Rockets boost thrust with McGrady

HOUSTON -- In a blockbuster deal that gives the Houston Rockets one of basketball's most intriguing tandems, Tracy McGrady was traded to Houston in a multiplayer deal that sent Steve Francis to the Orlando Magic on Tuesday.

The long-anticipated deal also sent forward Juwan Howard, and guards Tyronn Lue and Reece Gaines to the Rockets. The Magic also got guard Cuttino Mobley and forward Kelvin Cato.

"It's a done deal," Magic spokesman Joel Glass said.

The trade was finalized after Francis' meeting with Magic general manager John Weisbrod in Orlando on Tuesday.

McGrady, a two-time NBA scoring champion, joins 7-foot-5 Yao Ming to form a duo that could potentially be as dominant as the Los Angeles Lakers' three-time championship twosome of Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant.

And with the Lakers splintering apart since coming up short in the NBA Finals, Houston immediately looks like a serious championship contender in the Western Conference next season.

McGrady signed with the Magic in 2000, thinking he and Grant Hill could push an up-and-coming squad over the top. But Hill's bad left ankle limited him to 37 games in four seasons, and McGrady's load grew heavier with each passing year.

Tired of carrying a mediocre franchise, McGrady vowed to exercise the opt-out clause in his contract that was to go into effect at the end of next season. But Orlando did not want him to leave without the team receiving compensation -- like O'Neal did eight years ago.

McGrady, 25, becomes the fourth defending scoring champion in NBA history to be dealt away, and the first since the Buffalo Braves sent Bob McAdoo to the New York Knicks in 1976.

Francis, a three-time All-Star, averaged 16.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 6.2 assists last season to join Oscar Robertson, Magic Johnson and Hill as the only players in league history to average at least 15 points, five rebounds and five assists in each of their first five years.

Francis, Mobley and Yao led the Rockets to the playoffs last season for the first time in five years.

But Francis, who flourished in an up-tempo offense for the previous four years, was put on the summer trading block after posting the worst numbers of his career in new coach Jeff Van Gundy's slower-paced scheme.