Prowling the NBA: Jan 3 - Mr. Marbury, it's for you

Marbury: "This is Stephon."

McGrady: "Hey Steph, what up? This is Tracy McGrady. Look man, my team has sent me home and won't let me play for them. I figured since you had a team do this to you too, maybe you could give me some advice about what I'm s'possed to do now."

Marbury: ".........." *click*

McGrady: "Starbury? Where you go man?"

This week's NBA update is full of the bizarre. Among the stories we'll cover are the latest in McGrady's fallout with the Rockets, Gilbert Arenas having gun trouble that could cost him his career with the Wizards, and the truth about why our own beloved Timberwolves announced a trade that never happened.

Well, in case you haven't heard...

Tracy McGrady has been sent home by the Rockets while they try to find a trade for him:

TMac's days in Houston would appear to be at an end. In a move similar to what the Knicks did with Stephon Marbury a year ago, the Rockets told McGrady to stay home, cutting off basically any and all contact he had with the team.

McGrady left the team last weekend after being informed his playing time would not be increased. The Rockets said they would deal with the situation the following Monday, and so they have. They told McGrady not to come back.

ESPN.com reports that, before McGrady was banished, he met with Rockets' general manager Deryl Morey, head coach Rick Adelman, and his agent Arn Tellum, to negotiate an agreement that both sides would work to find McGrady a new home by the February 18th trade deadline.

"After multiple conversations with Tracy and his representatives, we have agreed to look into trade opportunities and have granted him an indefinite leave from team activities," Morey said in a statement released Tuesday afternoon.

As I've been maintaining all season, the McGrady/Rockets relationship was destined for a bad divorce, with TMac taking the worst of it because the Rockets hold all the cards.

McGrady wants to play. The Rockets have moved on without him and aren't looking back. Said Rick Adelman:

"He's been hurt for over a year. The thing that people want to write about is who he was two years ago, and he isn't that right now. We have a whole team here and it's not just about what he wants or what he was going to want, or what was going to happen. It was about what can he do to help us win, and that was the bottom line to me."

"He wanted to play, he wanted to push it. Unfortunately, you've got to deal with the whole group, not just one individual. He's coming back from major surgery, he's rehabilitating and who knows when he's going to get there."

"I don't think the explosiveness was there. He didn't get to the basket like he used to, he didn't have that first step where he could blow by people. It wasn't unexpected to me, but we don't know what timetable he has or if it's going to come back."

McGrady disagrees, saying:

"I rededicated myself, refocused, moved to Chicago, worked out the whole summer there. It was every day just grinding, just pushing. I'm not even supposed to be playing right now, so that really tells you how hard I've been working. I wasn't supposed to be playing until January or February. If you asked anybody who had microfracture surgery, it probably took them a year to really feel full strength. I feel fine right now."

The relationship between Adelman and McGrady has never been smooth. TMac has never been consistently healthy during any part of Adelman's coaching tenure in Houston (nor has Yao Ming), and Adelman and GM Morey have been quick to move past the McGrady era, with Dikembe Motumbo retiring and Rafer Alston being shipped out to make room for youngsters like Aaron Brooks, Trevor Ariza and Carl Landry. Now with competing agendas, things are even worse.

"His reputation in this league is tremendous as far as his talent," Adelman said. "But what you can do on the floor is what we have to look at. It didn't work out. He wanted more minutes and I just did not know what the answer was."

"I wanted to be positive that whatever we did was going to go in the right direction for this team. When we sat him down, he decided he wanted to move on, and maybe that's the best thing."

"We just keep going," Rockets guard Aaron Brooks told The Houston Chronicle. "Everybody has a job to do. It's the same old story. Nothing changes."

"We always wish the best for Tracy. We can't do anything about what goes on with them. You guys are about the only ones talking about it. We don't talk about it. We let that happen. We let it play out. We might joke about it. We might joke about the media talking about it. That's about it."

So what's next for Tracy McGrady? Well...

The trade market for McGrady is a bit cold right now:

Here's the bottom line. McGrady is the highest paid player in the NBA right now, has a history of injuries, and is coming back from microfracture surgery, from which he should be playing on for another two months.

The upside for the Rockets, or course, is that $23 million contract expires this year.

The Rockets are adamant that they will not buy out McGrady's contract, and will go as far as to keep him on the payroll the entire season if he can't be traded. No doubt they want to avoid a scenario where they end up facing him and his new team in the playoffs.

The Rockets are looking for very specific things in return for McGrady.

