So a holdup in the McGrady deal, from what a source with knowledge has informed 
me, seems to be Donnie Walsh’s insistence on a Houston first round pick.
Now, I’m not sure this is a deal-breaker, as Yahoo’s report seems to be very accurate from what I’m told, but the Knicks’ president seems leery to pull the trigger waiting to see if Houston accepts their demands.
Walsh should be careful if, in fact, Jared Jeffries is involved, as it’s a decision that he can’t pass on.
As you know I’m a Jordan Hill believer, but to use him to move Jeffries seems to be the right play as it would wipe away nearly $10 million dollars in salary cap space for this summer.
It’s an aggressive play, as is the idea of shipping a 2012 pick along with swapping next year’s, but let’s face it, Rockets pick or not, it has to be done.
I’m sure, although I don’t know, that all the picks would be lottery protected, which separates this from any sort of Isiah trigger-happy deal sacrificing picks. And if the team is to add the right pieces over the summer, then the 2012 pick would be a later first rounder. Not really all that of a big deal in my opinion. Especially if the Knicks can move into the 1st round of a deep draft this year like last, when they selected Toney Douglas.
Again, no deal is imminent, but these negotiations have gone on for some time, and as we’ve speculated the team wouldn’t part ways with a young player without moving Jeffries.
For the Rockets the deal gives them a young player in Hill, picks, luxury tax relief and the ability to move Jeffries deal next year if they so choose. Jeffries would also help them during a playoff run this year.
All for a player that they could have just let walk away.
The team is reportedly in other talks as well, so it appears Walsh is gung ho about a playoff push and moving cap space.
But the decision to apparently allow the trade to hang in the balance over a Rockets’ first is seemingly why the deal is “50-50″ as David Aldridge reported last night.
How is that possible? Houston traded their pick last year to Sac and by rule you can’t trade picks back to back years.
Maybe Walsh wants a future Houston 1st Round Pick?
Get it done Donnie! But be smart about please!
The picks MUST be lottery protected, Donnie can’t assume the picks are going to be late draft picks (see Marbury & Curry trades) even if we get leBron. There are no guarantees in life.
I’m not sure the Rockets can trade their 2010 1st round pick, since they traded their 2009 pick. Perhaps the Rockets would pick for us and then trade it to NY (see Douglas)
+1.
I am still not sure I would do Hill, 2011 swap and 2012 pick, but with some protection and a pick coming back, it’s much more acceptable.
The last time, the Knicks made a similar trade, it was for Eddie Curry. He is still on the payroll and untradable.
The Knicks are trying to trade for Tyrus Thomas, he was one of the picks the Knicks traded for Curry.
It appears the Curry lesson has already been forgotten.
One aspect people arent talking about is that if the Knicks get any combination of the big FA’s the swap of picks could be huge. There is no guarantee the Rockets are good next year.
if the knicks throw in that extra pick then Donnie should demand that their swap pick is not lottery protected. Yao is never a guarantee to be healthy and they are one other injury away from being in the lower lottery next year.
The problem is the rockets would have that option (to swap), not the Knicks. At least according to the Yahoo report.
well that sucks
Pehaps we can “switch” first round picks with Houston in a move to make sure Utah get the worst pick of the two teams? Is that possible?
Whatever the case is, we need more. Either we keep a pick or they give us one. This is too huge of a gamble IMO. If no free agents sign here this summer, we’ll have no way to rebuild the team w/o picks. We don’t need to overpay role players (see Detroit) just to fill out the roster.
Tommy, I’m confused. DW wants this in addition to the proposed trade? Or does he want this and then we’ll just give up our 2012 as opposed to swapping picks? Or…?
By the way, if we do get the pick, I hope it’s for someone like armon johnson or craig brackins…granted, I feel like it needs to be a point…
Donatas Motiejunas
The perfect center for the D’Antoni system.
Just thought I would throw that out there.
Stay Patient My Friends….
Motiejunas is top 10 man. Maybe even top 5.
Yes sir….
The rockets pick won’t yield that. I hope it does honestly, but they are arguably a playoff team. Hopefully, we’ll pull this trade off and they’ll collapse but idk. I really like armon though. Reminds me of a bigger version of jennings.
If he went 1st I wouldn’t be surprised.
People love John Wall and rightfully so.
BUT
This kid in my opinion could go first. It depends on which team gets the pick.
Nah man. Even NJ, they have devin right? They will trade devin and keep wall. If not, say a team like minny gets it and they have flynn/rubio (granted, it wouldn’t surprise me for kahn to take him), they would trade the pick to a top five team so they could pick him (maybe someone like washington)…
Yeah your right. I think if the Nets get the pick they will trade Harris but you never know. They could trade the pick for something else. People think Wall will be a megastar….you might be able to get something good for the #1 pick, CDR, Yi or any of those young players the Nets have. But your right, if I was them I would trade Harris if I got that pick.
I think the 2 and 3 pick will be a toss up between Motiejunas and Turner.
We’ll see
stay patient……you act as if our patients has something to do with the outcome of trades…..it dont! lmao
“Donatas Motiejunas
The perfect center for the D’Antoni system.”
