Let me point out that this is one of my favorite times of the year.  NBA pre-draft/trade banter.  Normally it's this way because I've lucked into fairly decent NBA sources through my basketball days.  Take all the NBA posts with a grain of salt, but understand that I'm posting it because someone in the know more than me has alluded to the fact that it's the truth and it's going on.

With that in mind, the big rumor swirling around right now involves the obvious desire of the Rockets to move once "he's better than Kobe!" swingman Tracy McGrady.  The Knicks have called to inquire, and discussions have begun, though not in earnest.  Here is what I know...

-The Rockets are focused on a package involving David Lee...who's contract might be too healthy for the Knicks to resign...and some variety of shooting guard that NY has on the roster. 

-The hangup is that the Knicks lack any worthwhile shooting guard, hence their obsession with Steph Curry, who they plan on moonlighting at the 1 and the 2.  The only SGs on the roster are terrible, and they're named Larry Hughes, Joe Crawford (not the official), and Q Richardson.  None of those inspire anything dramatic.

-While a hangup is there, the Rockets might be interested in talking about Nate Robinson, as they clearly lack a backup PG threat offensively.  One way or another, Houston needs to shore up their predictability on offense.  The Knicks would require however that Houston takes back a bad contract b/c of McGrady's health issues and because they still want to stay in the chase for Lebron.

-Expect NY to work feverishly to find help that would signal that the team is capable of bringing in King James to an immediate title contender.  People around the NBA contend that Lebron isn't going to leave the Cavs to go to a team in just as bad of roster disarray, though you can certainly argue the Cavs roster sans Lebron is just as terrible.

Synopsis: Normally when trade rumors come out, the biggest thing to take from them is the fact that in this case, the Rockets are actively trying to cut loose McGrady.  Normally, the first team linked to a trade isn't the one that ends up getting him.  But it's a good way for other teams to pre-gauge how a trade for that player (in this case, Tracy) might work.  Expect the Rockets to be busy looking for a taker before draft night.  Focus particularly on teams capable of giving them inside help to spell Yao Ming and some sort of instant offense player.  Sorry, Von Wafer isn't gonna get it done.