1) Expiring deals to get them at least a portion of the money they'd save if McGrady's deal is simply allowed to expire.

2) Young talent. The Rockets are, despite their surprising competitiveness, in a semi-rebuilding mode. No one knows what Yao's status is or if he'll return at all, and the team is obviously very small and thin in the frontcourt without him. They'll want to bring in a solid big man as well as a wing player or two to shore up aging forward Shane Battier's declining production.

3) Draft picks. A given, for obvious reasons.

4) No seeing McGrady in the playoffs. Just as they won't buy him out for this reason. It's unlikely any western conference rival will be able to put together the right collection of assets to bring McGrady on board anyway, but the Rockets won't listen even if one does.

Before this fallout, the Rockets had said they weren't interested in taking back long term contracts, turning down trade offers from the Knicks involving both Eddy Curry and Jared Jeffries. Houston has since said they will take on longer contracts, but not just any. They turned down the Knicks a second time afterwards. Apparently smart GMs don't think much of Curry or Jeffries. What a shocker.

Certainly there are teams that have assets and would be willing, even happy, to take on McGrady. But $23 million is a lot of money to match all at once. Or more accurately, a lot of assets to expend on a player who might not play.

For now the Rockets seem resigned to sitting tight and doing what they can to shield the team from the McGrady drama until the deadline draws closer and teams start getting antsy.

But as always, there's new and....interesting? Ironic? Sad?....news about McGrady that keeps him in the headlines...

All star voting continues to pour in, and McGrady is still on pace to be a starter:

So is Allen Iverson, for that matter.

McGrady is second in voting among West guards, a mere 1,000 votes ahead of #3 Steve Nash. Iverson has a much more substantial lead as the #2 guard in the East: 155,000 more votes than #3 Vince Carter.

Voters are no doubt looking for curtain calls of plays like this:

Again, all very reminiscent of when cousin Vince was being consistently voted in as a starter all those years we was injured in Toronto.

At least isn't not as ridiculous as last year's voting, when Bruce Bowen was almost voted in as a starter.

Now before we move on from McGrady, there are two trade rumors that have surfaced that appear to have legs...

The Rockets reportedly talked to the Philadelphia 76ers about trading Mcgrady for Andre Iguodala:

The Rockets will consider trading Tracy McGrady to the 76ers if they are "knocked over" with the amount of talent in the deal, a source told Philly.com.

Reports are that the Rockets have no interest in Elton Brand, so the trade would most likely include Samuel Dalambert's contract: it would make ends meet for the Sixers, and would give the Rockets a legitimate center.

The Sixers are, unsurprisingly, not willing to include Iguodala in the deal, which ices this rumor....for now. But if they get everyone healthy and are still losing games, they might be willing to talk again in a month.

There is one team though that's willing to deal anyone on the roster for McGrady....

The Washinton Wizards reportedly offered the Rockets Gilbert Arenas for McGrady:

In fact, the Wizards are reportedly offering everyone on the roster for...well, anyone they can get. As one NBA executive put it, the Wizards "are open for business".

Here's the Wizards' conundrum.

Arenas is unhealthy. He's not supposed to be healthy. He's coming off a season-ending injury (nearly a two season injury really) and needs time to find his rhythm and basketball legs again. The team knows that.

At the same time, power forward Antawn Jamison is 33 years old. Exiting his prime. He doesn't have time to sit around and wait for Arenas to "get back", nor does the team if it wants to win with the Jamison/Caron Butler duo. And Butler's not exactly young anymore himself.

Mike Miller has been a huge positive for the team, but is hurt. Randy Foye has been an overwhelming negative (or, more accurately, an unmitigated disaster). The team has had to turn to Earl Boykins for any kind of leadership and consistent play. They aren't shooting well. They aren't sharing the ball. They aren't playing defense.

And of course, Arenas is extremely expensive. He has 4 years and $111million left on his contract, and when/if he finally gets back to the form that made him worth the money, the rest of the team's core will be past their primes.

The Rockets have no interest in Arenas, mainly because they already have a younger, healthier mini-Zero on the roster in Aaron Brooks.

The Wizards could still entice the Rockets with other players, but so could anyone else. And any team could entice the Wizards for that matter. Some Wolves fans are high on Brendan Haywood.

The Wizards only have one player they are reportedly unwilling to deal: center JaVale McGee. One source told ESPN that Washington would only trade McGee in conjunction with Arenas, and only for an offer they really liked.

Now for some very serious news about the Wizards...

Gilbert Arenas and Javaris Crittenton reportedly drew guns on each other in the team's locker room:

Here's the bottom line: this could cost Arenas his contract with the Wizards and 5 years in prison.

