today.

Torres said the girl reported that Givens assaulted her several times June 18 at her home. She contacted the Sheriff's Office on June 23 to report the incident.

"Givens came to the victim's home to assist her with her basketball game. The alleged assault(s) occurred after the basketball lesson," Torres said in a written statement.

Jameer Nelson is the 5-foot-11 point guard from St. Joseph's who won virtually every college player of the year award last season but was selected 20th in the NBA Draft.  

So now there's a chip on his shoulder "and it's not going away," Nelson said.

Some experts had projected Nelson to be a lottery pick.

"I asked our guys what one player will make the biggest immediate impact on the NBA and they all felt strongly that Jameer was at the top of that list," Magic GM John Weisbrod said. "That was a pretty compelling reason to do what we did."

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.

Some NBA league executives may be miffed at the way the new general manager of the Orlando Magic, John Weisbrod, has handled the McGrady trade discussions.

But Weisbrod is tough, knows that he's sitting on a valuable commodity, and is protecting the organization he's been hired to run.

Most basketball executives would do the same, and those who wouldn't aren't doing their duty.

So in his first year as the head of the Magic, Weisbrod may be ruffling some feathers but he's showing that he will not let anyone get the unfair upper hand.

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."

Dwight Howard has no fear, not even of his first year of professional basketball, as the number one overall pick in the National Basketball Association, straight from high school.

"I don't really see it as pressure," Howard said. "I just see it as I'm coming in, and it is something that I have to do as a basketball player. I'm not looking at failing in any way possible."

Fans and insiders recognize that it takes time for a player to rise to greatness, but even very young players who enter the Draft have a lot expected of them right away.  And even a player's rookie-year performance can be a telling indicator of how far he will go in the pros.  

In response to a question about his readiness for the NBA on a 1-10 scale, Howard thought about it for a second.  "I would say nine."

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."