T-Mac's return: Is first step back the first out of Houston?

HOUSTON -- As dramatic returns go, it was hardly MacArthur wading ashore at Leyte or even the swallows coming back to Capistrano.

It had been 309 days since Tracy McGrady last played in an NBA game for the Houston Rockets and this was either the end of a new beginning or the beginning of an inevitable end.

When McGrady stood in front of the bench, shed his warm-ups and checked back into the Houston Rockets' lineup early in the first quarter on Tuesday night, most of the Toyota Center crowd was caught off-guard and it took a moment for the moment to sink in before many of the fans rose to their feet for an ovation.

By his own historical standards, there was no T-Mac attack, merely a beauty pageant smile-and-wave down the runway. After McGrady finished his out-of-the-blue 7-minute, 44-second cameo -- 1-for-2 shooting, three points and three rebounds -- there were very few answers and all of the same questions that have hung in the air like rainclouds for nearly a year.

Will McGrady, in the aftermath of microfracture surgery on his left knee, be able to show this season more than his long-distance 3-point stroke and a gait that struggled to get up and down the court? If so, how soon?

Will McGrady, even when he gains back the strength and confidence in his leg, be able to find a place for his control-the-ball, high pick-and-roll game in a Rockets offense that emphasizes a share-the-wealth philosophy and a much faster tempo than he was accustomed?

Then there's this: Do the Rockets really want him back?

For this one night, it was simply important for McGrady to lace up his sneakers, pull on his uniform and get back onto the floor.

"It felt good to be back," he said. "I was a little nervous. I don't know if I was nervous about how I was going to be received by the crowd. I didn't expect that. It was awesome. Thank you.

"I didn't know how my lungs were going to hold up. I had jitters. It had been so long since I played. Just to be back on the basketball court sent chills through my body."

A year ago, McGrady's season came in fits and starts as he was in and out of the lineup with his balky knee, averaging just 15.6 points and shooting 38.8 percent from the field. He played his last game on Feb. 9 in Milwaukee, where he tried to elevate for a breakaway dunk and could only jam the ball against the underside of the rim.

As bad as that play looked, it was only a tip of the ugliness as McGrady often went rogue, pulling himself in and out of the lineup, confounding his teammates, exasperating the front office and infuriating coach Rick Adelman. When McGrady posted the news on his website that he was done for the season and would have the microfracture surgery before informing the Rockets, Adelman's head might as well have exploded.

McGrady arrived in training camp this season and declared himself ahead of schedule in the recovery process and the pot began to boil again. Then McGrady sent out an e-mail to media outlets saying he was getting to make his season debut in the middle of November.

The Rockets, who were already looking for ways to unburden themselves from the roughly $23 million on the last year of McGrady's contract, could only spin their wheels in frustration. On the barometer of marriages gone askew, suffice to say this one falls somewhere between Bill & Hillary and Tiger & Elin. Yet if they want to trade him, at his hefty salary, there is no way they can until McGrady proves he can return to health and close to form.

So much has changed in the nearly a year since McGrady has played, not the least of which is the rest of the Rockets. Back then, they were a team built around the top tier talents of McGrady and Yao Ming, and now -- with Yao also sidelined following surgery -- they have been one of the pleasant surprises of the early 2009-10 season with an all-for-one, pedal-to-the-metal attack that has combined one of the smallest lineups in the NBA with a high energy level to go 14-10 and establish themselves as playoff contenders in the rugged Western Conference.

Tuesday's effort in a 107-96 romp over the Detroit Pistons -- featuring standout games from Aaron Brooks, Luis Scola and rookie Chase Budinger -- was everything these Rockets have become: quick, hustling and efficient.

If ever a team appeared ready to go in a new direction, this is it. And there will be suitors still intrigued by what McGrady once was and, maybe, still could be. The Miami Heat, with a cache that's fallen almost as far as T-Mac, could see him as a solution or at least a worthwhile gamble with an expiring contract.

Adelman used the opportunity presented by Trevor Ariza's one-game suspension finally end the drama and get McGrady back onto the floor. The plan going forward, is to continue playing him in the same manner, giving him one early 7-to 8-minute run in the first quarter and see where it leads while hoping it doesn't affect the chemistry that's already been established.

"One of the things I've said all along is we have a rotation going and you can't just work somebody in and not do something to the dynamics," Adelman said.

Yet if they do not work him into a bigger role, the Rockets will not be able to showcase McGrady for a deal, if that is their intention.

"Through all the stuff that we've been through, you haven't heard it come out of my mouth that I want to leave," McGrady said. "This is home for me. My wife and kids love it here; I love it here. This is where I live in the offseason.

"I love everything about the organization -- the owner, the fans and my teammates. This is it. I feel comfortable here. This is where I want to be."

All of which only made the occasion more significant -- as either T-Mac's first step back or his first step toward the door.

Fran Blinebury has covered the NBA since 1977. You can e-mail him here.

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