This was always a wink-and-a-nod game the NBA was playing this week — teams could talk to agents and players, but not work them out or offer contracts. Right. Like there was not going to be some handshake deals that just have to be inked on Friday. The NBA looks away and just pretends not to notice.
One of those handshakes appears to be Tracy McGrady to the Hawks. We noted in our morning one liners that McGrady seemed destined for Atlanta, and Stephen A. Smith of ESPN reported it is done. It is a one-year deal for the veteran minimum.
After years where it seemed like his body had given up on him, McGrady rebounded from injury last season to play solid ball for the Pistons. He played in 72 games, gave them more than 23 minutes and a nice 8 points a game. He’s not the dominant McGrady of a decade ago, but at age 32 he can be a nice addition off the bench for the Hawks.
There will be minutes as it looks like perennial sixth man of the year candidate Jamal Crawford may be headed to Chicago… or somewhere, but not back to Atlanta.