So was Darko according to _’antoni.
He also believes Lee is the “perfect center” for his system.
I’m going to go ahead and disregard _’antoni’s opinion on anything related to basketball.
Wow, I would be really surprised if the deal that has been described goes down. Giving up a guy like Hill for a shot at 2 Max guys is a huge gamble.
I can only hope Donnie has broken some NBA tampering rules and knows for a fact that 2 of the top FA’s will sign (LBJ, Wade, Bosh, Amare, Joe J). If he does this move and it works out, they will have to call home DSG.
I know i’m counting my chickens, but…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EThWFCOdJtc&feature=related
armon johnson…
“I’m sure, although I don’t know, that all the picks would be lottery protected, which separates this from any sort of Isiah trigger-happy deal sacrificing picks.”
Weren’t Isiah’s picks lottery protected (except one) but because we were in the lottery every year they became unprotected.
The 2010 pick was lottery protected!
Why would being in the lottery make them unprotected? Thats why you protect them
Doesn’t work like that. You only have a finite amount of time to protect a pick. Knicks were in the lottery every year after the trade. Five years is the longest you can protect a pick.
This trade has to get done, even without a 1st pick.
It is the only way to abandon mediocrity.
Lbj and wade is the dream, obviously. JoeJ and bosh not so that bad either.
With every couple of them
we are contenders
I just read alan hahn’s tweet from before…
My McGrady/Knicks story for tomorrow’s Newsday, plus trade interest in Nate Robinson
http://www.newsday.com/sports/basketball/knicks/the-knicks-fix-1.812055/jumping-to-conclusions-on-a-bum-knee-1.1762960
I can’t read it as I, nor most, am not a newsday subscriber but the interest in nate is ALWAYS a good thing seeing as he has no future here. I would take a crappy expiring plus a young player (even if he hasn’t done much this year) for nate. The three teams that nate would go to are boston, orlando, and LA.
The most intriguing would be something yielding ryan anderson from orlando, but I don’t think that nate would be of much use to them honestly.
Orlando struggles to score off their bench. Nate would really help them with that.
I suppose man, but I feel like they are much improved at scoring off the bench this year. JJ is averaging close to 10 a game, barnes 9, and ryan’s averaging 8. Granted, nate provides more than that and has the ability to go off in games while the other three generally do not.
Those guys take mostly set shots, mostly threes and they take too many as it is. Plus Nate can create his own.
I was confused at first by your post saying that the story was an exclusive, but I was able to read the whole thing because apparently as an Optimum Online/Cablevision customer, I am able to read Newsday for free.
Not much in the article except for the fact Hahn stated that a source close to him said that Donnie should be executive of the year if he can get this deal with, i.e.: switch 2011 first round picks and give away the 2012 pick as well.
Not much new.
Marc Berman calls this cap-space heaven b/c hill’s rookie contract comes off the books also…
yea….knicks would be between 37-40 mil under the cap depending on what the cap turns out to be. I think they would have about 17.5 mil in salaries.
what an offseason it would be. as long as they get 2 of the max guys. If not, could be like Detroit times 2
Getting back a first round pick makes this deal obviously better for the Knicks-at least there is some consideration being given towards the future, beyond this summer.
I don’t like this trade because I have doubts that any of the mega free agents (James, Wade, Bosh) are coming here. That being said, one does have to give Walsh credit for at least sticking to his plan-even if it is risky.
Let’s hope things work out.
I also assume that the swap of 2011 first round picks is optional for Houston, seeing as it sounds like this provision of the trade is being done for the Rockets’ benefit. I haven’t seen this in print, but it would make no sense for the Rockets to be pushing for this otherwise.
If it is possible to get their pick (which I’m not sure of because I think they traded 2009 pick) it makes the deal more viable, because as it stands (or how the rumors have stated it), the Rockets come out winning by a lot. We knew that this team didn’t have assets to shed JJ, so picks obviously became the stronger bargaining chip as well as the expirings.
The fear that strikes me as well as many here I imagine is what should happen if things go south during the summer and we end up pulling a Detroit 3.0, which would be a disastrously crippling scenario.
DW still has time to make more moves with Nate, Lee and Al, should he choose to. Lee could be quite useful to get us a 1st round pick or maybe upgrade at PG. I don’t see him in this team next year, although I much appreciate his scoring and his efforts to develop his skill set (ignoring his obsolete effort on D, of course).
Although my read on Hill can’t be accurate because of the little time he’s been given to play, it’d be a shame to lose him (for the mere fact that I think he has a ton of upside and he’s a lottery pick). I’m still not sold on the trade, but Walsh will stick by his plan, and that I’m sure. He has done so far, so why stray off. Now the question is: how much is he willing to give to get as much cap as possible?
What if the 2012 pick was a swap option as well. Would that be a deal breaker for Houston? Is that still asking too much from the Knicks?
LeBron and Bosh/Wade in 2010?
If Donnie can find a way to shed Curry’s contract before the offseason that would be absolute craziness. Then you would have a shot at LeBron, Wade, and Bosh. My head just exploded.
