Dalembert for McGrady Deal Rumors Circulating

By DAN STAMM

Updated 1:45 PM EST, Wed, Jul 1, 2009

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The Sixers might look into sending center Samuel Dalembert and his $23.6 million contract to the Houston Rockets in exchange for injured forward Tracy McGrady and the remaining year of his $23.2 million deal, according to a report on Delaware Online.

The deal would make sense because it would give both teams what they needed.

The Rockets would get a big man to replace superstar center Yao Ming who faced a career-threatening foot injury. While the Sixers would get a superstar to help sell some tickets (if he ever plays) who's deal expires at the end of the season.

The Sixers also seem to want nothing to do with Dalembert and questions remained about how the center would fit into head coach Eddie Jordan's scheme.

Of course players like Sixers guard Willie Green and Rockets point guard Aaron Brooks could be thrown in on either side to make the money match and the deal more attractive.

But, this could all just be rumor.

The fact that Samuel Dalembert gets a 15-percent trade kickback (about $3.6 million) has caused teams to balk at dealing for the Sixers center in the past.

It's also far-fetched to assume that McGrady can even play. He sat out much of last season and the playoffs with a serious micro-fracture knee injury that could keep him out until at least the All-Star break, according to reports.

Do the Sixers view Dalembert so poorly that they would trade for a guy who might never wear their uniform? It wouldn’t be the first time they traded a maligned player for an expiring deal -- they did it when they acquired Jamal Mashburn for Glenn Robinson in 2005.

And, who would even play center if the deal went down? Let's not forget that the Sixers would be asking 7-footer Jason Smith (coming off a missed season due to injury) to start at center if Dalembert was traded -- that's a lot to ask.

Some local bloggers summed up how these things often go.

“Rumors circulating around the Internet says a Sammy Dalembert and Willie Green for Tracy McGrady deal could be a possibility. Mr. Rabbit [Hip Hop] is quite excited about the prospect of McGrady's expiring contract coming to the Illadelph,” wrote the700Level.com.

So let’s leave this in the rumor bin for now and hope that they Sixers put their focus on getting someone to play point guard next season so that first-round pick Jrue Holiday doesn’t immediately need to start.