Monday, November 29th 2010, 4:00 AM

Fuentes/APLeBron James (c.) and Dwyane Wade (r.) are not succeeding together in Miami because they are similar players and neither is a great shooter, says Pistons forward Tracy McGrady (below).

Yeater/AP

AUBURN HILLS - Tracy McGrady believes there is a fundamental problem with LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.

"When they're on the court together," McGrady says, "they're terrible."

McGrady isn't saying LeBron and Wade are terrible as individual players but rather that the chemistry between the two isn't good.

"Him and D-Wade don't complement each other," McGrady said. "They're somewhat the same type of players, 'Bron and D-Wade. If you look at Ray Allen and Paul Pierce, (Allen's a) traditional shooting guard. Ray Allen, he doesn't need the ball. And Paul Pierce is a small forward. You add Kevin Garnett ...

"(LeBron and Wade), they're not like that. Both of those guys need the ball and they don't shoot the ball like Ray Allen. That's why they're having trouble scoring in the halfcourt because they can't get a rhythm, because one of them is dominating the ball. That guy might be getting off, but the other guy (isn't).

"That's why when they're on the court together, they're terrible. They're rhythm players that need the ball. I'm like that. I can't stand out there and catch and shoot. I've never been a guy that sits out there waiting for the ball to come to me."

McGrady feels that if James had made up his mind to leave Cleveland he would have been better off in Chicago with Derrick Rose as his running mate.

"It was a better decision, a better place for him," said McGrady, who scored a season-high 13 points off the bench for the Pistons Sunday but was 0-for-3 after intermission. "You can't just go somewhere and have that type of chemistry he had in Cleveland."

McGrady appeared in 24 games for the Knicks last season and apparently the decision not to return to New York was mutual. McGrady never embraced Mike D'Antoni's system while the Knicks wanted to use McGrady's expiring salary to make a run at James.

"I told you that wasn't going to happen," McGrady said of the Knicks' failure to sign LeBron. "They obviously added an All-Star in Amar'e and a guy that I think will help them. (Raymond) Felton is a great addition for the team. Seems like he's playing with a lot more confidence than he did in Charlotte. I think they're capable of making the playoffs."

NOT BETTER LATE: Several Pistons players arrived at the arena less than 90 minutes prior to the 1:30 p.m. start. And on the television screen inside the Pistons locker room? A tape of the Knicks? No, it was ESPN's NFL pregame show.