Three faded stars still harbor hopes of finding a team

Down in Miami, they're already stitching together the championship banner and planning the parade route for the Supreme Team with Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh.

In the executive suites and at wedding receptions in New York, they're already plotting the next I've-Got-a-Dream Team with Amar'e Stoudemire, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony.

Up in Boston, Doc Rivers is already excited to be returning to the bench for one more shot with his Green Team of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen.

So as the thermometer climbs and the dog days of summer have the remaining free agents practically sitting up and begging for attention, why wouldn't some perennially stuck-in-the-mud franchise -- hello, Clippers, Warriors, Timberwolves -- take a chance already on a high profile threesome with a combined 33 All-Star Game appearances and 45 years of NBA experience? Oh yes, and 104 birthday candles.

You could call them Faded Glory, Back to the Future or the Three Rustbuckteers. Every game night could be another "I Love the '90s" promotion, featuring Beanie Babies, Beavis and Butthead, the Wonderbra, Teletubbies, Bubba in the White House, Ross Perot, Monica Lewinsky and Y2K scares while the Macarena blares through the PA system.

You could also call them unemployed. And as the cusp of August nears, could the NBA could be looking at the first season since 1992 without The Diesel, The Answer and T-Mac?

Shaquille O'Neal (38 years old, 15 All-Star appearances, 18 seasons in NBA) -- You look at his numbers from last season (12 ppg, 6.7 rpg) and it's obvious he's no longer the Most Dominant Ever (his term). But when Shaq was in the Cavs' lineup (53 games), he was just as big and strong as ever and just as hard to move out of the low blocks.

His offensive skills have clearly waned and he no longer commands a double team. His own defense, which never showed an affinity for guarding the pick-and-roll, has grown even more lackadaisical. Yet there were times when he clearly helped LeBron James and the Cavaliers as he played the support role that he promised in his one season in Cleveland.

After hop-scotching across the map, there were plenty of places -- Dallas, Atlanta, Houston -- where his size and bulk could have made him a useful backup. It even would have made sense for him to return to Orlando, Miami or Los Angeles. But the Big Aristotle/Cactus/O'hio was either scaring off new partners with his demands for too much money and too many years or had already burned his bridges with childish, angry goodbyes from the Magic, Lakers and Heat.

Now he's practically begging the Celtics to take him in, hardly the image one expects from Superman.

Allen Iverson (35 years old, 11 All-Star appearances, 11 seasons) -- Now Iverson says he's ready to play nice. Now he says he's ready to do all of the things that he promised the good folks of Memphis last year when the Grizzlies were the only team in the league willing to hold out an open hand, before he left in a fit of pique.

Nobody ever questioned Iverson's toughness, his durability and his competitive fire when he was wearing that black jersey, red armband and white sleeve of the Sixers and almost singlehandedly dragging Philly into the Eastern Conference playoff conversation all those years. He might have been the toughest little guy ever to lace up a pair of sneakers considering all the times he was hammered to the floor and kept getting right back up.

But all of that is a distant memory. Iverson hasn't played a full season in the league since 2007-08 in Denver and that one-year-plus pairing with Carmelo Anthony didn't produce the fireworks or the results that were hoped for and expected.

The dilemma now is whether the one-time "Answer" can accept a role as a subjunctive clause in the twilight of his career. Nobody in Memphis had promised Iverson the chance to do anything except earn playing time last season. After three games, he was gone. Then he lasted 25 games in a return to Philly before he left the Sixers for personal reasons. While he attended health problems of his four-year-old daughter, there were also issues related to his divorce and rumors of problems with alcohol and gambling.

It's not "The Answer" that worries everyone. It's the questions.

Tracy McGrady (31 years old, seven All-Star appearances, 13 seasons) -- A year ago at this time, the artist formerly known as T-Mac was sending out tweets and website blasts that he was going through all-out rehab sessions with trainer Tim Grover in Chicago and would arrive at training camp in Houston to prove all of his doubters wrong. He had undergone microfracture knee surgery and was fit and ready to return to form.

A year later, McGrady is spending his summer auditioning for the Clippers, Bulls and anyone willing to give him another chance.

T-Mac, the only scoring leader in league history never to have won a single playoff series, finally talked his way out of Houston because he insisted he was 100 percent fit, able to play and demanded that coach Rick Adelman put him in the lineup. When a half-dozen cameo appearances showed little, the Rockets shut him down and eventually shipped him to New York at the trade deadline. He had a few early shining moments for the Knicks and then mostly limped around for 24 games. "I'm coming back from surgery and getting into shape," he said, contradicting his earlier statements.

With a Monday workout in Chicago to consider his physical health, the Bulls are understandably wary not just of the knee, but also McGrady's head. They want to be convinced of his willingness to accept a lesser role and come off the bench. Considering the soap opera that led to his departures in Orlando and Houston, they should make sure those assurances are in writing.

There was a time when a young McGrady could do things with the basketball that were almost beyond imagination. Now you can barely imagine him getting through half a season without breaking down or creating a stir.

Yet an itinerant T-Mac pushes on, just like Shaq and A.I., seeking one more chance at a way out of a situation largely of his own making.

Maybe creating another high-profile three-of-a-kind: The Memories.

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

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