With McGrady and Yao joining forces, the Rockets are instant title
contenders. It might take a year or two for Van Gundy to add a few more
pieces and get his system in place, but Houston can expect to vault into the
NBA's elite. Van Gundy knows how to construct stifling defensive units. Now,
for the first time, he's got a superstar scorer to go with it. As long as
T-Mac agrees to do his part on D -- and his balky back cooperates -- the
Rockets should be terrific. As for the Magic, they better hope Dwight Howard
blossoms quickly. NBA champions generally are built around superstars, and
while Francis is an All-Star, he is not of McGrady's caliber. Never mind that
the Magic were afraid of losing McGrady to free agency next season. If T-Mac
goes on to win an NBA title in Houston, it will rank with losing Shaq on the
list of all-time Magic blunders.
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