Knicks Interested In McGrady

"Tracy McGrady is likely going to end up getting traded at some time in the next seven months -- maybe in a sign-and-trade deal after he becomes a free agent July 1, maybe at the trade deadline in mid-February, or maybe even sooner.

The New York Knicks are hoping it is sooner rather than later, and they have been one of the most persistent pursuers of McGrady over the past several weeks, ESPN.com has learned.

But what is killing the Knicks' chances of landing McGrady, who would be a panacea for them next summer when they plan to be major players on the free agent market, is their insistence that Jared Jeffries be included in any deal with the Rockets.

It has been well chronicled how Jeffries and teammate Eddy Curry are standing in the way of the Knicks' master plan of plans, with their cap-clogging contracts (Jeffries is due to make $6.9 million, and Curry is on the books for $11.3 million) hindering New York's ability to go or come close to going after two max-level free agents next summer. But if they were able to move one of them (and trading Curry is a virtual impossibility) and take back an expiring contract in return, it would allow the Knicks to either go after a second max free agent in a sign-and-trade deal (in which David Lee and Nate Robinson would be the bait), or to have enough cap space left over after signing a max free agent to retain Lee.

As things stand now, the Knicks will have to either engineer a sign-and-trade centered around Lee, Robinson and/or Al Harrington, or renounce their rights to Lee, Robinson, Harrington and Larry Hughes, in order to clear their salary cap holds (the dollar amounts at which they are held against the Knicks' cap) and free enough cap space to sign LeBron James, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade or another max-level free agent."

Nobody would touch Lee or Robinson this past year and that's the only reason the Knicks still have them under their 1 year contracts. If they're doing a sign-and-trade, those players would have to accept less money to make it happen. I don't see it happening, particularly in Lee's case.

Of course they would be interested, who wouldn't, but it is going to cost too much.

Knicks seem interested in everybody and anybody. I see them as lacking one superstar player away from contending, cause they have the small pieces, just need the 6 ft. 8 in. one.

Concrete Jesus wrote:

Of course they would be interested, who wouldn't

People who don't want to pay like 20 million to have a guy sit on your bench with a bad back.

babaganoosh wrote:

Concrete Jesus wrote:

Of course they would be interested, who wouldn't

People who don't want to pay like 20 million to have a guy sit on your bench with a bad back.

Good point. I was thinking about a healthy T-Mac, which clearly he is not. I don't think he can ever be the player he once was.

To be honest I really don't care if he stays or goes. We really don't need him anymore since we have Brooks,Landry,Scola he is really just old news.

The Rockets are playing amazingly without Yao or McGrady. I say dump them both when they can, get 2, 3, maybe 4 moderate players and you'd have an even better team. They seem to play like the great teams of the NBA, beating the greats and losing to the not-so-great.

They should play the Nets then