30-year old Tracy McGrady reportedly won’t be ready to play in a regular season game until December and that’s bad news for the Rockets. He played in 35 games for the Rockets last season and he averaged 33.7 minutes, 15.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 1.2 steals per game. It’s quite possible that either Shane Battier or Trevor Ariza would shift over from small forward to fill in while T-Mac is out. The problem with that scenario is that Ariza and Battier are both good defensive players with limited offensive games. Regardless of who is starting 37-year old Brent Barry will be coming off the bench. He played in 56 games for the Rockets last season and he averaged 15.3 minutes, 3.7 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game. His main asset is his shooting as he has nailed 40.5% of his shots from three point range. 21-year old Jermaine Taylor was a 2nd round pick out of Central Florida who will likely be sitting at the end of the bench this season.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE SHOOTING GUARD POSITION IN 2009-2010: C