This is for Egghead: McGrady on the move? Posted on: June 25, 2009 The Rockets have been fielding plenty of inquiries about oft-injured former All-Star Tracy McGrady, whose $23.2 million expiring contract is attractive to teams looking to clear cap space for 2010. Rockets GM Daryl Morey told the Houston Chronicle that teams have been "very aggressive" in their pursuit of McGrady, and unlike last summer, Morey is listening intently. One such scenario floated by the New York Post, has McGrady, Aaron Brooks, and Carl Landry going to Phoenix for Stoudemire and Leandro Barbosa. That's a dubious one, considering the Suns' long-held reluctance to trade Barbosa. But with Phoenix in fire-sale mode, everything appears to be on the table. One team known to have discussed McGrady is the Knicks, whose stated plan since Donnie Walsh took over as team president has been to get the financial books in order for 2010. "They have interest," a person with knowledge of the McGrady discussions said. Stoudemire's situation is muddled by the fact that he has a termination option in his contract after next season. Any team acquiring him would want assurances that Stoudemire would sign an extension this summer in exchange for waiving the termination clause. To this point, according to a source, Stoudemire's representation has not been brought into any trade discussions involving the four-time All-Star. http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/...838893/15732252
http://www.draftexpress.com/blog/Jonathan-Givony/#Live-Blogging-the-2009-NBA-Draft-3287 Live Blogging the 2009 NBA Draft by: Jonathan Givony - President June 25, 2009 We’ll be here all day and through the night keeping track of all the latest movement in the 2009 draft as well as keeping you up to date on the latest rumors we’re hearing from around the league. If you are not able to watch the draft tonight, we invite you to spend the evening with us, as we’ll be keeping a live draft board going pick by pick, as well as sharing our thoughts on the proceedings in Madison Square Theater as they happen. 2:15 PM Update Phoenix Trade Ramifications It deserves mention at least once in this blog that “the Daddy” got traded and will be paired alongside Lebron James. That opens up a huge spot in Phoenix’s frontcourt, and likely pushes Amare Stoudemire back to the center position, where he really thrived playing alongside Shawn Marion, Boris Diaw and Steve Nash in Mike D’Antoni’s super up-tempo offense. Phoenix is clearly going back to their running ways next year, and will now likely target an athletic combo forward in the Diaw/Marion mold that can defend, rebound, pass and get up and down the floor. The most likely candidates appear to be Earl Clark and James Johnson, with Austin Daye being a long-shot at that spot. There is still some talk that Phoenix will trade Oklahoma City the #14 pick in exchange for the #25 and the Suns’ unprotected 2010 first rounder the Thunder currently own. We have a hard time seeing Sam Presti make that deal, though, especially now that Phoenix decided to dump Shaq for financial considerations. The 2010 draft already looks much stronger than 2009, and Phoenix is one injury away from finding themselves in the lottery next season. We’d be very surprised if that happened. Portland Moves Up Two Spots Kevin Pritchard and the Portland front office made an interesting move last night, trading their own pick and two second rounders to Dallas to move up two spots to the #22 pick. Two players they appear to be targeting are Omri Casspi and DeJuan Blair, although it would be a little surprising if Blair was there at 22. The prevailing notion is that Blair would not have lasted past Sacramento at 23, so they at least moved a step in the right direction to acquire him. Casspi is also firmly on their board from what we’re told, as they like his toughness and may feel like they can stash him in Europe for a year or two. It’s not quite clear that Casspi has the same plans. One team we spoke to mentioned hearing that Portland is now trying to get up to the #17 pick, and that they are continuing to target Ty Lawson. They also hear that Portland will likely take Victor Claver with the #33 pick, if he’s available. Knicks Trade Fallout Look for the Knicks to use the #29 pick to select Jack McClinton. They are still exploring their options there, trying to figure out who might be on the board, and McClinton may some suitors a little bit earlier in the first round