Larry Bird told the media that the Indiana Pacers made a better offer for Tracy McGrady than the package offered by the Houston Rockets which includes Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley.

``My personal opinion is they might have got a better deal from us,'' Bird said.

Bird and Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh have not heard back after they spoke with Magic general manager John Weisbrod late last week.

``Obviously they didn't like the players we put out there and really, we didn't get down to details. We just asked them what they would like and they threw some names out there and the price was really too high for us.''

Interest around the league is high for Al Harrington.  The Pacers are not eager to part ways with the outstanding sixth man but he asked for a trade if he is not going to start next year.

``We're not really shopping Al. I wish Al was happy here and everybody else was happy, but sometimes a change of scenery will do both teams some good.''

Bird indicated that the Pacers may not be able to reel in the two top commodities on the market, McGrady and Shaquille O'Neal, but with their great depth, Indiana will be in the middle of any prominent trade discussions.

``We have a lot of guys with a lot of talent,'' Bird said. ``We can put packages together to go after these guys.''