Tracy McGrady and Detroit Pistons: A Shameless Marriage of Convenience

The Pistons are using Tracy McGrady. But that’s OK, because Tracy McGrady is using the Pistons.

Let’s get that straight, because to not acknowledge that means we cannot have an honest dialogue about McGrady signing with the Pistons.

McGrady is 31 and has agreed to play for the Pistons this season for chump change. He’s being brought in at the paltry NBA veteran’s minimum of $1.35 million, which is like Radio Shack bringing in Steve Jobs and paying him minimum wage.

There’s still magic in the McGrady name in NBA circles. His fan base is still strong. To many, McGrady is just one good rehab curriculum away from returning to greatness.

The Pistons signed McGrady for his name recognition and his potential to pull people into the Palace on a snowy night in January when the Memphis Grizzlies are in town.

I’ve crabbed about it before: the Pistons struggle to find an identity nowadays. They have no stars; no one who gets the NBA fan’s juices flowing.

Jonas Jerebko was a nice story last year. A posse of fans took to wearing plastic Viking horns on their heads at Pistons games, in honor of Jerebko’s Swedish heritage. That’s cute.

Rodney Stuckey is a nice guard who can shoot a little bit and play some defense. That’s OK.

Will Bynum has some potential in the backcourt. The Pistons just signed him to a new contract. Good for him.

Ben Wallace will play for the Pistons for two more years, past his 37th birthday. No one can doubt Big Ben’s status as a fan favorite.

But guess what? None of those players are enough, even combined, to generate the excitement required to want to traipse to the Palace and drop $100-200 on tickets, parking, some drinks and food.

Neither are Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince, the other links to the team’s salad days of 2004-08.

Does Ben Gordon do it for you? Charlie Villanueva? Jason Maxiell? Austin Daye? DuJuan Summers?

Some competent players are among this bunch—some are even above average at what they do. You can win with these players, provided they have some help.

Tracy McGrady will draw folks to the Palace, if at first for no other reason than curiosity. After that, it’s hoped, he’ll draw them for what he can do unequivocally. The Pistons are using McGrady because they have no one else who’s even remotely a star in the NBA in the truest sense of the word. Even at 31 and fresh off major knee surgery, T-Mac has some gravitational pull.

It matters not that McGrady plays the same swingman position that more than half the Pistons roster plays. That’s irrelevant. McGrady is a name, still—and the Pistons need one, especially with the team for sale.

Of course, this sword cuts both ways. McGrady is using the Pistons, shamelessly. He needs to showcase himself to the rest of the NBA. He needs to prove that he’s not finished. He needs to do this, so he can get paid a real NBA salary again.

McGrady didn’t put himself through rehab hell to make $1.35 million a year for the rest of his NBA career.

If McGrady proves himself for the 2010-11 Pistons, someone will take notice and pay him something more than the peanuts the Pistons will pay him this season. That someone might be the Pistons themselves; who knows?

McGrady, of course, couldn’t care less who it is, as long as it happens.

The Pistons-McGrady marriage couldn’t be one of more convenience if they put a Slurpee machine, some beef jerky, an ATM and a magazine rack in the locker room. But that’s OK. This is a business, and both parties need each other.

The Pistons need McGrady to put some fannies in the seats. McGrady needs the Pistons to showcase his talents. Till death—or 2011—do they part.

Tracy McGrady isn’t that far removed from when he drew gasps in NBA arenas. He’s playing for the Pistons this season on the cheap. He’s Allen Iverson minus the money and the baggage.

This signing will almost certainly spawn some roster moves. You can’t have six guys who stand between 6′5″ and 6′8", all shooting jump shots and slashing to the hoop. But those decisions can wait.

Tracy McGrady is the Pistons' new groom.

And the team is betting that you’ll show up for the reception.