potentially, but that’s clearly who Mike D’Antoni would like them to pick. They just worked him out a few days ago when they brought Jrue Holiday in. If Tyreke Evans falls to the 8th pick, the two could definitely share the same backcourt, with Evans handling the point guard duties and McClinton slated to defend the opposing team’s smaller guard. Denver may have come away disappointed not to have acquired the Lakers pick, as they are apparently looking at Marcus Thornton and Darren Collison as two potential draft picks in the late first round. They may be able to acquire either one at #34, but will look to Chicago’s pick at 26, as its rumored to be available. Crazy Trade Rumors The fact that we’re hearing these rumors makes them somewhat newsworthy, but considering the timing and nature of draft day, we’re extremely skeptical about the veracity of these reports, so take them with a grain of salt. -Houston sends Shane Battier and Aaron Brooks to Sacramento for Beno Udrih at the #4 pick. A third team might have to get involved to make the salaries work. Most people around the league believe that Houston is very happy with their team at the moment, and that McGrady is really the only player they are looking to move. -Plenty of Rondo talk throughout the top 10. -A complicated three-way trade involving New Jersey, Minnesota and Memphis, which would send Devin Harris to Minnesota, the #5 and #6 picks to Memphis and Ricky Rubio and Craig Smith to New Jersey. -New Jersey is also heavily shopping Vince Carter around in exchange for expiring contracts. It looks like they could be starting over from scratch, especially if both of these rumored trades go through. -Portland dangling Greg Oden to try and get into the top 5? A number have teams say they are hearing that, although it could all be coming from the same source. A Trailblazers executive we spoke with emphatically denied that they would even consider trading Oden. -Detroit is trying to unload more salary on teams with a trade exception or cap space, in order to get further under the cap for this summer’s free agent class. Walter Sharpe is one player mentioned often in a salary cap dump.
latest from insider.... POSTED: June 25 -- 2:13 p.m. ET Andy Katz: Memphis and Minnesota talked again about trading the No. 2 pick (Memphis) to Minnesota for the No. 5 and 6 picks or the No. 5 or 6 and Kevin Love. But the price was too high for Minnesota, so Memphis plans on keeping the pick. According to multiple sources, Memphis would pick Connecticut center Hasheem Thabeet. • Minnesota is hoping to land a specific player at No. 18 -- who could be Earl Clark (Louisville) or James Johnson (Wake Forest), among others. If that player isn't available, then the Wolves are expected to trade the pick, according to a source. • Cleveland held on to the No. 30 pick in the trade with Phoenix for Shaquille O'Neal and wants to get a point guard with the selection. The Cavs are hoping a point guard projected to go higher drops down to them, according to a source. • Brandon Jennings is scheduled to be one of the 15 players in the green room at the draft. But he could be pulled from the green room. Representatives of Jennings were huddling to make a decision on Thursday. The fear is that Jennings will slide if Golden State (unlikely after the trade to get Speedy Claxton and Acie Law from Atlanta for Jamal Crawford) at No. 7, the Knicks at No. 8 or the Bucks at No. 10 all pass on him. If that happens then Jennings would likely fall into the 20s. Jennings' camp wants to avoid an embarrassing situation where Jennings is sitting there and not selected for a while. If they can get assurances that he will be picked high enough then he will stay in the room. • Oklahoma City, Detroit and Chicago made assurances early on Thursday that they weren't dealing their top 16 picks. • Pittsburgh coach Jamie Dixon received a number of calls earlier this week, and as late as Thursday, about DeJuan Blair's knees. Dixon, who is en route to New Zealand to coach the USA Under 19 national team playing in the World Championships, said he told the teams, including Indiana at No. 13, that Blair never missed a practice or game in his two years. Blair's knees have been questioned because he had ACL surgery on each knee in high school.
Wow, that guy has been all over the board. A team with a pick in the late teens, early 20's could get a gem. If Brooks is gone by trade, and Jennings is there at like 19-21, I would hope the Rockets swoop in.