Last week it was reported that Arenas had been storing guns in his locker, a violation of NBA policy. I decided not to report it because it didn't seem like much of a story: the guns were unloaded, no ammunition was stored with them, and Arenas said he was just keeping them there to get them out of the house until he could find a permanent place to store them. No big deal.

Well, it's a big deal now.

In arguably the most bizarre story in a season filled with them, Arenas and Crittenton reportedly got into an argument over a gambling debt from a card game they played on one of the team's flights. The confrontation escalated to the point that Arenas drew a gun on Javaris, which prompted him to grab a gun and point it back.

Arenas lit up Twitter with Tweets that seemingly made light of the situation.

* i wake up this morning and seen i was the new JOHN WAYNE..lmao media is too funny

* i guess nobody thought that last text was funny.well i hav 2 change subjects.umM what about that TIGER WOODS.i heard he dated 2 MIDGETS jk

* i hav media outside my house...sumone tell them its to cold to be sittin out there they might get frost bite...it is winter still...

* when u become a great blogger u need great stories and a little drama ...for sum reason i stay with drama and i dont even leave my house

* im talking about [the Shaq rumors] now becuz i cant talk about todays new like i want..and why do u think i got a twitter after the news becuz i was gonna eat this stuff up becuz i knew everybody was waitin and thats why i made the first the first vid using his name he gave me the ok to do it

* well i hav to go shoot sum freethrows now becuz nobody likes gettn booed for missing them...ps i need more twit space then 140

* and again if ur not laughing i dont think u should follow me becuz im never serious and i will never not say anything dumb and silly

Arenas finally Tweeted "* i understand this is serious..but if u ever met me you know i dont do serious things im a goof ball this story today dont sound goofy to me".

Authorities are definitely taking it seriously. When it first learned of the guns being stored in Gil's locker, the NBA launched in internal investigation to see if what Arenas was saying was true. But after the report that they were used in a fight between Arenas and Crittenton, the investigation has gone national, U.S. Attorney's Office and District of Columbia police.

Both Arenas and Crittenton deny using the guns in an argument, but give conflicting reports about what really happened.

Arenas says he had simply placed the gun out on a chair, thinking it would be funny after Crittenton had earlier joked about shooting Arenas' surgically repaired knee during their card game. Crittenton didn't think it was funny though, throwing the gun onto the floor and telling Arenas he already had one.

But Arenas also said, "I don't gamble. I don't do anything like that. If I owed money to someone, I think I'd pay it up."

Crittenton's agent added, "If you weren't in the locker room, I don't know how the heck you know what happened. I just find it very unfair in today's world the way people just run with a story without making sure they've got all their facts checked. I feel very confident that once the investigation is concluded that Javaris will be shown to have no wrongdoing."

Another report said that the two were simply comparing the firearms. Another said Crittenton started the argument.

Whatever the case is, there's bound to be heavy penalties for both players. Washington DC has some of the strictest gun laws in the nation, and Commissioner David Stern takes firearms more seriously than arguably any other aspect of NBA life. Arenas has already been suspended once for gun possession in 2004 by the NBA, and would appear to face even worse now that a police investigation is happening.

"There is an active investigation by D.C. law enforcement authorities, which we are monitoring closely," NBA spokesman Tim Frank said Friday. "We are not taking any independent action at this time."

Given the circumstances, the Wizards could even invoke the "morals clause" found in standard NBA player contracts and attempt to void the remainder of the six-year, $111 million deal Arenas signed in the summer of 2008.

The family of late Wizards' owner Abe Pollin released this statement:

"The situation involving an incident in the locker room is troubling to our family, our organization and our fans. We know our fans are frustrated and angry. The fact that guns were brought to the Verizon Center is dangerous and disappointing and showed extremely poor judgment.

"Guns have absolutely no place in a workplace environment and we will take further steps to ensure this never happens again. While the police investigation proceeds, we are limited in what we can say, but we want our fans to know that we will not rest until this situation is resolved and has come to a satisfactory conclusion."

For his part, Arenas still maintains a seemingly carefree attitude about it all.

"I'm a goof ball and that's what I am, so even something like this, I'm going to make fun of it and that's how I am," Arenas said. "Some people say I'm not taking it serious, but why be depressed at home when I can just make myself laugh?"

"We were friends before; we're friends now," Arenas said of his relationship with Crittenton. "We don't have no problem."

Now, if you thought that was weird....

