T-Mac's Greatest Gift to the Rockets

Its his contract. Tracy McGrady's expiring contract is the single most valuable trade asset in the NBA. I repeat, the Rockets have the most valuable asset in the league. Before you call me crazy for saying that an injured player making more than 20 million a year is more desirable trade bate than a healthy all-star, hear me out (and remember that Lebron, Kobe, etc. don't count since they will not be traded).



First, the summer of 2010 is the most anticipated free-agency period in the history of the NBA. Not only will Lebron James be a free-agent, but Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, Joe Johnson, Ray Allen, Steve Nash, Shaq, Manu Ginobli, and Darko Milicic (just seeing if your paying attention) will be too. While some of these superstars will surely decide to stay with their current teams, there will be several that enter the market. Teams are trying as hard as they can to clear cap space if they think they have any chance to get one of these guys. Teams looking ahead to free-agency would love to acquire T-Mac's large, expiring contract. The teams I can think of off the top of my head that would do this are New York, New Jersey, Chicago, and Dallas. (I'm sure there are others, please leave them in the comment section)

Second, the recession is hitting the NBA hard. Next year the salary cap will go down (this is extremely rare) because of the general money problems around the league. While the top teams still pull in the big bucks, the smaller markets are going to struggle. Penny pinching owners are going to try to get under the luxury tax and lower their bottom line. Bill Simmons wrote a great article about it (which you can find here http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/090227). We can use Bill's list of teams in financial trouble: Indiana, Memphis, Milwaukee, Sacramento, New Jersey, New Orleans, Miami, Orlando, Minnesota, Charlotte and Philly.

Third, their are teams that might think that T-Mac could return from injury and help them. Hmmm... Off the top of my head I can think of one team stupid enough to do this: The Los Angeles Clippers and Mike Dunleavy.

All of the teams I mentioned would be interested in T-Mac, so I headed up to ESPN.com's excellent trade machine and put together a few trades. (Remember that a lot of the players mentioned would be involved for salary cap reasons, not necessarily
because of ability). Then I added the probability I believe the trade has (5/5 does not mean their is a 100% chance it happens, that isn't what I mean).

1.) New Jersey trades Vince Carter and Eduardo Najera for TMAC.
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=cz7ngx
A swap of the cousins. We get an underrated perimeter scorer who is more than just a dunker now. They get cap space. At the trade deadline this year, a lot of people were talking about this deal before T-Mac's knee surgery ended the talks. Now that his contract has only one year left, I think this deal could happen. Probability: 4/5

2.) Dallas trades Eric Dampier and Jason Terry for TMAC and Kyle Lowry
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=obv38b
I think Mark Cuban would love to make a big splash in free agency in 2010, so he would need to clear a lot of cap room since they were 36 million over the cap this season. Jason Terrry could start at point guard for us or come off the bench and provide a spark as he did in Dallas. He would give us an impressive offense with Brooks, Artest, Scola/Landry, and Yao. Dampier would provide insurance incase of another injury for Yao. The Mavs could use Lowry to help their point guard situation. However, I don't think this trade is very likely because Cuban isn't likely to make his team worse for a chance to get better (he thinks they can still win a championship). Probability: 1.5/5

3.)a. Indiana trades Troy Murphy and Mike Dunleavy for TMAC and Brent Barry
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=p76zxw
If Indiana is in dire financial straights, they might be willing to trade their two biggest contracts for cap room after next year. Troy Murphy is a good version of Brian Cook. He averaged 11.8 rpg and shot .450 from behind the arc. He could help spread the floor around Yao or help the team after Yao's next injury. Dunleavy has come into his own over the last two years and could be a good scorer off the bench for us. However, these are also their second and third best players, so it isn't that likely (unless the economy continues to drop). Probability: 1/5

OR

3.)b. Indiana trades Troy Murphy and TJ Ford for TMAC and Aaron Brooks
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=qkz6qo
TJ Ford returns home. While Aaron Brooks played well in the playoffs, we need to remember that he had a 12.7 PER (Player Efficiency Rating) which is really bad. Also, he is too small to finish consistently and often throws the ball away after driving. He isn't a very pure point guard and his assist to turnover ratio was about 2:1, which is below average for a point. If TJ Ford could get over his injury issues, he could be very important to our team. Either him of Lowry could start, and we would have Troy Murphy. I think this is a lot more likely than the first trade because they get something of real value. Probability: 4/5

4.) Milwaukee trades Michael Redd and Charlie Bell for TMAC
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=qeudw5
Milwaukee is another team supposedly hurting financially, so they might be willing to trade for T-Mac. Michael Redd would give us a true SG who can shoot from anywhere. He would start for us, and either Ron-Ron or Shane could come off the bench. I really like this deal from our perspective because it gives us a lot of options for how we utilize our lineups. However, Milwaukee would lose their best player because of money, and I doubt they will do this. Probability: 1/5

5.) Phoenix trades Leandro Barbosa and Amare Stoudamire for TMAC, Aaron Brooks, and Carl Landry
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=lv4qwk
The Suns owner was worth a lot of money on paper, but after the stock market tanked he lost most of it and needs to save money. Amare doesn't want to be in Phoenix anymore, but he is a top power forward and still young at only 26 years of age. He would give us the best front court in the NBA with Yao. The Suns would get a successor to Nash with Brooks and a poor man's Amare with Landry. I think this deal could happen because of the Suns need to save money. Probability: 4.5/5

6.) New Orleans trades Tyson Chandler and James Posey for TMAC
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=qqqykl
The Hornets were desperate to give up Tyson, so I'm sure they would be willing to deal him this summer. We would get Yao insurance with Chandler and another versatile wing defender/shooter in Posey. I think New Orleans' desperation makes this trade very likely. Probability: 4.5/5

7.) Orlando trades Rashard Lewis for TMAC
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=pgtb52
The Rockets would finally get Rashard after passing on him 3 times in the draft and he would get to come home. If Orlando is hurting because of the economy, they might do this trade. Hedo Turkoglu will opt out of his contract after this season, and he will be in for a big pay raise. Rashard already has a big contract, so the Magic might try to move it. He would be one more weapon we could add to our arsenal. If Orlando beats Cleveland, this trade has ZERO chance of happening, but if they lose, who knows what will happen. Probability: 1/5

8.) Charlotte trades Gerald Wallace, Vlad Radmonivic, and Nazr Mohammed for TMAC and Joey Dorsey
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=oab2av
We would take on Vlad and Nazr's bad contracts, but we would get Gerald Wallace who is very good. He plays with a lot of intensity and drives to the basket as hard as anyone in the league. Ron and him would team up to be one of the most intimidating pair of forwards in the league. The key is that Adelman could be creative with how he uses our weapons (Ron at the 4?) and we could try to exploit match-ups. I think Charlotte would be willing to do this since they might believe that TMAC could help them sell tickets. Probability: 3/5

9.) Cleveland trades Lebron James and Boobie Gibson for TMAC
http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=q5su8n
I can dream can't I? Probability: 0

I just want to trade T-Mac because he is a cancer to the team and doesn't help on the court anymore. I'm sure Darryl "Dork Elvis" Morrey will make a good deal with Tracy. And, this doesn't mean we release Von or Ron, since they are indispensable parts of our team.