Big Sleep sends wake-up call with big talk.(The Orlando Sentinel)

ORLANDO, Fla. _ For a laid-back star nicknamed "The Big Sleep," Tracy McGrady didn't waste any time putting the NBA on notice. The bus taking the Magic to Tampa for the start of training camp and another new season hadn't warmed up, but T-Mac's mouth was already shifting gears.

First, McGrady said the Magic will win 60 games. And go to the NBA Finals. "We should take the East," he said. "It's ours."

Then, on the opening day of Michael Jordan's comeback, McGrady proclaimed himself the league's best player. Non-Shaq category, of course.

"I'm not going to say I'm not," T-Mac said.

The Magic were not about to sneak up on the NBA, but any stealth operation has ended before the bounce of a ball. And it's not entirely a bad thing. "I may eat my words," McGrady said. "But I think you always have to be confident."

For the first time since Shaquille O'Neal departed, the Magic have an air about them now, a mix of a tightrope walker's confidence and a safecracker's guile.

They feel they have found the missing pieces, even if they found them in the Smithsonian, and are giddy now that Grant Hill is whole again.