Knicks Get McGrady In Three-Team Deal

The Knicks have acquired Tracy McGrady in a three-team trade that involved the Knicks, the Houston Rockets and the Sacramento Kings. The Knicks also acquired Sergio Rodriguez from the Kings. The Kings acquired Carl Landry and Joey Dorsey from the Rockets, and Larry Hughes from the Knicks. The Rockets acquired Kevin Martin and Hilton Armstrong from the Kings, and Jordan Hill and Jared Jeffries from the Knicks.

The Knicks have been looking to get McGrady for a long time, since his contract comes off the books at the end of the season. With the Knicks getting rid of Jeffries and Hill, they cleared a good amount of salary for next season, leaving them in position to make two key free-agent acquisitions in the offseason. McGrady will be looking to get playing time to resurrect his career.

This is certainly a good move for the Knicks. The Knicks needed to make this deal because they started shedding salary last season when they traded Jamal Crawford and Zach Randolph in the same week. The Knicks had a legit shot at making the playoffs by keeping those two, but they decided to sacrifice two seasons for the big prizes. They have to complete the task and rid themselves of other salary to make a big splash in the offseason.

The only problem this may cause is if the Knicks don't get Lebron James. He is the big prize, and the Knicks got rid of their best talent just to acquire him. If they end up settling for Joe Johnson or a second-tier All-Star player, they may end up paying him first-tier money, for a player or two who won't get the Knicks a championship. Therefore, the Knicks now HAVE to get James, in addition to Chris Bosh, or Amare Stoudemire, or another quality free agent. They should also look to re-sign David Lee, even though that may not be possible.