Will the Rockets Find a Taker for McGrady?

Everyone seems to understand that Houston is showcasing Tracy; it’s now just a matter of finding a willing trade partner: “McGrady’s comeback is only part of a larger plan to increase his minutes and prove his worth to a team willing to take a chance on his once-breathtaking ability to score and benefit from his $23 million expiring contract at the same time. The Rockets were 14-10 this season without Yao Ming and McGrady, and now the only question is how long they’ll have to keep up the charade until McGrady is in good enough condition to help another team. ‘The plan is to increase his minutes because they’re gonna trade him,’ said a person familiar with the Rockets’ plans. ‘I know they are. It doesn’t do them any good to have him playing eight minutes a game on that contract. They’ll find somebody, and there are plenty of teams that are interested, in spite of the contract.’ In fact, there will be plenty of teams interested because of that contract. McGrady’s $23 million salary comes with two built-in perks: It comes off the books on July 1, 2010, making it a vehicle for clearing cap space for the highly anticipated free-agent signing period, and it’s 80 percent insurance-protected. The insurance provision already has kicked in, since McGrady missed 41 consecutive games during his recovery from microfracture knee surgery. The Rockets, or McGrady’s new team, would receive 80 percent of his per-game salary for any games he misses the rest of this season.”