If Rubio and if Rubio can come close to meeting his potential, you're set at PG for 12-14 years. That's worth Battier.
Definitely would be. Lowry/Udrih Harden/Wafer Artest/McGrady Scola/Landry Yao/Hayes If we could resign Artest, I would consider doing this trade.
i really like harden at shooting guard. i dont know about his defense but if he can be anything close to, if not better than courtney lee from the magic i'd be happy.
http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/draft2009/insider/news/story?page=09DraftBuzz-090625 POSTED: June 25 -- 3:03 p.m. ET Chad Ford: I just updated my mock draft to version 7.1 a few minutes ago. Here are the key changes: -- Sources say the Bucks are now leaning strongly toward Brandon Jennings at No. 10. So much for that green-room drama he was facing. Over the past 48 hours the Bucks have really fallen in love with Jennings, and it's possible they would take him even if Jonny Flynn were still on the board. -- I pushed Jrue Holiday to No. 13 at Indiana. The Pacers have been eyeing Ty Lawson, but I doubt Larry Bird can pass on the upside of Holiday. Not only is he one of the most talented players in the draft, he also has great size and defensive ability -- two things the Pacers lack in their backcourt. -- With Lawson pushed out of Indiana's spot, I have him falling all the way to Atlanta at No. 19. Lawson would get a long look in Philly, but from what I'm hearing they are leaning toward Eric Maynor right now. -- And with the Knicks buying the Lakers' pick at 29, I have them taking Florida State's Toney Douglas. GM Donnie Walsh is a big fan of Douglas, who is a great shooter and a terrific defender -- sort of a poor man's Ben Gordon. DaJuan Summers and Derrick Brown are other potential targets for the Knicks there. • There are two theories in play that explain why the Thunder might not be taking Ricky Rubio after all. The first is the smokescreen theory. It says that the Thunder are very tight-lipped and all of the recent leaks about Rubio are uncharacteristic of a Sam Presti team. They say that the Thunder are leaking Rubio hoping that a team like the Wolves who are hot for him would trade an asset to move up two spots. The second theory is the Arn Tellem theory. Tellem is the agent for Russell Westbrook and some believe that he's been exerting major pressure on Presti not to take Rubio. Westrbrook wants to be a point guard and would be unhappy if he was moved to the 2. I'm not sure I buy the second one at all. It is a tough position for Presti to be in, but in the end I think Rubio would make Westbrook a better player. As for the first one, that one does scare me a bit. • The Minnesota Timberwolves continue to work the phones as we approach the draft. One interesting scenario that's arisen is a Knicks proposal that would send Wilson Chandler and the No. 8 pick to Minnesota for either the No. 5 or No. 6 pick. Why would the Knicks do it? They believe this is a seven-player draft and they're stuck at 8. If they get to No. 6 they'll have a shot at Jordan Hill, Stephen Curry or Tyreke Evans there. Why would the Wolves do it? If they can't get their hands on Ricky Rubio, most likely they'll select Jonny Flynn with one of their picks. Since the Warriors aren't seriously considering Flynn, they can move down two spots, get their guy and pick up a very nice asset in Chandler. • The Grizzlies also are still shopping their pick and one potential trade may persuade them to part with it. A source in Memphis says the Rockets have offered Shane Battier and Aaron Brooks for No. 2. The Grizzlies could send them the dreaded Marko Jaric contract back and save some face in the draft if they did it. Who are the Rockets after? That is the question ... • The Raptors have been debating all week between DeMar DeRozan and Jrue Holiday. James Johnson has been a dark horse there lately too, but it sounds like DeRozan has the slight edge.
I don't understand why Morey is looking to trade to get into the draft. This draft is weak in comparison to other years. Only one player is a sure all-star. Everyone else is unproven. Why trade Brooks and Battier for udrih and an unproven player.
Gotta get Thabeet. Rubio has greater potential, but if we aren't going to trade Yao, we need help at the backup 5.
