"This was a great team, a pretty good team, without adding myself and Carlos Boozer, and some of the key players that they added this offseason," said McGrady, who worked out for the Los Angeles Clippers last week. "You bring a coach in like [Tom] Thibodeau, who's very defensive minded, very smart and knows the game, knows what to get out of his players.

"I think we can be really good, I really do."

McGrady, who also has expressed interest in joining Miami as a bench player in support of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, said he wouldn't mind joining the Bulls in a reserve role, but his preference would be to start.

He also said he hasn't yet talked about a contract with the Bulls, but that was expected to take place at lunch Monday. McGrady is represented by Arn Tellem, who enjoys a very strong relationship with Bulls chairman Jerry Reinsdorf.

ESPN.com's Marc Stein reported that, according to a source, the Bulls are prepared to sign McGrady if he proves to be sufficiently healthy, and if he is willing to accept a bench role.

"I won't have a problem, but that's not what I'm really shooting for," he said of a potential reserve role. "I think, yeah, if I was the player that I was in a Knicks uniform, I would have no problem coming off the bench, but I've worked extremely hard and I'm far from being that player. Trust me."

The 31-year-old McGrady played in just 30 games last season as he recovered from microfracture surgery on his left knee.

"I feel good," McGrady said. "I've been battling to get back to rare form for two years, coming off of microfracture surgery, and it's been a tough road. But I feel pretty good compared to my last game I played in New York.

"I was still going through the rehab process, and I'm definitely a long ways away from what I used to look like. So I'm very, very confident in what I'm going to be coming up in this upcoming season."

...
"I'm very excited about the opportunity," McGrady said of playing with Rose. "If I do choose to come here, he'd definitely be the best point guard I've played with. The guy is very explosive. He's getting better every year. He's improving his jump shot. He's just a great young talent who has a tremendous upside to be a great player in this league."

McGrady thinks he would have no problem fitting in with the Bulls' young core.

"I fit in well," he said. "I just bring what I know about the game and my athleticism, and my versatility, knowing my smarts for the game, my leadership, just everything I can add to help these guys get over the edge.

"Without me, without Boozer, they're a .500 ball club. And with the guys that they added, if they add me, I think we'll be 30 points better. I think we'll be a better defensive team with Thibodeau, who I played with for three years. So [the Bulls] have a really good chance of being good. The city should be excited about this team."

The Bulls courted McGrady as a free agent in 2000, but after much fanfare he decided to sign with his hometown Orlando Magic. Ten years later, the fact that he may end up in Chicago was not lost on him.

"It's a great city, sports town, great fan base, great team, first class organization, what's not to like about playing for the Bulls?" he said. "I had the opportunity back in 2000, but I chose to go home. It's a full circle, here I am." McGrady said he is not worried about the perception that he may not be a solid influence in the Chicago locker room.

"You can't worry about that," he said. "Again, Thibodeau was with me for three years, so if I was a bad locker room guy I don't think he would have had any interest in bringing me here, if I was that type of player.

"There comes a time when people like to say a lot of negative things about a player that's really not even true. I don't even worry about that, I go on. People know me. A lot of people around this league know me and know I'm not that type of person."

I think he's talking win percentage. He is confident in his abilities and I think he is saying that with adding Boozer and a healthy T-Mac they'd be close to a 80% winning percentage (above 60 wins). If T-Mac is anything close to what he used to be that is a for sure possibility.

I think T-Mac is saying that he's willing to come off the bench but that he also does not think that should be a given. He wants to compete for the starting job. I would too if I were once an all-star and had to compete against Brewer/Korver/Deng for a starting spot.

All of you act like T-Mac's career is for sure over and that you only want him if he is a bench player. His career may very well be over but we should want him to compete to become a starter b/c at the very least it will make everyone play that much harder. We don't have a for sure SG and Deng isn't that reliable on the injury front either so T-Mac if he's healthier should be able to at least battle for the starting SG spot and hopefully he's good enough to battle for minutes at SF.

T-Mac had a bad year last year but he was just coming off a major surgery. Players have bounced back from such injuries in the past and if he is working out as he indicates he is it is likely that he should have more movement/athleticism this year. Will he ever be the T-Mac of old? Probably not. But if he is healthier and more mobile there he probably is a more well rounder scorer/passer than any SG on our roster. Bring him in with the understanding that he is a bench player but don't rule out the possibility of him becoming a starter if he proves he deserves it. The last thing you need is for him to outplay Brewer/Korver (both bench talents) and then not get a chance to become a starter.

If he's talking win %, that's .530, which is 43 1/2 wins.

If he's talking win % it's 30 points which is .500 + .300 = .80 = 66 wins. But I don't think he literally meant 66 wins just that we would be significantly better with all of our additions (Boozer being the main one) + him

And either way, we all know you're McGrady's #1 fan. I'm not really against it, but I don't love it.

During his workout Monday at the Berto Center, Tracy McGrady showed he has made physical progress since last season and is capable of being a contributor to the Bulls next season, according to a source.

But despite the seven-time All-Star being physically able to fill the secondary bench role the team is looking for, the Bulls' brass isn't yet convinced McGrady will be a good fit after meeting with him following the workout the source said.

I think the Bulls need to think about this for a minute. How many teams are successful with an 10-11 man rotation? Skiles always did it with us and it failed miserably because we never had any chemistry. We don't need anymore guys that expect minutes. After Kurt Thomas, the rest of the guys need to be bench scrubs or NBDL talent. We are perfectly fine with our current roster and rotation now, we don't need Tracy McGrady.

we need young guys that can hopefully learn in practice and hopefully contribute in the future