Paul Jones

Paul Jones is the voice of the Raptors on the FAN 590 and writes regularly for Sportsnet.ca.

The Raptors get back at it Friday night against the New York, a very new look Knicks team with Tracy McGrady in the lineup as he auditions for next season.

The Raptors are hoping to have Chris Bosh in the lineup but the reason that he may not play has nothing to do with a previously injured wonky ankle. He missed this morning's shoot because of a stomach ailment and is a game time decision. The same is true for Hedo Turkoglu who turned his left ankle on Monday night in Houston during the second quarter and did not return following the halftime break. Two of the other walking wounded will be back in the mix as Jose Calderon (elbow laceration) and Andrea Bargnani (stomach virus) have been deemed healthy.

But let's get back to McGrady and the Knicks for a minute. It's not just the Gotham brigade that T-Mac is auditioning for next season. He's already said that if he is back in the Big Apple he will help recruit LeBron James to ply his trade with Madison Square Garden as his home base and I suppose if he's back, he'd help recruit any player to help them win. T-Mac would be a good pick up for any team if he can still contribute. It sure sounds like he's going through that 'reflection phase' that all players go through as their time in the league wears on and they can see the end of the ride.

You know what I mean, a guy has made enough money and now he just wants to win, or in Tracy's case, win a playoff series having never been out of the first round of the post-season tournament. If he can accept a lesser role and still get it done, he's always a dangerous guy to have on the floor.

The other issue in New York recently seems to be the whispers about Mike D'Antoni and the losing record. Really folks, did you expect him to win with a team that is really playing for next year? It just reinforces the old adage of 'what makes a good coach? Good players'. D'Antoni didn't suddenly get dumb. He just doesn't have the horses. The former Coach of the Year is the same guy that had 29 wins with the Suns, and with a key piece in the off-season, engineered the fourth largest turnaround in NBA history posting 62 wins the following season.

It will be interesting to see how things shake down this summer with the Knicks having only four salaries on the books for next season. It's one thing to have money but another to get top line players to take it if they don't see a winning situation. Remember the post-Jordan era Bulls? If players don't see potential to win, they're not coming and it's a lot of pressure, in North America's top market, on one player without a running mate. McGrady was one of those guys that used the Bulls to get the Orlando Magic to up the ante before ending up in the Magic Kingdom. I think he knows what the Knicks are up against this summer.

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Speaking of the aforementioned LeBron James, he filed the papers to change his number from 23 to 6 to honour Michael Jordan. I love that the 'king' has a sense of history, even though it is a bit shallow, and I don't fault him because he's not that old. But no one player is bigger than the game as it keeps moving forward and new stars emerge. If you would like to see how I felt about it the first time, you can take a look right here.

But you won't get an argument from the other players. Why? Because, when LBJ makes the shift, there will be a whole lot more jerseys sold and not all that money goes to the man with the Midas touch. The money goes into a big pot and is split up amongst all the players.