Grading The Deal: Knicks, Rockets, Kings All Win With Trade By: Christopher Reina RealGM.com Writer http://realgm.com/src_feature_piece...deal_knicks_rockets_kings_all_win_with_trade/ February 18, 2010 2:02 PM Walking away from their game of chicken with the Knicks, the Rockets turned Tracy McGrady's expiring contract and the very good Carl Landry into Kevin Martin on Wednesday night. By Thursday, the Rockets had also found a way to acquire multiple picks from New York for the simple favor of taking on Jared Jeffries' contract for 10-11, along with recent lottery pick Jordan Hill. Martin is confounding to those who balk at his percentage from the floor (44.9% career and 39.7% this season) and don't realize how rare a high usage shooting guard with a career 60.0% True Shooting Percentage truly is. Martin is eighth all-time in career TS% amongst NBA players with at least 300 games of service and 6'7" or shorter. The only active player ahead of him is Steve Nash at 60.5%, while Ray Allen (57.4%), Paul Pierce (56.4%), Dwyane Wade (56.4%) and Kobe Bryant (55.7%) are in another strata below him in terms of this particular statistic. Martin is owed a fairly reasonable $10.6M in 10-11, $11.5M in 11-12 and $12.4M in 12-13, but the caveat to that contract is his inability to stay healthy. Martin has sat out half of the current season with a wrist injury, and also missed significant time in 07-08 (groin) and 08-09 (ankle). So Houston replaces one injury-plagued scoring machine with a younger model in Martin? Essentially, that is the case but the Rockets desperately needed to improve their scoring efficiency as they currently rank 19th in points scored per 100 possessions. Aaron Brooks and Trevor Ariza were being asked to score in difficult late game situations when they are in reality complementary third or fourth options. The Rockets would have had some cap room this summer, but not nearly enough for anyone of impact and the uncertainty of Yao Ming's physical state would turn the landing spot into a sizable risk for anyone. Now Houston has a primary perimeter scorer both for their playoff chances this season and for the next three seasons at least. They also have enough solid role players to compensate for his clear defensive weaknesses. Jeffries can actually be a useful player in Houston's system, playing beside the defensively challenged Martin. They wouldn't want to take on his salary if not bribed in this fashion, but he won't be a complete waste the way we've seen in recent memory of players like Jerome James, Brian Cardinal and Darko Milicic. I don't like giving up Landry from Houston's perspective, but Martin, Hill and the picks sets up Daryl Morey quite nicely over the next few seasons regardless of what happens with the health of Yao and even Martin. Grading the Deal for Houston: A The future of Sacramento's backcourt was clearly going to belong to Tyreke Evans and this deal allows them to clear cap space for the summer while also acquiring Landry. Landry is signed through the 2010-11 season for just $3M, making him probably the best non-rookie contract value in the NBA. Like Martin, Landry is a statistician's wet dream, with an absolutely stellar career TS% of 62.8%. He is undersized for a power forward, but he maximizes his physicality with a clever array of moves in the paint. As the NBA has scouted Landry more closely, his minutes have been extended and his usage has increased, he hasn't been quite as efficient with his percentage from the floor decreasing from 61.6% as a rookie to 57.4% last season and then 54.3% this season, but he has done a better job in drawing contact and getting to the line. Landry's face-up can't compete to what he does in the paint, but nobody hitting at an 84.2% clip from the line is lacking as a shooter. It is a part of his game that inevitably evolves and becomes more frequently relied upon, as he cannot possibly get as many attempts at the rim as he does now. His rebound rate of 16.4 during his rookie season an dropped all the way down to 11.6 this season, which is decidedly below average for a power forward, even an undersized one. Defensively, Landry has some matchup problems against taller bigs who can simply shoot over him, though he has upped his presence as a shotblocker this season. He is a hard worker wherever he is on the floor, but defense clearly is a weakness and a vulnerability. With a PER advantage of +4.7 against his counterparts at power forward, Landry is very rarely outplayed on an individual level. Martin has been pursued by many teams leading up to the deadline, but it is difficult to envision a scenario that simultaneously offers this much cap room and a player of Landry's caliber. Grading the Deal for Sacramento: A- The Knicks haven't taken this kind of risk since Isiah Thomas dealt an unprotected first round