AP source: Pistons, McGrady agree to 1-year deal

[August 11, 2010]  DETROIT (AP) -- Tracy McGrady is getting a chance to rejuvenate his career with a team hoping for a rebound of its own. 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, Fla., 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.

[Associated Press; By LARRY LAGE]

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