McGrady

Detroit won three straight games to eliminate the Magic that year, and a dark cloud followed McGrady and his mates through a 21-61 season. The two sides divorced in June. Irreconcilable differences.

With the exception of Shaquille O'Neal, no player joins a new team with bigger expectations to produce. That means team success, not just the ability to dazzle and fill up a stat sheet.

He said all the right things at his press conference, praising Yao and saying he wants to help him get better. He also said he was willing to make sacrifices and wants to be influenced by the coaching of Jeff Van Gundy.

Give him a mulligan for Orlando's inexplicable collapse, and watch him excel within the disciplined structure Van Gundy provides.

Yao

The Rockets look to have the makings of a champion: a great coach in Jeff Van Gundy, a dominant center in Yao Ming and one of the league's most explosive players in McGrady, a rare talent who scores at will, from inside or outside.

Only three players made more 3-pointers than McGrady's 174, yet only eight players spent more time at the free-throw line. Mysteriously, the NBA's leading scorer has played in only 18 postseason games, and never carried his team past the first round. He will.

Yao Ming is the new king of the Western Conference centers. He progressed in his sophomore year, and tasted the postseason for the first time. He now has Dikembe Mutombo to tutor and to spell him at center.

Yao and Mutombo are the only Rockets taller than 6-9, so unless they play side by side, the Rockets will be undersized at power forward with Juwan Howard and Maurice Taylor. The other forward spot is manned capably by Jim Jackson, a 40 percent 3-point shooter who will get open looks all year.

The heir to Steve Francis at point guard could by Tyronn Lue or Charlie Ward, though McGrady is the best bet to lead the team in assists. Bob Sura begins the year on the injured list.

Van Gundy enters camp this year with a knowledge of his personnel that he didn't have a year ago. He gave up three starters to get McGrady, the best player he has ever coached. With Yao and a cast of veterans who know their roles, Van Gundy has a team that almost certainly will advance past the first round for the first time since 1997.