Rockets Leaning Toward Keeping McGrady
SportingNews
It’s been about eight weeks since the Rockets and used-to-be star guard Tracy McGrady parted ways, with Houston vowing to find a trade for McGrady. Over the last few days, a number of scenarios emerged—the most serious involving the Bulls and Knicks—and reports had McGrady’s departure from Houston seeming imminent.
But on Wednesday, sources told SN that the Rockets are now indicating they are leaning toward not trading McGrady—for now, at least. Houston, apparently, is unhappy with the offers it has gotten from the Bulls and the Knicks, which would involve the Rockets taking on too much long-term salary and not getting enough young assets in return.
The Bulls’ offer, reported in the Chicago Tribune, is the expiring contract of center Brad Miller ($12.3 million), plus forward Tyrus Thomas and either John Salmons or Kirk Hinrich. The Rockets don’t want Salmons, who has a player option for next season, and the remainder of Hinrich’s contract (he’s signed for two years after this season, at $17 million combined) is too hefty for the Rockets. The Bulls have been seeking a third team to make the deal work, but a source told SN that those efforts were not getting very far.
The Knicks’ offer centers on the expiring contract of Larry Hughes ($13.6 million), plus Jared Jeffries and a swap of draft picks. Contrary to reports, a source close to the negotiation has told SN that the Knicks have said they won’t part with rookie big man Jordan Hill in the deal, and if the Bulls are unable to sweeten their offer, the Knicks would have no reason to include him, because they’d be essentially bidding against themselves.
Of course, that’s one reason that Houston may be saying it’s going to pull out of McGrady dealings altogether—it’s a good smoke screen to give the Knicks some incentive to include Hill. If the Knicks are not bidding against the Bulls, the Rockets must make it seem that they’re bidding against something, and no deal at all is at least something. It’s no secret that the Knicks are desperate to unload Jeffries, because they would then be likely to have enough cap space this summer to make max-contract offers to two free agents, upping their chances at getting two of the top three (LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh) players on the market this summer.
McGrady’s expiring contract is worth more than $23 million.