It's officially done; Tracy McGrady is a Houston Rocket. Juwan Howard and Tyronn Lue were also sent to the Rockets in exchange for all star guard Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobley, and Kelvin Cato. The question remains, however, will the Rockets “officially” be a contending team now with an all around player like McGrady? Is this the new Shaq and Kobe tag team that Houston has been waiting for? Can the two all stars coexist on the same team? Certainly, Yao should not be the problem. He coexisted with a point guard that dominated the ball, basically saying to his center that he didn’t believe in him yet. I think with McGrady playing the two or the three, they will coexist just fine. Yao is a great basketball player and this could be his best season since he came into the league two years ago. And McGrady understands, after years of carrying the load in Orlando, that he needs the big man to win.

Shaquille O'Neal

In other off-season news, the drama is Los Angeles remains the same: Shaq is still a Laker and wants out. Kobe’s trial is set to begin in August, but he still has not said anything as to whether he’d like to stay or go elsewhere. I understand that Shaq has a few years left in him before he calls it a career, but why would you let the most dominate player in the game leave your team, in exchange for someone who won’t even equal his caliber? It’s very surprising that the Lakers are willing to grant Kobe the maximum, about $140 million for seven years, but in regards to Shaq, just let him roam free and do what he pleases. They are not willing to work and rebuild around him, but yet they are willing to give a major amount of money to a player who possibly won’t play next season. (God forbid)

After the Lakers lost the NBA Finals to the Detroit Pistons, Shaq had a lot to say about the Laker organization. He felt he was used to recruit Gary Payton and Karl Malone. Both players may return for another season in L.A., but the bid for a title looks even more arduous and unlikely with Shaq on the move. This was their year, but due injuries, whining and complaining, and bitterness, it’s likely that these two great players will join Charles Barkley as players who never won it all.

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Pat Riley says he spoke with Laker officials about the head coaching job. However, it seems more likely that by October when the season begins Rudy Tomjanovich will be heading the newly rebuilt Lakers. Riley is unlikely to jump into a coaching situation with so much turmoil.

Last week’s NBA Draft looks like the worst draft many people have seen in a long time. No Lebron’s or Yao’s available, but there were still impact players in the first round. What had to be the worst moment of the night was when player of the year, St. Joseph’s point guard Jameer Nelson, was bypassed by 19 teams. Denver Nuggets picked him at 20 and then traded him to Orlando for a future first round pick. This is a reminder of what happened at the 1998 NBA Draft when nine teams passed on Paul Pierce and the Celtics were able to scoop him up. Revenge was the only thing in mind for Pierce; he took it to the court to the teams that skipped on him. The same goes for Nelson. He will have a list of all the teams that looked elsewhere for help. Include Boston on that list of teams Nelson will be after, but I will be rooting for him.