The T-Mac to Houston Express has taken many twists and turns the last few days, and has slowed considerably at times, but it has never gone too much off course.
The deal that would bring Tracy McGrady to Houston, shipping Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato to Orlando, still appears likely, despite Orlando GM John Weisbrod saying in an interview Wednesday that no trade is done.
"I don’t really read the papers or follow the media, but I’ve just heard because of all the GM’s that are calling in that it has been reported or the assumption is out there that it is done, or Houston is the team," said Weisbrod. "That is certainly not the case. We are still weighing all of our options."
The popular follow-up report Wednesday was the Suns were making progress, reportedly offering Shawn Marion, Casey Jacobsen and the #7 pick in tonight's draft to Orlando for T-Mac.
Oops. The Suns just dealt the #7 pick to Chicago for future draft considerations in a cap-clearing move. If they're not out of the running, they've certainly dropped several notches.
Both Weisbrod and Francis' agents were in full damage control mode on Wednesday, with both saying there was never a problem with Steve playing for the Orlando franchise (despite the fact that Steve himself said clearly on Houston TV he wouldn't play for Orlando unless they got Shaq).
"He is not saying he would not go to Orlando," Francis agent Nate Peake told the Houston Chronicle. "He is not saying that at all. Steve should have been treated the same way as T-Mac. T-Mac knew what was going on. The first Steve knew was when it was almost done. He just wanted to know more about the situation, what's going on there, what their plans are."
"To say Steve wouldn't go there is not true."
Weisbrod indirectly put the blame on Houston as well.
"I think, after taking a couple calls from Steve’s people, that his main issue is frustration with Houston over how he has perceived they handled it or commitments they made to him in the past," said Weisbrod. "His emotion about the situation, his emotion about leaving Houston, it’s not about coming here."
"Obviously I’m not aware of any of those [commitments] because I don’t know anything about the nature of his relationship with Houston leading up to this," added the Orlando GM. "But it was unfortunate that the kid was put in that position because he is asked all these questions as if there was some deal immediately pending and that he was in it, and that wasn’t fair to him. That certainly wasn’t the case."
No deal is imminent and Orlando is an okey-dokey location for Steve, says Weisbrod, but you would never know it based on how much shopping the Magic and Steve's people have done in a quest for a new Steve location.
The Orlando Sentinel reports this morning that a Ray Allen for Francis swap has been discussed as well as talks with the Wizards that could include Gilbert Arenas and Kwame Brown.
XTRA-AM 690 in Los Angeles reported that Francis has been talking with Portland in a deal that could involve Damon Stoudamire and Shareef Abdur-Rahim.
The Magic have also discussed with the Heat a deal that would send newly acquired Mobley and Drew Gooden to Miami for Caron Butler.
So clearly there is a lot to sort out right now, and a lot of offers for the Magic to listen to, so they need time. They say no deal will occur until after the draft. However, McGrady wants to join the Rockets, so don't be deceived: the likely heart of it all is still the Rockets' core offer for T-Mac.
