Knicks Acquire Tracy McGrady and Sergio Rodriguez in Three-Team Trade

Several sources are reporting the Knicks, Rockets, and Kings have completed a three-team trade that sends Tracy McGrady and Sergio Rodriguez to the Knicks. 

According to ESPN;

The Knicks will acquire McGrady and Sergio Rodriguez from Sacramento, sources said.

The Rockets get Kevin Martin, Jordan Hill and Jared Jeffries from New York and will have the right to swap first-round picks with New York in 2011 as well as take on New York’s 2012 first-round pick.

Sacramento obtains Houston’s Carl Landry and Joey Dorsey and New York’s Larry Hughes.

The Knicks finally get the salary cap space they desired and get a chance to audition both Sergio Rodriguez and Tracy McGrady for the future.

According to Chad Ford of ESPN, the Knicks’ 2011 pick sent to the Rockets is Top 1 protected while the 2012 pick is Top 5 protected.

Analysis of Reported Tracy McGrady Trade to Knicks

The Knicks are in serious trade discussions with the Houston Rockets involving Tracy McGrady. Yahoo! Sports first reported on the rumored aspects of the trade and I broke it down even further.

The trade is a gamble. Plain and simple. The valuable assets the Knicks would give up are Jordan Hill, the 8th overall pick in the 2009 draft, and a 2012 first round pick. They also exchange 2011 first round picks with the Rockets, but I’ll call this a wash since they’ll still own a first round pick in the draft that year. Therefore, the Knicks lose the valuble assets of Jordan Hill and a 2012 first round pick.

What do the Knicks gain in return? Question marks surround Tracy McGrady. What is it that the Knicks are getting out of this deal? The answer is cap space. Flexibility. The ability to sign two max contracts in the 2010 free agency period.

The inclusion of Jared Jeffries along with Jordan Hill’s contract frees up about $10 million more to spend this summer.

This trade doesn’t gaurantee the Knicks sign a top free agent this summer. It guarantees the Knicks have enough cap room to sign possibly two free agents to max contracts. 

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Knicks, Rockets Getting Closer to McGrady Trade

Adrian Wojnarowski and Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports are reporting the Knicks and Rockets are inching closer to a deal that would send Tracy McGrady to New York. 

According to Wojnarowski and Spears;

The Knicks and Rockets have designed the framework of a deal that would unload New York’s Jared Jeffries, Jordan Hill and either Al Harrington or Larry Hughes for McGrady, Joey Dorsey and Brian Cook.

As talks stood on Monday, the price of dumping the burdensome contract of Jeffries – who is owed $6.9 million next season – comes with the Knicks and Rockets exchanging 2011 first-round picks and the Knicks’ 2012 first-round choice going to Houston. New York also might include a 2010 second-round pick.

The breakdown of the trade is as follows:

Knicks Receive:
G Tracy McGrady (Due $23 million in 2010 & contract expires)
F Joe Dorsey (Due $880,000 in 2010 & 2 years left on contract after this year)  
F Brian Cook (Due $3.5 million in 2010 & contract expires) 
Houston’s 2011 First Round Pick

Rockets Receive:
F Jordan Hill (Due $2.5 million in 2010 & 1 year left on contract after this year)
F Jared Jeffries (Due $6.5 million in 2010 & 1 year left on contract after this year)
F Al Harrington (Due $1o million in 2010 & contract expires) or G Larry Hughes (Due $13 million in 2010 & contract expires)
Knicks 2011 First Round Pick
Knicks 2012 First Round Pick

TNT’s David Aldridge Says McGrady to Knicks “50/50″ Chance

During the All-Star game, David Aldridge of TNT said there is a 50/50 chance the Knicks get Tracy Mcgrady before the February 18 trade deadline.

Without a third team, I don’t see the Knicks being able to acquire Tracy McGrady from the Rockets. Last week, the Knicks were rumored to be in discussions of a three-way trade for McGrady which included the Washington Wizards. The Wizards have since pulled off a seven-player trade with the Dallas Mavericks which puts an end to their involvments in trade talks with the Knicks and Rockets.

To get McGrady without involving a third team, the Knicks will have to give up a young player they value; Jordan Hill, Toney Douglas, Wilson Chandler or Danilo Gallinari. Of those players the only guys the Knicks would trade are Hill and Douglas, but reluctantly. To make the trade worthwhile, the Knicks will try to throw Jared Jeffries in the deal. That’s where the discussions end. I can’t see the Rocket entertaining the idea of taking on Jeffries’ contract.

The Knicks could try to work a trade of expiring contracts for McGrady. The Rockets and McGrady aren’t on good terms and the Rockets may want a player like Al Harrington to help them this season before his contracts expire. They could also deal Larry Hughes or Nate Robinson to the Rockets. The only thing is, being that the Rockets are on bad terms with McGrady, why would they do him a favor by trading him without getting a player of substantial value for him?

The best bet of a trade happening is if the Rockets accept expiring contracts or if another team gets involved and gives the Rockets someone of value. The Knicks won’t give up a player they are high on unless the Rockets take Jared Jeffries too and the possibility of them taking Jeffries is slim because they want to have cap space for free agency this summer just like the Knicks do.

If the Knicks desperately want McGrady, they’ll send a package of either Jordan Hill or Toney Douglas plus Al Harrington and possibly another expiring contract to Houston.

