Deal points: T-Mac for Francis

The battle of the network stars continued Tuesday with the much-anticipated deal between the NBA's Orlando Magic and Houston Rockets. Steve Francis and Tracy McGrady headline the night's news. Juwan Howard, Tyronn Lue and Reece Gaines go from Orlando to Houston, and Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato go from Houston to Orlando.

The NBA's scoring leader jumps to the battleground of the Western Conference to team with Yao Ming. With the respect commanded by Yao down low, McGrady will continue to befuddle defenses caught in the switches. McGrady will still get his, but the offense is set to run through the big man. Look for T-Mac's scoring average to take a hit from its lofty perch of 28 points per game, but he will compensate by bumping his assist totals north of six per game.

Howard is about as steady as they get, and he basically has hit his peak. The former Michigan Fab Five standout never quite lived up to the monster contract he obtained a few years back, but he will contribute 15 points per game. Howard also contributes in both the rebounding (7.4 per game) and assist (three per game) columns, and he'll keep logging heavy minutes in Houston.

Gaines didn't see much playing time as a rookie in Orlando, but he stands to figure more into the rotation. In limited duty, he averaged 1.1 assists per game. He should get a chance to spell Lue in Houston. Speaking of Lue, he will be counted on to log more than 31 minutes per game in this offense. He increased his scoring (10.5 points per game) and assist (4.2 per game) totals as he earned a starting job in Orlando.

Francis and Mobley will team to lead the young Magic offense this season. They essentially will have free rein to chuck up as many shots as they like while helping to nurture the newly drafted Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson. Francis had seen his number of attempts fall by more than two per game and his scoring average by almost five per game. Similarly, Mobley saw his scoring average drop two points as well. Watch for their scoring averages to rise back to 2002-03 levels as they run this young rotation. Cato (6.8 rebounds per game in 25 minutes of work) and Drew Gooden (6.5 rebounds per game) will mop up the misfires.

The youth and athleticism of the Magic gets the blood pumping in that there will be another run-and-gun team in the East to keep pace with the New Jersey Nets.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves. This is just the first stop on the train dropping new players all over the map. Stay tuned for the next one.