McGrady and the Detroit Pistons have agreed to a $1.3
million, one-year contract, a person familiar with the negotiations told The
Associated Press on Tuesday. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity
because the deal hasn’t been announced.
McGrady, a seven-time All-Star and two-time scoring
champion, has played just 65 games the past two seasons with Houston and New
York because he had major surgery on his left knee in the middle of the 2008-09
season.
The 6-foot-8 wing drew some interest from teams this summer,
including the Chicago Bulls, before choosing to play for Detroit.
Now, the Pistons might have a greater sense or urgency to
trade Richard Hamilton or Tayshaun Prince to fix their logjam on the perimeter.
The 31-year-old McGrady averaged 8.2 points last season, his
lowest-scoring season since 1997-98 when he was a rookie with the Toronto
Raptors after skipping college. Just two years ago, though, he averaged 21-plus
points for the eighth time in his career.
If McGrady accepts his role, likely as a reserve, he could
prove to be a bargain playing for the veteran’s minimum even if he doesn’t
approach his career scoring average of 21.5 points.
“I’ve made a lot of money over my career and I could retire
right now and I could be fine financially,” McGrady said in February after he
was traded by the Rockets to the Knicks while making $23 million in the last
year of his contract. “My kids can be fine when they get older. Money is not an
issue for me.”
McGrady, who is from Bartow, Florida, was drafted No. 9
overall in the 1997 draft by Toronto. He went to Orlando in a sign-and-trade
deal in 2000 and was dealt four years later to Houston.
His last healthy season was five years ago. He missed 34
games during the 2005-06 season with back problems, elbow and knee injuries led
to him missing 16 games two years later and microfracture surgery put his
career in jeopardy about 1 1/2 years ago.
If he’s relatively healthy, happy and effective for the Pistons,
McGrady will provide a boost for a team that missed the playoffs this year for
the first time since 2001 with its worst record since 1995.
Meantime, LeBron James’ homecoming game is set for Dec. 2.
The NBA’s 2010-11 schedule sends James and the Miami Heat to
Cleveland that night for the MVP’s first game in Ohio as the visitor.
Fans who watched the kid from Akron turn the Cavaliers into
one of the league’s best teams were irate when James went on national TV last
month to announce he was leaving as a free agent.
The league unveiled its full schedule Tuesday after
releasing portions of it a week ago. The Heat’s first game, on Oct. 26 at
Boston, and first matchup with the defending champion Lakers on Christmas had
already been announced.
The Lakers and Celtics will meet for the first time since
Game 7 of the NBA finals on Jan. 30 in Los Angeles. The rematch in Boston comes
on Feb. 10.
Chris Bosh , who like James went to Miami to form an
All-Star trio with Dwyane Wade , will face his old fans for the first time when
the Heat visit Toronto on Feb. 16.
