Coach Rick Adelman didn't believe Tracy McGrady would accept the role the Rockets could give him.
The news spread until Rockets players did not need to read the official statement to know the club would try to accommodate Tracy McGrady's trade request. His absence, however, was far from new or noticeable.
The Rockets said they would do what they have done while McGrady played in only 41 games over the past two seasons, just 46 minutes since his microfracture surgery last February.
“Pretty much, the team situation is the same,” forward Luis Scola said. “Tracy wasn't here the whole year, so ... the things we do on the court don 't have to change. It doesn't have to be an adjustment.”
Unhappy with small role
Rockets coach Rick Adelman said McGrady was not playing at a level to grant the increased playing time McGrady wanted. Instead, McGrady began a leave of absence.
“I wish him the best of the luck,” Scola said. “Hopefully, he will get a team and get what he wants. Hopefully, everyone wins.”
Adelman might have been willing to continue to play McGrady in the limited minutes he had been playing, but he said McGrady was not happy with that and the coach didn't believe McGrady would accept the role the Rockets could give him.
Moving on the best thing
“It didn't work out,” Adelman said. “He wanted more minutes than that. I just really did not know what the answer was, but I knew it would not be just increasing minutes. I wanted to be positive whatever we did was going to go in the right direction for this team. When we sat him down for two games, he decided he wanted to move on. Maybe that's the best thing.
“We watched him practice and we saw the same things in practice we saw last year when he was hurt. Now he's coming back. It was all understandable. He's played at such a high level. I truly believe he thinks he can turn it on and be an effective player, but the way we're playing didn't jibe with that. Maybe with another team he can play 25 minutes and they can go to him. I saw the way it was going, it was going to be a difficult task.”
Rockets general manager Daryl Morey issued a statement on Tuesday confirming the decision to seek a trade. By then, the reaction by teammates was more about McGrady's career than how he could have impacted their season.
“He's my friend and teammate first before anything so if that's what's going to make him happy, I'm all for it,” forward Carl Landry said. “I wish him the best if that's what he wants. Houston is home. He loves Houston. It's sad to see him part ways with the city of Houston and the Houston Rockets.”
No distraction
The Rockets, however, did not consider McGrady's absence a factor to overcome. Rather, it's a different version of the sort of thing they have dealt with for several seasons.
“It's part of the business,” center Chuck Hayes said. “It's a situation I guess the organization felt needed to be taken care of and they did it the best, most professional way they could. I'm sad to see him in this situation.
“We don't consider it a distraction at all. We have a good group of guys around here who are able to stay focused and stay committed. We don't let the outside stuff or whatever is going on outside that locker room affect us and how we play.”
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