McGrady Going to the Big Apple

T Lamont — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 20:09:28 +0000

With the trade deadline looming, the New York Knicks made their highly anticipated move to bring 7-time All-Star Tracy McGrady to the Big Apple.

The move was made hours after an agreement was reached by the Houston Rockets to send McGrady, along with forwards Carl Landry and Joey Dorsey, to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for high-scoring shooting guard Kevin Martin, guard Sergio Rodriguez, forward Kenny Thomas and center Hilton Armstrong.

The Knicks then pounced to grab T-Mac and expand this swap into a three-team deal. Jared Jeffries and Jordan Hill have been named as Knicks who are now headed to Houston, guard Larry Hughes is Sacramento-bound, and New York will also be surrendering two draft picks (2011, 2012).

What will be the outcomes when the smoke clears?

Like McGrady, Kevin Martin has battled health issues over the past few years.

That’s a very intriguing question. The team hurt the most in this trade may end up being the Rockets – but not for obvious reasons. The Rockets had learned to play without McGrady long ago, but the loss of Carl Landry is huge for them. Houston is basically a team by committee. They’ve played undermanned all season (with Yao Ming out as well), and the area where they were particularly thin was in the big man department. On top of being a candidate for the Most Improved Player Award, Landry was their work horse. His explosiveness and strength enabled him to excel against taller players – to the tune of 16.1 points per game. His power will be sorely missed by a team that is extremely short-handed. Jeffries basically does what Trevor Ariza does – so his acquisition didn’t address a particular need. Jordan Hill has done absolutely nothing to grab anybody’s attention this season. I couldn’t even remember who New York drafted after they were crushed by not being able to nab Stephen Curry.

Kevin Martin (when he’s healthy) and Aaron Brooks make a good backcourt, but with no frontcourt presence they’ll work extra hard for each and every shot. When Ming returns, Martin’s shooting will then make a difference (assuming he’ll still be around).

The Knicks have put the youth movement to a screeching halt. Tracy McGrady’s not old – and it remains to be seen as to what level he will perform at – but he likes to have the ball in his hands as much as possible. And that means less ball movement – and more isolation basketball. Maybe McGrady and David Lee will run a little two-man game. But the wide-open, run-and-gun style that D’Antoni likes to employ is not a fit for the pace at which McGrady excels.

Further evidence that suggests New York is ready to change gears is the potential trading of Sprite Slam Dunk Competition winner Nate Robinson. Robinson has been a vital sparkplug during his tenure with the Knicks, and is in the midst of being dealt to the Boston Celtics for reserve guard Eddie House. Not too much of a surprise with this trade. Boston is craving someone to ignite them off the bench, and once again it is New York that is attempting to be the supplier (last year, former Knick Stephon Marbury was terrible as a Celtic). The Knicks’ removal of Robinson seems to keep pace with the arrival of McGrady, as the veteran House is a knock-down shooter from anywhere on the court.

There’s not much going on in this deal for the Kings. Landry will be a force and should get a chance to have more consistent playing time. He knows how to finish around the rim and should therefore help foster the development of Rookie of the Year probable, Tyreke Evans. There were rumblings that Evans and Martin were not exactly complementary to one another (on the court, that is), so more than anything the move simply hands the keys over to the Memphis product who has been a solid 20-5-5 guy – as a rookie.

Bulls Have Historic Breakdown Against the Kings

T Lamont — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 18:33:45 +0000

Get Shareaholic

When you’re an NBA team with a 35-point lead midway through the third quarter, you realize that you still have to execute. But in reality you start to think about how many minutes you’ll be able to play your 12th man.

On Monday night, the Chicago Bulls didn’t quite get to the point where they could give their scrubs some notable minutes. The home team was leading the Sacramento Kings 79-44 with approximately, seemingly on their way to an easy victory against a rebuilding team. Then, the unthinkable happened.

Over the remainder of the game, Sacramento outscored Chicago 58-19 to win the contest and move within one game of .500.

The outcome of the game highlighted the storyline behind these two organizations so far this season.

Vinny - you got a lot of splainin' to do...

After being a participant in one of the most intriguing playoff series in recent NBA playoff history, the Chicago Bulls had limped to a lackluster 10-16 record thus far. They’ve had some injuries and they lost explosive, clutch shooting guard Ben Gordon, but their play had been very inconsistent. They’ve have victories under their belt over San Antonio, Cleveland and Atlanta, but have come up short against New Jersey, New York – and now Sacramento. The Bulls looked to be a team on the rise, particularly in the East (where seemingly all seeds from 5 to 8 are up for grabs). However, they have proven to be another one of the Eastern squads struggling to take their game to another level.

The Sacramento Kings suffered through a nightmare of a season last year. Their leading scorer, Kevin Martin, has missed the majority of the teams games over the past year and a half. With Martin on the active roster, they could barely be considered a mediocre team. So without him – you guessed it – their lottery material. In the summer, Sacramento drafted Tyreke Evans – who dominated down the stretch of this game – to lead some of their other youngsters (Jason Thompson, Spencer Hawes) and international talents (Omri Casspi, Francisco Garcia, Sergio Rodriguez) in an effort to rebuild the former perennial playoff contending organization. So, the Kings execs have to be extremely pleased to see their team sitting with a 13-14 mark at this point in the season. The record highlights good coaching, and outstanding teamwork and effort.

Just in case you were wondering, the 35 points was the second largest deficit that has been overcome in an NBA game. The Utah Jazz overcame a 36-point deficit against the Denver Nuggets back in 1996.

Ball or Nuthin' » Kings

McGrady Going to the Big Apple

Bulls Have Historic Breakdown Against the Kings