pick and the right to swap picks to the Chicago Bulls for Eddy Curry. There is a big difference this time around, however, as the gamble is for an opportunity to sign two of the following: LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh. Those players are still a long ways away from New York, but Donnie Walsh has created a distinct shot at signing two of those players. Signing someone like Joe Johnson and Carlos Boozer, or re-signing David Lee with Johnson represents New York's parachute. McGrady comes to New York attempting to prove he is not done physically and he will play for a new contract and will play the role of LeBron/Wade to audition how Wilson Chandler and Danilo Gallinari can coincide with a wing scorer that has to have the ball in his hands. He has over 27,000 minutes on his legs and has been fairly consistent decline over the past few seasons. McGrady has also played just 46 minutes since his microfracture surgery a season ago. The Knicks also acquired Sergio Rodriguez, a player still in his early 20s who has played sparingly for the Kings this season, but has been incredibly efficient. The Knicks have been desperate for someone to play point guard other than Chris Duhon and he could potentially begin to overachieve in Mike D'Antoni's system, though his ceiling is likely as a nice backup. New York could conceivably agree to a buyout with Curry as their next move to create more cap room, though they could also hold onto him in order to make a lopsided move to take on salary next February. Grading the Deal for New York: A (with an asterisk) The asterisk stays until July 2010 when this deal will be fairly judged for the Knicks. I don't see a fair argument against why the Knicks shouldn't have made this move. Walsh's mission since taking over the Knicks has been to position for 2010 and creating two max slots puts them in the best possible position. Realistically, the Knicks didn't have enough to attract a true top-3 player in the NBA without the second max slot because they didn't have enough talented pieces. It is a risky move to be certain, but the greater failure in not landing LeBron would be to have not taken this deal. If the deal does work, the Knicks have basically traded Jordan Hill, a pick in the late 20s during the 2012 draft for LeBron James and another superstar. Read more: http://realgm.com/src_feature_piece...ckets_kings_all_win_with_trade/#ixzz0fuv1ScxS
I didn't want to post another thread, so here's another article from hoopsworld. http://www.***************/Story.asp?story_id=15352 When the news broke last night that the Houston Rockets had agreed to send Tracy McGrady to the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Kevin Martin, there were two reactions from Houston fans. 1) Many were thrilled that Kevin Martin, one of the league's most efficient players and an All-Star caliber talent, would be donning Rockets red. He's the shooting guard Houston has been missing, fully equipped with a dead-eye three-point shot, and more than capable of scoring 20+ points per game. 2) Many were ticked off that the deal included Carl Landry going to Sacramento, as Carl has been one of the driving forces behind what success the Rockets have had this season. The idea of sending him out for an oft-injured player like Martin was infuriating, or at the very least, disappointing. Honestly, those are two very legitimate responses. Kevin is injured a lot, and over the last two and a half seasons he's missed significant chunks of games. He played in just 61 games in 2007-08, 51 last season, and so far this season he's missed more than half of Sacramento's games. The difference between Martin missing games and McGrady missing games, though, is important to note. McGrady simply doesn't work hard in the offseason, and therefore gets injured a lot during the season. Martin couldn't be any more opposite. He trains with some of the best in the business at IMG Academies during the offseason and is a relentless worker. His smaller frame is often blamed for his injuries, and there's probably something to that. The real advantage with Martin is that he's going to play as hard as everyone else, and immediately earn the respect McGrady was never able to garner from the blue-collar Rockets. It's tough to lose Carl Landry. There's absolutely no doubt about that. He's been the one consistently good piece of the team this season beyond Aaron Brooks. Others have good nights and bad nights, but Landry has been a force to be reckoned with. At the end of the day, however, the chance to have an All-Star caliber player like Martin was worth the price. It was also by far the best offer Houston received for McGrady, and yields plenty of long-term cap space in addition to the permanent replacement the team sought in a trade for McGrady. The wild card in this