Ron Artest sat out a week of games after "falling":

Artest finally spoke about the incident, which unsurprisingly didn't help anyone understand what actually happened.

Ron reportedly fell in his home Christmas eve, which must have been quite a tumble, because it left him with a concussion, a deep elbow cut, and memory loss.

Artest says he was carrying Christmas boxes into his house after returning home from Los Angeles' loss to Cleveland when he slipped near some steps and fell onto concrete. He blacked out for at least two minutes after the fall, and was eventually awakened by his wife, but couldn't remember who she was.

"My wife said I was asleep for two or three minutes," Artest said. "It took about an hour to get my senses back. I didn't feel it, that's the scary part."

Draft Watch:

There really isn't anything to report on this week except for John Wall's 16 assist game against Hartford so...

John Wall posted 9 points, 16 assists, and just a single turnover against Hartford this week.

Conference play begins now in college ball, and Georgia Tech and Syracuse are about to be facing a lot more competition in the next two months. So things will get interesting soon.

And now, of course, the Timberwolves.

The Minnesota Timberwolves announced they traded for Devin Brown, then acquired Alando Tucker:

As Stuart Scott would say: Wha ha happen....?

Here's the actual deal. Our Wolves traded Jason Hart to the Phoenix Suns for Alando Tucker, a conditional 2010 second round draft pick, and cash that basically pays for Tucker's contract this year. So we essentially acquired Tucker for....nothing. Not bad.

Of course, the initial announcement said the deal was for Hornets' guard Devin Brown...Kahn even had a prepared statement that was published.

"Jason has been the consummate professional during his time with us, but it was a rare opportunity to add a proven player with 3-point shooting capabilities that will help our offense. Devin should be a nice addition to our team defensively, as well. He has a reputation as a tough kid and hard-nosed defender."

But for that deal to happen, Brown had to reduce the amount of his 10% trade kicker, which he refused to do. Brown is currently the starting shooting guard for the Hornets with guaranteed minutes: he didn't want to leave that for an unknown situation if he didn't have to.

Soon after the news broke, Star Tribune writer Jerry Zgoda Tweeted "#Timberwolves website briefly had news of Hart-Devin Brown deal up, but Kahn texted and said it's not done. It's not there anymore"

Even Kurt Rambis was confused. "All I know is we were in conversations with teams," he said before the San Antonio game.

So why was Devin Brown announced as the trade acquisition anyway?

Ted Johnson, Timberwolves senior vice president for communications and chief marketing officer, said the release on Brown appeared on a "dead" Web page. Johnson explained that the team builds various Web pages in anticipation of breaking news. The Wolves, he said, never activated or published the page on Brown. But a freelance writer managed to find the page during a Google search.

"For some reason, the writer found the page," Johnson said. "We just don't know how that happened yet."

It's a very odd explanation with a big hole in it. I build an maintain a portfolio website myself, and I can say for certain that an unpublished web page is in no way accessible to anyone on the internet. It's like a picture that hasn't been uploaded. Hmmm...

The link itself in fact still exists, although it immediately redirects to the Wolves.com home page.

Kahn did change his statement to reflect the correct trade at least. "We are eager to have Alando join us this week. Everything we know about him is that he is a hardworking young man who has not had the opportunity for significant playing time. Finally, this was an opportunity for us to acquire a second-round pick in next year's draft which is another asset for our team."

For details on Tucker and the financial impact of the trade, check out Wyn's topic.

There's two things I will add as well.

1) The non-trade with the Hornets severely affects New Orleans' financial situation. The Hornets have been desperate to get under the cap with their current team proving to be uncompetitive. They practically gift-wrapped Rasual Butler for the Clippers over the summer, and are feverishly shopping Mo Peterson and James Posey. If they can't find a way to move them or Brown, reports are they might be forced to trade David West.

2) I have a video of Alando Tucker, which highlights something he definitely adds to the team.

Probably the closest player Tucker resembles is Bonzi Wells. Alando's not a great shooter, but he's strong, a good defender, and has a polished post game for a swingman. Watch at the 1:00 minute mark and you'll see what I mean.

Both Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant are/were fantastic post players. Not just in comparison to other guards...in comparison to anyone. It's a staple feature of the Triangle offense. In no way am I saying Tucker is Michael Jordan, but it will definitely be interesting to see how this new skillset is integrated into the offense. There's a lot of potential here.

It's been a long two season for Tracy McGrady.

And it looks like he's in for a third. Who knows if he'll be moved by the deadline, but his career in Houston is most definitely over. I'll keep watching this story...until next week...