Apparently last night’s 30-point loss to the Chicago Bulls put Knicks general manager Donnie Walsh over the edge. According to various reports, Walsh is on the verge of completing a series of trades that would re-make roughly half of New York’s current roster.
Trade One: Tracy McGrady for Jordan Hill, Jared Jeffries, Larry Hughes and picks
According to several reports, the Knicks will get fading superstar Tracy McGrady in exchange for defensive specialist Jared Jeffries, power forward Hill, the expiring contract of Larry Hughes, the right to swap first-round draft picks in 2011 and the Knicks’ first-rounder in 2012. The Rockets may include forwards Brian Cook and Joey Dorsey in the deal to make the numbers work.
The only question at this point is what protections will be placed on the picks. In this sort of deal, picks are often “lottery-protected” — in other words, if the Knicks’ fall into the draft lottery in 2012, they might have the option to keep their pick and send their 2013 first-rounder to Houston instead.
Worth noting: the Knicks’ first-round pick in 2010 belongs to the Utah Jazz, and does not have lottery protection. That pick was sent to Phoenix as part of the Stephon Marbury trade.
Trade Two: Nate Robinson for Eddie House and a pick
Alan Hahn of Newsday is reporting that Robinson’s slam dunk championship was his last performance in a Knick uniform. The details haven’t been released yet, but there are indications that Eddie House would be the player sent to New York, and with a draft pick possibly involved as well.
Trade Three: Al Harrington for Tyrus Thomas
The Bulls were hoping to acquire McGrady, and Thomas would have been sent to Houston as part of that deal. Harrington could be the Bulls’ consolation prize, in an exchange of talented forwards with expiring contracts.
The New-Look Knicks
Assuming all these deals are finalized, the Knicks’ roster could look something like this by next week:
Guards: Chris Duhon*, Tracy McGrady*, Eddie House*, Toney Douglas
Forwards: Wilson Chandler, Danilo Gallinari, Tyrus Thomas*, Jonathan Bender*, Marcus Landry*, Brian Cook*, Joey Dorsey*
Center: David Lee*
(New additions in italics. Expiring contracts marked with an asterisk.)
The biggest benefit to all these deals is the fact that Jeffries’ contract comes off the Knicks’ books. With Jeffries (and Hill) out of the mix, Walsh will have enough money to sign two players to max or near-max contracts this summer. In the interim, the re-shuffled roster places more of a focus on the development of players who are actually signed beyond this year, most notably Gallinari, Chandler and Toney Douglas.
We can’t expect McGrady to re-gain the explosiveness he had in his prime. But he’s still a very good playmaker. Putting McGrady in the backcourt and running the offense through him should allow Mike D’Antoni to use rookie Douglas at the point more often — a net positive, as Chris Duhon’s shot hasn’t been falling for weeks and Douglas is one of the team’s better on-ball defenders.
Thomas could become a staple of New York’s “we’ll cover anybody with anybody” defense as the “free safety” in the middle of the zone who switches off on point guards and centers alike. And House… well, he’s a known commodity. Good three-point shooter with high energy off the bench.
That’s probably not enough to get the Knicks into the playoffs, but it should make the team a more entertaining watch for the rest of this year. And at Madison Square Garden, that’s progress.
Extreme Makeover: Knicks Edition originally appeared on About.com Basketball on Wednesday, February 17th, 2010 at 16:02:00.
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