deal, the piece that might just make it OK that the Rockets lost Landry, is Kenny Thomas. Kenny's been wasting away on the Kings' bench, but he's also been working hard off the court and staying ready for his next opportunity. He's ready to play, and more than that he's ready to prove he still belongs in the NBA. Houston fans are all too familiar with Thomas, who was their starting power forward early in his career, and if all goes well he could bring the same kind of intensity off the bench that Landry did. The Plot Thickens As we indicated throughout the process, nothing is finished until the dust settles today at 3:00 Pm Eastern, and even then more deals will be announced as they get finalized. Houston wasn't finished dealing, either, and Rockets fans have to be positively giddy upon seeing the big picture. In addition to Martin and Thomas, Houston also gets Jordan Hill from the Knicks, as well as the right to swap draft picks in 2011 (provided NY doesn't get the #1 overall pick) and New York's 2012 (top five protected) first rounder. Houston had to take on Jared Jeffries to make that happen, but it will be more than worth the price. Jordan Hill hasn't been all that spectacular for the Knicks, but the Rockets have a way of recognizing talent and getting the most out of it. No one thought Aaron Brooks would be a star player in the NBA, yet he's very much turned into that. Landry wasn't expected to be as good as he is, yet he flourished in Houston's system. Chase Budinger . . .the list goes on. There's a very real possibility that Jordan Hill will be the next Carl Landry for Houston. This has been one of the most active trade deadlines ever, with plenty of teams upgrading and taking advantage of teams looking to dump salary. Of them all, the Rockets got the most bang for their buck, turning months of speculation about McGrady into one All-Star caliber player, a lottery pick from the 2009 NBA Draft, and two solid picks in the next two drafts. The Rockets are the clear winners in terms of improvement on deadline day 2010.
RealGM is on the ****list here at clutchfans. we do not link to realgm. http://bbs.clutchfans.net/showthread.php?t=172897
"we"? Sergio originally belonged to Sac, and even if we received him what are we going to do with a 3rd pg?
no, technically you can link to stories you find at RealGM, but since in most cases they just re-post what is posted elsewhere, you are asked to post the original link that RealGM found the story at. The other link that Mojov3 tried to post is from hoopscrap...which is not allowed here. That is why the link will not work, it is filtered. Case in point...the hoopscrap article thinks we are getting K9(Kenny Thomas for the kids out there) who was just waived by Sacramento Great work there hoopscrap
For the Rockets I think that this is a solid "A," even considering that we lose Landry. I am of the opinion that Kevin Martin is better than what we could have gotten in the offseason, and that soon Landry would be demanding more money than Morey was willing to play. Throw in the pick & the swap and this reinforces the "A." For Sacto I'm giving it a "B" for right now. The only reason for that is that as much as I like Landry he seems a bit redundant there. I don't know if they'll be able to hold onto him when he becomes a free agent. The fact that they didn't push for a pick is what really drops them a letter grade from me. For New York they have to get an "INC." Their grade shall remain incomplete until we see how the summer shakes out. If they get their coveted 2 Max Free agents then this was a worthy gamble on Donnie Walsh's part. If they miss out on Lebron/Wade/Bosh and find themselves overpaying to retain David Lee and overpaying for Boozer or Amare then this doesn't look so good. If they fail to even sign those guys...oy vey!
I tend to agree with this assessment much more than the homers that are claiming how much Morey fleeced the Knicks. The Knicks are taking a big gamble . . . big risk = big reward, and if it pans out for them, they'll have an A+ grade. If it doesn't, then it's a B or lower. I think if they grab one top free agent + Amare or another 2nd tier, then it's a B. If they don't even get one of the big 3, Bosh, Lebron, Wade, then it's a C or lower.
I disagreed with ya and the writer on knicks grade. it should be a B at most. Think about it for second. How hard is it to give away your team and future for expiring contracts? Knicks was here to be had by Morey. We could asked for the David Lee if we really want to, as knicks got no choice. Yes, the indication of getting Lebron, JJ, Wade, Amare, or Bosh is awesome. But, they are not stupid. you have a team that pretty much bank on two all-star players to take you all the way. the deal killer here is adding draft picks in the first round. That's indication of desperate.