Tracy McGrady Trade Rumors, Knicks

UPDATE: According to Yahoo! sports, the Knicks are discussing a possible three-team trade that would send Tracy McGrady to the Knicks. 

Weeks ago it didn’t seem as though the Knicks were going to pursue a trade for Tracy McGrady of the Rockets. One reporter even called a possible trade for T-Mac “Dead”. Now it seems as though the Knicks are rekindling the idea. 

On January 26th, Marc Berman of the New York Post wrote:

“Houston’s Tracy McGrady should be traded at the deadline and perhaps Chicago’s Tyrus Thomas, too. Both are squarely on Walsh’s radar. Rockets general manager Daryl Morey only has interest in a Knicks’ package if either rookie Jordan Hill or Chandler are part of it.”

One source thinks the Rockets would except a package around rookie Toney Douglas too. 

Hill, yes. Douglas, yes. Chandler, no. Wilson Chandler is a guy that could be a core part of the Knicks for years. We haven’t seen enough of Jordan Hill yet, but what we have seen hasn’t been impressive. Douglas has had some bright spots, but has been inconsistent. 

McGrady is set to become a free agent after this season. If the Rockets are willing to accept a package of Jordan Hill, Jared Jeffries or Eddy Curry, plus an expiring contract, the Knicks should jump on it and run like they just stole something because it will be tough to persuade them into taking Jeffries or Curry  - tough and extremely unlikely. 

The most likely trade scenario is one of the players the Rockets allegedly want (Hill, Douglas or Chandler) plus expiring contracts.

Knicks Roster Will Look Drastically Different Next Season

Of the Knicks’ current roster, only Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, Toney Douglas, and Jordan Hill are locks to be on the team next year. Nate Robinson, Eddy Curry (player option), Chris Duhon, Al Harrington, Larry Hughes, Jared Jeffries (early termination option), David Lee, Darko Milicic, Marcus Landry and Cuttino Mobley will be unrestricted free agents while Marcus Landry will be a restricted free agent after this season.

Donnie Walsh hopes to stock and reload the roster and obtain at least one NBA superstar. The Knicks players who are in their final year of their contracts know they probably don’t fit into Donnie’s plans. They know the organization is eyeing superstars like LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh, to name a few. The point is that the current Knicks will be free agents too and looking to sign contracts themselves. They need to play well in New York this season to get paid by another team next season. Players like Al Harrington, Larry Hughes, David Lee and Nate Robinson won’t get great attention because of the glaring star-power in the free agent class but they’ll be expected to make an impact on the teams that sign them. A poor showing in 2009-2010 will hurt their chances of signing good contracts.

It behooves the current Knicks to play well and win games. It behooves the organization because they don’t have a first round pick and want to show potential free agents there is a good, young group of players to build around. Most of the current Knicks know they aren’t in the team’s future plans, but they are playing for themselves right now as much as they are playing for the team. The team just isn’t that good.

Chandler, Gallinari, and Douglas could be a good trio Donnie Walsh can build around. Hill hasn’t played enough to get a feel of how he’ll be. The roster will be completely overhauled before next season and an entire city is hoping Donnie Walsh can put together a playoff caliber team.

Did Knicks Make a Mistake in 2009 NBA Draft?

After 10 games and a 1-9 start, it’s easy to get on the Knicks for a lot of things, including their choice of first round pick in the recent NBA Draft. In hindsight, what were the Knicks thinking choosing Jordan Hill with the 8th overall pick? After the start 10th overall pick Brandon Jennings has had with the Bucks, he could have been doing some things for the Knicks. I can’t totally fault the Knicks for not picking Jennings, who played professional ball in Italy the season prior because he didn’t want to go to college., because who really knew? I fault the Knicks for their choice they did make.

Only 10 games in, we have no idea what kind of career Jordan Hill is going to have. He may turn into an All-Star for all we know. It’s just that the pick wasn’t “sexy”. Hill isn’t a guy that’s going to pump up the fan base. He isn’t going to put up 20 or 30 points a night. He isn’t going to make thrilling plays. He’ll be decent.

Before the draft, several prospects publicly said they would love to be drafted by the Knicks. These were players that would have put some life into the team and fan base. Brandon Jennings was one of these guys. So was Stephen Curry. Knowing that they didn’t own a first round pick in next year’s draft, the Knicks really needed to make a “sexy” in the 8th slot of the ‘09 draft.

Jordan Hill’s College Statistics (Arizona)

Reviewing these stats, Hill wasn’t going to come in a be a stud his rookie year. These are pretty good stats and again, he might turn out to be a good player, but the Knicks didn’t need a guy that was going to just be good, play his minutes, get some rebounds, score a few points and that’s it. They needed someone who was going to make things happen in his first year. A guy that was going to turn the engines on the franchise in the season prior to the big free agent period of 2010.

The draft didn’t go the Knicks’ way, I understand that. They expected either point guards Stephen Curry, Jonny Flynn or Ricky Rubio to land at number eight for them but when that didn’t happen they went Hill. The Knicks were actively pursuing a point guard in the draft and tried very hard to get one. When they came to realization that it wasn’t going to happen, they should have looked at lesser guards like Jennings, Ty Lawson, or even Jrue Holiday.

Maybe the Knicks did all they could and just couldn’t make anything happen and they were stuck with Hill. They won’t admit that though.