Tracy McGrady’s back spasms aside, the Orlando Sentinel’s Matt Bianchi is fairly certain the Magic were fleeced when sending T-Mac to Houston.
It usually takes two or three years to figure out which team won or lost a trade, but this one barely took a season.
The Magic traded Tracy McGrady for nothing.
In yet another monumental personnel blunder that came to predictable fruition Thursday with the indefinite suspension of tempestuous point guard Steve Francis, the Magic now have pretty much nothing to show for the controversial trade of one of the game’s ultimate superstars.
The original trade before last season basically boiled down to this: T-Mac for Francis, Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato. Mobley soon was traded by the Magic for head case Doug Christie, who walked out on the team last season. Now Francis is gone, too — booted from the Magic because he, too, gave up on them by refusing to go back into a game in Seattle on Wednesday night. That leaves Cato — an underachieving journeyman center who spends more time in the hot tub than he does in the arena.
So there you have it: Tracy McGrady for Kelvin Cato.
This will go down as the worst trade since Nolan Ryan for Jim Fregosi. Correction: The worst trade since the Lenape Indians dealt Manhattan Island to the Dutch for $24. At least the Dutch threw in a case of whiskey and some trinkets.
Welcome back, Brian Hill.
You were fired as coach a decade ago because of a bratty superstar point guard who quit on you. Now you’re coaching the Magic again with a bratty superstar point guard who quit on you.