The Rockets are obviously interested in getting rid of Tracy McGrady and the Knicks are obviously interested in getting rid of Eddy Curry and clearing up the entirety of their 2010 free agent cap space. The only way this possibly works is if the Knicks can convince the Rockets of two things: 1) It will improve them this season. 2) There is a piece of the pie in the future that will be a nice shiny chip for them.
#2 is the easiest of the two options to convince the Rockets of. The Knicks could easily package a future first round pick or give them one of the following: Gallinari, Jordon Hill, or Wilson Chandler (22 years old averaging 13.7 per game). The Knicks would likely part with Hill over the others but Hill won't help for option 1 while Chandler or Gallinari would.
To do 1, without giving up Gallinari, Lee or Chandler, the Rockets must think that getting either Larry Hughes, Al Harrington or a combination of Chris Duhon/Jared Jeffries could improve their team. This might be a stretch so the Knicks would likely be forced to give up on Gallinari, Chandler or David Lee. Lee would obviously be the biggest help to the Rockets but since he's signed a 1 year deal, the Knicks would need his permission to go through with the deal. Lee seemingly wants to play for the Knicks, but would he be accepting for a 5 month rental and a chance to play in the playoffs for a first time? Then he could test the free agent market in 2010 when cap space is prevalent? Perhaps. Giving up Lee would also give the Knicks a chance to dump Jared Jeffries which would completely wipe their 2010 cap space clean while not exactly crushing the Rockets 2010 space.
One deal or another this seems like the best and possible only opportunity for the Knicks to dump off Eddy Curry's contract. The Rockets want to get better and have a 26$ million dollar player coming off the cap that they no longer want. The Knicks can get rid of Curry while still providing the Rockets with improvement now and in the future. The Knicks will just have to be willing to get rid of at least one of their young contributing players and the clean slate dream could be a reality.
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