A shot at two of the three and a b-level guy like a rudy gay. Not three max’s. Granted, lbj, bosh, and rudy gay would be beyond sexy.
hey we still need to fill out a bench
That exactly right. The play is to move for 2 max guys (if this trade actually goes down), but then to use carefully what money is left to make a complete roster. Gallo and Chandler make their cases and they still have plenty of room for development, but what about a PG, a SG and a PF (assuming that one of those max guys will be Bosh and D’antoni will use him at the 5)?
Chandler needs to develop quite a few things if he’s to become a good SG. He needs a much better handle and a consistent 3 pointer. In Gallo’s case, one has to think that with his size he will be placed at PF at some point, and for that he needs to bulk up, A LOT, not to mention the fact that needs to develop stronger legs to gain explosion and some athelicism.
What will happen to Douglas is beyond me. I just hope that he gets some burn this second half of the season and I hope DW picks smart with his 2nd rounder and gets somebody useful.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Last post of the night here, but I don’t know about you guys; but i’m excited by the thought that the way things are going, it seems like this deal may be done by tomorrow. While that’s exciting enough, it gives donnie two days to focus on acquiring somebody else. If hughes goes in this deal, harrington will surely be traded possibly for ridnour or somewhere else for hopefully someone/something that will help us in the future. If he goes to houston, we can still dangle nate, lee, and mobley’s contract around. Hey, maybe we could even trade chris duhon to a team who needs a backup point for a pitiful expiring and some cash. Should be a fun two days or so ahead guys.
I love your positive energy barnaby.
Would Donnie trade Harrington for Ridnour or would he trade it to Chicago for Tyrus Thomas?
Nate
T-Mac
Chandler
Thomas
Lee
He’s going to need a forward if he trades Jeffries and Hill.
He won’t bring in Luke unless he trades Nate (still possible).
When it’s all said and done I predict Tyrus Thomas will be a Knick by Saturdays game vs. OKC. McGrady be as well, we’ll just have to wait and see. Just a coincidence that we play Chicago back to back Tuesday and Wednesday lol. Perfect time to work out a trade with them.
I like that line up above a lot better than the line up we have now.
If you think Jeffries was a good defender, wait till we see Thomas on a nightly basis.
Best thing about this is that it helps DRAMATICALLY with our cap situation for next year and it also makes us a better team for this year and shows Walsh isn’t giving up on anything. 5 1/2 games back and over 30 to go is not impossible. Grant it, I wasn’t expecting to make it to the playoffs this year and I was perfectly fine with going with shedding salary even if it meant we would stink last year and this year. However, if we somehow make the playoffs this year, I think it would be a huge testament to Walsh and D’Antoni.
donnie tried to get ridnour but refused to give up Duhon,and the deal fell through
I hear Joey Dorsey is in the deal from Houston. Interesting. Strong, athletic, defensive minded. Was hoping we could get him.
OK, first of all, lets get something straight. This trade doesn’t make us better from a basketball standpoint at all. McGrady hasn’t proven he can play, and even if he can, his 15 points a game and other mediocre qualities is not an upgrade over Harrington and Jeffries, who is keeping this team together defensively. If we loose Jeffries and don’t get back a defensive difference maker, this season is over.
Long term, obviously, you wanna get rid of Jeffries contract. But if he’s on the books for 7 or 8 mil, I’d realistically pay the guy 4 to play on my team. So, because of that extra 4 of cap, we’re going to give up essentially two first rounders, and move down a bunch if picks next year? And I mean, the guy has shown he can play ball. He’d fit right in on the Rockets. We shouldn’t have to give up assets to get rid of him. If they were taking Curry, it’d be a whole nother ball game.
“It’s an aggressive play, as is the idea of shipping a 2012 pick along with swapping next year’s, but let’s face it, Rockets pick or not, it has to be done.”
Where do you draw the line between aggressive and reckless?
use ya brain donnie
don’t trade picks get a pick
cuz most likely T-mac is a 3 month rental
hill should be used in a curry trade or gallo
like i have said b4
the knicks can trade curry an jeff
it’s only going to cost 2 or the 3 hill gallo an chandler mayb all 3..
if donnie is serious about cap he should trade any1 to get curry an jeff out of here..
real talk
For those saying tmac is done, your wrong these highlights are from this year the guy can still get to where he wants:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HC4GHt0HXwg
I can’t believe I just watched that “highlight reel”, and you are trying to use it to show that TMac is a ball player. He looked like Joe NBA Player. He drew a couple of fouls, threw a nice pass, and hit an open jumper in 4:30 of highlight time. The TMac that I know would have dunked +1 over every one of those fouls. That TMac doesnt exist.
To be fair, he looked rusty but he wasn’t wearing a knee brace was and still had his 1st step with no visible limp, he also was able to find the open man.
Considering it usually takes 1 and a half to 2 years to fully recover from micro-fracture surgery he doesn’t look bad. Considering they gave Bender a look I would say McGrady is worthy of one as well.
Larry Coon’s comments on his chat last night made it seem like the Knicks would use their cap space after this deal (about $31-32m) on a max FA, then Lee, then other pieces, rather than two studs. That sucks. I’d rather just keep Jordan Hill and Jeffries for the same money as Lee.