Tracy McGrady Is Not A Fan Of The NBA's Expansion Plans. Here's Why

When the NBA Board of Governors cast a unanimous vote last week to explore the possibility of expansion, many fans rejoiced at the prospect of two additional teams in the league. In particular, die-hards of the old Seattle SuperSonics franchise are stoked that they’ll be getting their beloved team back.

Not everyone shares that enthusiasm, though. For one, don’t expect Tracy McGrady to do cartwheels.

“I don’t think we have the talent. I’ve gone on record saying that, and I’m going to say that today,” McGrady said this past Sunday on NBC’s pre-game panel. “I don’t think we have the talent going around to start two more teams.”

McGrady, a seven-time NBA All-Star who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2017, directly called out two ball clubs that supposedly embody the inadequate talent pool in the league today. “I’m just looking at teams like the Brooklyn Nets…the Washington Wizards,” T-Mac enumerated. “These teams are unwatchable right now.”

The former high-flying superstar isn’t necessarily dunking on two NBA franchises, as there’s validity to McGrady’s criticism. After all, the Nets (18-57) and the Wizards (17-58) have been stuck at the bottom of the Eastern Conference since the start of the season. Though Washington has made major moves via the acquisition of Trae Young and Anthony Davis, their current basketball product hardly satisfies the taste of basketball aficionados around the globe.

For McGrady, the losing ways of some teams is clearly intentional, making the thought of adding more teams an even more ludicrous notion. “I’m not mad at having two more teams and giving guys an opportunity, but when you look around the NBA and see all these teams tanking?” McGrady lamented. “That tells me there’s not enough talent.”

To McGrady’s credit, he acknowledged the underlying irony of his comments: T-Mac made a name for himself with the Toronto Raptors and the Orlando Magic, two of the youngest teams in the NBA. Neither team was particularly loaded with talent when McGrady joined them, which meant that the 6-foot-8 forward had plenty of room to shine.

Still, no matter what analysts like McGrady say, it appears that the addition of two NBA teams will happen as long as interested parties put in the right bids. Money talks, but in McGrady’s view, it might be the integrity of league-wide talent that’s at stake here.