When Tracy “T-Mac” McGrady suffered a season-ending knee fracture last year, most fans around the league thought that the Rockets would not be able to compensate the loss of their franchise cornerstone. However, Houston still made it to the playoffs and advanced to the Conference semi-finals before being eliminated in a six-game series by Kobe Bryant the Los Angeles Lakers. To make things even worse, All-Star center Yao Ming suffered another knee injury in said playoff series and will miss the entire 2009-10 season.

Thus, it appeared to be a justified assumption that Rick Adelman’s squad would struggle to make it to the post-season in this year’s NBA campaign. Yet, the Rockets are right in the playoff mix with a 14-11 record and played remarkably well without their two stars. Unlike Houston’s medical staff had predicted, Tracy McGrady already recovered from his ACL injury and returned to the floor last week. Throughout his career, the 6-8 shooting guard averaged 22.0 points, 6.1 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Surprisingly, the Rockets’ front-office appears to be more interested in trading T-Mac than benefiting from his play on the court and his $21 million ending contract. But, as of now, the franchise has received very few offers that could be considered viable options. Especially the New York Knicks and Chicago Bulls seem to be keen to acquire McGrady, but neither team has any pieces available that might fit into the Rockets’ system of play. Therefore, it remains to be seen whether former All-Star Tracy McGrady stays in Texas or will eventually be shipped out. Ultimately, Houston is willing to let him go for the right deal, but would most likely prefer to keep his ending contract themselves if no promising offer is on the table.

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