The Knicks accomplished stage one of their salary dumping process on Thursday, opening the space for two max contracts after the season when they traded for Houston’s Tracy McGrady and his $22 million expiring contract.
They reached a three-team deal with the Kings and the Rockets in the early afternoon Thursday, right before the NBA’s trade deadline expired at 3 p.m.
The Rockets get Martin and Hilton Armstrong (Kings), Jared Jeffries and rookie Jordan Hill (Knicks), the ability to swap first round draft picks with the Knicks in 2011 (top-10 protected), and the Knicks’ first round pick in 2012; the Kings get Carl Landry and Joey Dorsey (Houston), and Larry Hughes’ $13 million expiring contract (Knicks); the Knicks get McGrady (Rockets) and Sergio Rodriguez (Kings).
McGrady’s biggest value for the Knicks is that of freeing up cap space next year. When McGrady’s contract expires, they’ll have enough room on their roster to sign a player like LeBron James, and pair him with legitimate talent.
While the Knicks shave $9.5 million from their cap figure for next year…if they don’t end up getting ‘Bron, Bosh, or Wade, they may end up overpaying for second-rate stars, and could be stuck with a long few years ahead.
Thursday, February 18, 2010 at 10:57 pm by bryan
The New York Knicks continue to show a lot of interest in acquiring Houston Rockets forward Tracy McGrady.
The Knicks could care less if they play McGrady or not, but would love to inherit his $23 million expiring contract.
Expiring contracts are always valuable for rebuilding teams, but never before have they meant so much.
With several big-time stars hitting the free agent market this summer, a lot of teams want to clear space to try to land at least one of them.
The Knicks are still hopeful that they could entice LeBron James go spend the rest of his career in New York being the biggest star in the biggest city.
at 5:16 pm by steve
The New York Knicks were without Larry Hughes’ services on Saturday night as they traveled to Cleveland to take on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Hughes injured his big toe against Milwaukee on Friday night, according to Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni.
Hughes had only scored two points in 20 minutes against Milwaukee before injuring himself on Friday night. He’s been used sparingly in the Knicks’ rotation, only averaging 9.6 points in 31 games this season.
After falling out of the active rotation earlier this season, Hughes asked to be traded from the Knicks to a team where he’d have an opportunity to play.
Hughes played with the Cleveland Cavaliers between 2005-08 before coming to the Knicks, having started for most of the Cavaliers’ 2006-07 season where they lost to the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals.
Saturday, February 6, 2010 at 9:34 pm by bryan
