Tag: New York Knicks

T-Mac gets a tryout

Nearly eight years after Tracy McGrady beat the Spurs with this legendary , the former NBA scoring champ is now auditioning to join them.

The seven-time All-Star, still in search of a contract less than a month away from the start of training camps, worked out for team officials in San Antonio this week, .

McGrady, 33, is still looking for work after averaging a career-low 5.2 points in his lone season with Atlanta. As the Yahoo! report indicates, McGrady might soon have to decide whether to accept a make-good offer to join an NBA training camp this fall — the New York Knicks could be another option — or finish his career overseas.

It is not exactly clear how McGrady might fit into the Spurs plans. Though renowned earlier in his career as an elite scoring guard, the 6-foot-8 McGrady has found new life the past two seasons in Atlanta and Detroit filling the “savvy back-up point guard” role.

With the Spurs’ depth chart behind Tony Parker largely unsettled — Patrick Mills, Gary Neal and rookie Nando de Colo will all battle for time there — the notion of them taking a flier on someone such as McGrady isn’t totally out of the question.

He’d also likely fit into the payroll plans of the budget-conscious Spurs, having played last season with the Hawks for the veteran’s minimum of $854,398.

Rockets reportedly land Lin as Knicks don’t match offer sheet

Jeremy Lin is headed to the Houston Rockets. ASSOCIATED PRESS

HOUSTON — Jeremy Lin is leaving New York and taking Linsanity to Houston.

The New York Knicks announced Tuesday night that they will not match the Houston Rockets’ three-year, $25 million offer for Lin, a restricted free agent.

New York officially had until 11:59 p.m. EDT to decide whether to re-sign Lin, who became an international phenomenon in the media glare of the Big Apple.

The Rockets made it tough for the Knicks to sign off on keeping him by backloading their offer sheet with a $15 million salary in the third season. If the Knicks agreed to that deal, they would have faced a hefty luxury tax in 2014-15 because of other big contracts on their books — between $30-40 million.

Lin now returns to Houston, where he spent about two weeks in December during training camp. The Rockets liked what they saw in the undrafted point guard but had to waive him because they had Kyle Lowry and Goran Dragic on the roster.

The New York Times initially reported the Knicks’ decision, citing an unidentified person briefed on the situation.

One sports consultant said the adjustment to the offer sheet was a stroke of genius by Rockets general manager Daryl Morey.

“The Rockets deserve a lot of credit for the way they’ve gone about this,” said Marc Ganis, president of Chicago-based SportsCorp. “It was extremely intelligent — with an assassin’s touch.”

The Knicks, though, gave Lin his first shot, picking him up after the Rockets waived him. He was briefly demoted to the development league, recalled, and finally got his chance when coach Mike D’Antoni put him in with the Knicks floundering at 8-15. Lin scored a career-high 25 points in a 99-92 win over New Jersey, and “Linsanity” was born.

Lin had slept on teammate Landry Fields’ couch the night before, refusing to get his own place as he headed into that week, knowing the Knicks would have to decide whether to cut him or guarantee his contract for the rest of the season.

But Lin proved more than just an overnight sensation — he had 28 and 23 points in his first two NBA starts.

Daily roundup: Williams stays put

Even while the Dwight Howard soap opera drags on…and on, and on, the Brooklyn Nets continued their busy offseason, following up their acquisition of shooting guard Joe Johnson with the . The Nets held off a strong bid from the Mavericks, who were hoping to lure Williams back to his hometown. With those hopes dashed, to former Mavs point guard Steve Nash and New York Knicks wonderboy Jeremy Lin.

Having secured their backcourt, the Nets will now . The All-Star center had seemingly fell out of reach after the Johnson deal, but multiple reports indicate that the Nets are ready to throw a package including three first-round picks in an effort to bring him to the Big Apple. While Howard has reportedly indicated he won’t sign a contract extension with any other team but the Nets, but that hasn’t stopped Orlando from pursuing a deal with the Lakers for center Andrew Bynum.

Elsewhere:

* has signed a four-year, $58-million offer sheet with Phoenix, but will reportedly match.

* are all making strong pushes to sign Nash, while .

* Having been foiled in their attempt to sign Deron Williams, the Mavericks are to pursue Chris Paul and Howard next year.

* Milwaukee power forward Ersan Ilyasova has .

* Lin will reportedly .

* And, finally, no roundup would be complete without news that . Harangody will get $1.1 million after averaging 2.9 points and 2.5 rebounds per game last season. Long live the NBA!