UPDATE: Sources from ESPN and others are indicating the Bulls are still in the McGrady talks, and are including a pick in their offer, which could change Houston’s mind on the Knicks’ offer, which doesn’t include a pick until 2012. The Knicks remain the favorite to land McGrady, “probably tomorrow.”
Our long national ...mild distraction may be over. Chris Mannix is reporting that the the Rockets and Knicks are finalizing a deal that will send Tracy McGrady to the Knicks in return for Jared Jeffries, Larry Hughes, and rookie forward Jordan Hill.
Mannix reports the deal will also include swapping of picks and that the remaining issues pertain to the protection of those picks.
With McGrady the Knicks get a tiny bit more room this summer and get to see if McGrady has anything left in him. Both Jeffries ($6.4 million with early-termination-option) and Hughes ($13.65 million and change) are expiring contracts, but the Knicks also surrender promising rookie Jordan Hill. The Rockets now have yet another talented forward to plug into their system, providing even more moveable assets, Jeffries who is a capable perimeter defender, and, well, the ghost of Larry Hughes.
McGrady finishes his career with the Rockets under a veil of disappointment. Instead of being the savior for the franchise, he was the remaining totem pole of pre-Morey decision making, when superstars were more important than production. We’ll have to see what the mad genius does with all the room he’s created. The Knicks? Just inching towards a fresh start from their early-decade disasters.
Reclemation is a journey, not a jaunt.