HOUSTON (AP) Forget about Hollywood. The NBA's most intriguing duo now belongs to Houston.
League scoring leader Tracy McGrady will team with 7-foot-5 center Yao Ming next season after being traded to the Rockets on Tuesday in a blockbuster deal that sends Steve Francis to the Orlando Magic.
The trade, in the works for nearly two weeks, also sent forward Juwan Howard and guards Tyronn Lue and Reece Gaines to the Rockets. The Magic get guard Cuttino Mobley and forward Kelvin Cato in return.
"I just knew it was going to take time," McGrady told ESPN on Tuesday night. "I'm happy and it's time to move on."
The trade was finalized after Francis met with Magic general manager John Weisbrod and other team officials in Orlando on Tuesday. The Rockets will introduce McGrady, Howard, Lue and Gaines on Wednesday.
McGrady, a two-time scoring champion, now joins Yao to form an All-Star combination that could be as dominant as the Los Angeles Lakers' championship twosome of Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant.
"I sure hope so," McGrady said. "I can't predict the future, but it definitely would be nice. The ultimate goal is to win a championship for the Houston Rockets."
And with the Lakers splintering apart since losing in this year's NBA Finals, Houston immediately looks like a serious contender in the Western Conference.
The Rockets' union figures to be much more harmonious than the one in Los Angeles.
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 injured left ankle limited him to 37 games in four seasons, and McGrady's load grew heavier each 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. Orlando wasn't going to let him leave without 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 to average at least 15 points, five rebounds and five assists in each of their first five NBA seasons.
Francis, Mobley and Yao led the Rockets to the playoffs last season for the first time in five years. Houston lost to Los Angeles in the first round.
But Francis, who flourished in an up-tempo offense for the previous four years, was put on the trading block after posting the worst offensive numbers of his career in new coach Jeff Van Gundy's slower-paced scheme.
When the deal was first discussed, Francis balked at joining the rebuilding Magic. But Francis' agent, Jeff Fried, said a talk between the point guard and Weisbrod after Thursday's draft helped alleviate some of Francis' concerns about joining the Magic.
"I think he's very excited about this new beginning. I think he's going to a city that wants to have a sizzling new beginning," Fried told The Associated Press early Wednesday. "The only disappointment was that maybe he should have been more a part of the process, from the Houston end."
Mobley, one of Francis' best friends, comes to Orlando after averaging 17.1 points and four rebounds a game in six seasons with the Rockets. A second-round pick by Houston in 1998, Mobley is one of the league's most underrated players.
Cato, a 6-11 power forward, averaged 6.2 points and 6.2 rebounds in five years with the Rockets.
Howard, a 10-year veteran, has averaged 17.8 points and 7.4 rebounds with Washington, Dallas, Denver and Orlando. Last season, he was second on the Magic in scoring (17.0 points per game) and first in rebounding (7.0).
Lue averaged career highs of 10.5 points and 4.2 assists with Orlando last season, his first as a full-time starter. The 6-foot guard played on two championship teams with the Lakers in 2000 and 2001.
Gaines, the 15th pick in last year's draft, saw little time as a rookie with the Magic. He averaged only 1.8 points in 9.6 minutes for the league's worst team.
