Florida Today: Suns NOT Considering McGrady

[George O'Brien]

Magic's pick could spark summer play

BY John Denton
FLORIDA TODAY

NEWS FLASH: The Orlando Magic are considering opening up the Pepsi Summer League to the public, giving fans their first shot at seeing the team's first-round pick.

The Magic opened the summer league to the public for the first time last July, showcasing top rookies LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, T.J. Ford and Reece Gaines in their professional debuts. James, of course, was the top attraction and the event drew 15,123 fans. Tickets selling for $5 went for as much as $50 on the street.

This year's summer league games, scheduled for July 6-10, would give Magic fans their first look at the team's top overall selection -- that is, if the Magic keep the No. 1 pick. Orlando general manager John Weisbrod has fielded several calls from teams looking to trade for the top pick, and the Magic are curious to see what the pick might bring in terms of established veterans ready to contribute right away.

If the Magic hold on to the pick, they will likely select either University of Connecticut power forward Emeka Okafor or Atlanta teen center Dwight Howard. Okafor is the front runner because he is 21 years old, has three years of college experience and is the most ready to help right away.

Howard has talked boldly of convincing the Magic to take him with the No. 1 pick, with the feeling that his star potential is too good to pass up.

If the Magic pick Howard and open the camp up to the public, things could get interesting. Howard is represented by Aaron Goodwin, the agent who also represents James.

Even though the Magic donated all the proceeds from last year's summer league games to the Orlando Magic Youth Foundation, Goodwin felt that the team was exploiting James for financial gains.

This year's summer league will include the Magic, Celtics, Nets, Wizards, Cavaliers and Heat. The camp should have plenty of star power with the Magic, Wizards and Cavaliers holding high lottery picks.

NEWS FLASH: Phoenix Suns general manager Bryan Colangelo laughed off the rumors of a trade involving Orlando superstar Tracy McGrady.

Colangelo, in Secaucus, N.J., last week for the NBA Draft Lottery, was amazed at the metamorphosis of the rumors involving his franchise and McGrady.

He stressed that he has absolutely no plans of trading rising star Amare Stoudemire, the Central Florida native who would solve many of the Magic's glaring troubles on the interior.

Colangelo also laughed off the notion that he would be willing to offer swingmen Shawn Marion and Joe Johnson in a potential deal for McGrady. Colangelo said he was called by a worried Marion in the days after the trade rumors began to circulate and tried to calm his fears.

McGrady can opt out of his contract following next season and has threatened to not sign an extension with the Magic if they can't dramatically upgrade their roster this summer. Weisbrod insisted he wants an answer as to McGrady's future by training camp, and the four-time all-star told FLORIDA TODAY last week that his mind was "90 percent" made up and he would announce his decision by July.

Fearful of losing McGrady without getting any compensation, Orlando might look into trading the star later this summer. The Rockets, Lakers and Spurs are the greatest possibilities because McGrady has said he would most likely sign long-term with those teams. That would allow the Magic to get the most in return in a trade.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

I was actually thinking about how all this talk was affecting Marion. I mean he has never been in a trade rumor before, and he had no real reason to feel safe. At least BC has tried to calm him down.

 

[Cheesebeef]

I really think that this offseason is going to be one thing and one thing only - KOBE OR BUST - and I'm actually starting to believe it ain't gonna be bust.

 

[Yuma]

I was actually thinking about how all this talk was affecting Marion. I mean he has never been in a trade rumor before, and he had no real reason to feel safe. At least BC has tried to calm him down.

The Phoenix news station a couple years ago did a reckless report on the evening news that Marion had just been traded. They lead the news off with that rumor "from a VERY reliable" source. I immediatly fired off a nasty email saying what a sloppy reporter job that was done. Airing a story of that magnitude without verifying it with someone else. Well Marion WASN'T traded, of course, and I have to give that reporter some props because he emailed me back and admitted he made a mistake. He said he ran it by his boss and the decision was to run with it, even though the source told them minutes before airing the news. I read on this board that someone said Marion was upset by the report. I know firsthand he has at least been involved in one trade rumor, if not more by now in his career.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

Man that sounds horrible. I missed that one I guess. Any idea what the actual rumor was?

I guess there was also those J Kidd and Marion rumors for Kobe a couple years ago.

Maybe it is just me, but this is the first rumor that looked like it had a good chance of happening (at least like the Suns would push for it to happen). Especially since they just traded Steph.

 

[coloradosun]

The article said he laughed off the Marion and Johnson for T-Mac deal, not the deal for T-Mac specificly.

 

[thegrahamcrackr]

The article said he laughed off the Marion and Johnson for T-Mac deal, not the deal for T-Mac specificly.

Well, he said he wont trade Amare. He also said he re assured Marion that he wasn't being dealt. So that pretty much means they aren't going to trade for TMac.......

 

[elindholm]

Why are unsubstantiated media reports that say there won't be a trade automatically more credible than those that say there will be?

What the article actually says is that Colangelo "tried to calm (Marion's) fears." Whether that's an accurate description of what was said, we don't know, but if it is, that falls short of assuring Marion he won't be traded.

Front-office people routinely deny rumors, regardless of whether there's any truth to them. If the Suns do decide to trade Marion, they can just say, "Well, we didn't plan to, but the discussions took a turn that we weren't anticipating." Pretty much the same line of bull as with the Marbury trade.

 

[Joe Mama]

Why are unsubstantiated media reports that say there won't be a trade automatically more credible than those that say there will be?

What the article actually says is that Colangelo "tried to calm (Marion's) fears." Whether that's an accurate description of what was said, we don't know, but if it is, that falls short of assuring Marion he won't be traded.

Front-office people routinely deny rumors, regardless of whether there's any truth to them. If the Suns do decide to trade Marion, they can just say, "Well, we didn't plan to, but the discussions took a turn that we weren't anticipating." Pretty much the same line of bull as with the Marbury trade.

Well said. The article never says that the Phoenix Suns won't try to trade for Tracy McGrady. You just says that they won't trade Amare Stoudemire or a combination of Shawn Marion and Joe Johnson. Most of us here realized and accepted that some time ago.

Joe Mama

 

[George O'Brien]

Obviously one should "never say never", but the Shawn and JJ rumor was so widely distributed that the Colangelos explicitly denied it.

We should remember that the efforts by the Knicks to get Marbury were going on for over two months, yet no one had a clue. The Colangelos don't leak information unless they want it leaked. This one was not a deal I could imagine them "wanting" to leak.