As I wrote about earlier today, Rafer is gone. But the thing I liked most about today’s trade are the players who were NOT traded.

Consistent with what I had hoped for a couple of days ago, the Rockets kept Artest, Landry, and Scola, assets that other teams probably wanted more than anything. Thanks Daryl Morey for not getting rid of these guys who play hard, are effective, and I think are the Rockets’ future (especially Landry and Scola).

It wasn’t the deal I expected, even with McGrady probably not being part of the Rockets’ future. Rafer Alston was traded at the deadline in a 3-way deal with Memphis and Orlando where the Rockets will get Kyle Lowry and Brian Cook.

I remember games against the Rockets where Lowry lit up the Rockets, and he’s super quick. But he’s only 6 feet tall, not much bigger than Aaron Brooks. And Cook is another power forward that creates more of a logjam with Carl Landry, Luis Scola and Chuck Hayes already there. Cooks is different in that he’s a good 3-point shooter, just under 40% for his career (44% this season), but I don’t expect him to get many minutes. Think Matt Bullard, Steve Novak or Robert Horry — a specialist.

Obviously the Magic thought they had to do something with Jameer Nelson out because of shoulder surgery, so they needed some experience at the helm.

Quite frankly, I’m surprised Rafer was traded since — despite his inconsistency — he had become more reliable over the past few weeks, just like he did last season, and when he was hitting his 3-pointers, was a very surprising weapon. He also seemed to be hitting his stride from an assist perspective, as witnessed in his last game Tuesday against the Nets with 11 and 13 against Sacramento the game before that.

He also became more of a team leader than anyone else. Just last night I was impressed listening to him on the radio doing an interview during the Tux & Tennies event. He always made himself available to the press and called it like he saw it. He even told the interviewer last night that he didn’t mind being interviewed even more, and would make himself available at any time.

My exposure to him in person was always professional. Even though I got on him since he became a Rocket , he had won me over with his grit to pull himself up by the bootstraps and make a contribution considering all the criticism he received from the fans, something that McGrady had a hard time dealing with.

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I’m trying out a new polling platform to see if it’s something the Yao Mania community likes. Take the survey below and if you have any negative feedback about how it works, let me know in the comments at the bottom of the post (not at the bottom of the widget).

On Tuesday, one day after the Rockets’ embarrassing loss to Milwaukee, Yao Ming was obviously still upset about it as seen in this photo that Raymond posted in the forum.

Meanwhile, Tracy McGrady exhibited some strange behavior as seen by him wearing Orlando Magic shorts (the rest of the team wore Rocket shorts)…

…and while Yao was in a serious and solemn mood (as every Rocket should be), McGrady was yucking it up with the press…

Click here for more photos showing the stark differences between Yao and McGrady’s mood and behavior.

It’s almost like McGrady knows his time is limited in Houston. Last night at the end of the game, I could just tell by his body language as he leaned forward on the bench watching the game as his team was being shellacked that he needed to soak it all in as his time with the Rockets winds down.

In a weird sense, I kind of feel sorry for him. No one likes to see a superstar fall so quickly, and to fall out of the fans’ and teammates’ favor with 3 straight teams in a row.

To some, the idea of McGrady not playing because of injury would not be bad news for the Rockets. Here’s the excerpt from the Houston Chronicle about another injury to McGrady…

The Rockets’ run of relatively good health could be over after one game.

“It’s painful,” McGrady said. “It’s hard to walk on it, put a lot of pressure on it. I never had a high ankle sprain. I started feeling good with my knee and going to practice and I got an ankle sprain. I’ll be all right.”

Channel 2 in Houston has one of the longest video interviews I’ve ever seen of anyone on any Web site — approximately 13 1/2 minutes where they talk to Tracy McGrady and his personal trainer Wayne Hall about why McGrady (with the Rockets’ approval) decided to take 2 weeks off to improve his conditioning. Hall also talks about some of McGrady’s physical improvements, like his time running 40 meters decreasing from 5.1 seconds to 4.6, and bench pressing 185 pounds five times, up from 115 pounds.

Of course, it’s up to each viewer to decide if McGrady could have worked harder during off-season rehab, or if the surgeries he had on his shoulder and knee were legitimate excuses to not come into training camp in shape.

Ron-Ron and Tracy went through a light practice on Tuesday where they walked through sets without any scrimmaging.

Click here for more photos from Tuesday’s practice.

McGrady may play Sunday in Detroit or Monday in New York. It’s still unknown when Artest can play, pending results from an MRI late Tuesday and a bone scan scheduled for Sunday.

Big news is that the Rockets have decided that McGrady needs rest without all the uncertainty of when he would play and when he wouldn’t. It’s about time. Here’s more detail in the Chronicle about it.

Meanwhile, we all wait additional test results of Ron Artest‘s ankle (Monday’s MRI bone scan was inconclusive). Raymond found some interesting photos of Artest during Saturday’s game wearing a special protective shoe.

Click here for more photos of Artest’s boot.

Hopefully the final diagnosis won’t be as serious as it looks.

In case you missed it, Kenny Smith is interviewed in this Yahoo! Sports video about the injuries the Rockets have experienced this season and in recent years. There’s not much new here, but it’s interesting the national media recognizes that the Rockets on paper are better than their current record indicates.

Also, I have a slight beef with Rick Adelman. I can’t remember the game when it occurred, but I remember Ron Artest injuring his ankle, or at least making it worse, late in a road game that was clearly out-of-hand when starters should have been pulled. It was in the final minute of a game as he drove the lane, dished it off, and came down wrong on his ankle. He has played some games since that injury, but he’s never been the same. Now there’s a chance the “area of stress” in his ankle could be much more serious as we await word on more tests.

This kind of reminds me of last year when Yao was having routine tests done on his foot, and then he ended up missing the rest of the season, dooming the Rockets’ playoff chances.

No one in the media is bringing up the coaches’ no-no of playing a starter like this during garbage time because of the risk of injury, but I thought I would bring it up. What do you guys think?

This little story from Jonathan Feigen of the Houston Chronicle…I didn’t realize Yao could be so persistent hunting down Dikembe…

If Yao Ming ever goes into college coaching, he might be a strong recruiter. Dikembe Mutombo said Yao called two or three times a day to convince him to come back, reaching the point where Mutombo said he considered turning his phone off.

“I do think when we practice,” Rockets coach Rick Adelman says, “it’s a huge benefit to Yao to have him go against him, because it’s someone his own size, or someone close to his size. ”