Tracy McGrady: Expresses Interest in Being on the Lakers
By Mike Garcia
Tracy McGrady is interested in being part of the Lakers team. Sadly, this is 2014 and not 2005, but it has been a rough season for the Lakers. The Lakers were granted up to 16 total players by the NBA due to injuries to Steve Nash and Julius Randle. McGrady has a surprising revelation in an interview, in an excellent long-form piece on Bleacher Report by Les Carpente:
"“My body is still in shape. I can go. It’s about opportunity, though. … I want no limits on who I am and what I can do, not stand in the corner and shoot jump shots,” he says. “I want to be involved, that’s not saying 10 to 15 shots, I want to be involved. I don’t want to stand in the corner and shoot threes. That’s not me.”The ideal team, T-Mac says, would be the Lakers. The Lakers are inexperienced. The Lakers need players. He could be the second star the Lakers must have to go with Bryant.“This Kobe,” he says. “I could play with him.”"
The Lakers have two perimeter scorers in Nick Young and Kobe Bryant, who have no trouble creating their own shot. However, other players are having trouble finding their place within the system to create shots, especially Jeremy Lin, who has a new role as a bench spark plug for the Lakers.
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While McGrady may have some energy left in the tank, the Lakers needs from an organizational standpoint are youth and developing talent on both ends of the floor. The Lakers are currently 11th in team scoring at 102.3 points per game. However, they are third-worst in the plus/minus differential category at -7.8. No wonder why the team only has six wins.
McGrady may be interested in being a Laker, but he wants to do it his own way, as a shot creator. The problem, from a team point-of-view, lies on the defensive end.
Still, it couldn’t hurt, could it?
What do you guys think? Should Tracy McGrady be given one last year and pair up alongside Kobe Bryant? Please comment below!