[CHRONIC] Rockets players cite re-signing Dragic as No. 1 priority

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As the Rockets assessed the damage of a wrecked playoff goal that renders tonight’s season finale meaningless, they hoped they would at least learn from the painful lessons.

The problem with that desire is that they might not be together long enough to put those lessons to use.

With the potential for widespread changes clear, Rockets players followed Wednesday’s final practice of the season by suggesting better times are ahead — if they can stay together and particularly if free-agent point guard Goran Dragic is re-signed.

“I like the guys we have on this team,” said center Marcus Camby, who will also be a free agent. “I like our nucleus. I think it’s important for us to bring Gogi back. He’s a big part of what we’re doing around here.”

Asked again whether the Rockets should stay the course, Camby again made a case for Dragic.

“I’ve been around long enough to understand the business aspect, but I like the pieces we have,” Camby said. “Bringing back Dragic is key.”

Said Luis Scola: “We need him back. He’s very important, I believe.”

Keeping Dragic won’t be easy. He said he considers the Rockets at the top of his list of teams, but he also wants to be a starter. He took over the starting position only when Kyle Lowry went out with a bacterial infection, making both guards’ roles next season, if they’re still with the Rockets, uncertain.

“Of course I want to be a starter,” Dragic said. “That was my goal. I was working hard for that. I’m going to go home, take a break a little bit, talk to my family, with my agent, and bring a decision what is going to be best for me. Of course, one reason is to play a lot of minutes to develop my game even more.

“I was working for that moment … for four years in the NBA, trying to establish my name here in the league and someday to be a starter, to lead the team. I’m really happy what happened. It’s still my goal. Houston Rockets a great organization, great people, great city.”

Told of Camby’s comments, Dragic said he appreciated the endorsement, as he did when the Rockets rallied around him when Lowry was hospitalized March 8 with a bacterial infection.

“That means a lot,” Dragic said. “Especially when Kyle went down, I was surprised that all teammates, they come together, they give me that role where I can be a leader. Marcus has been in the league 16 years. When that player says something like that, it means a lot to me. Hopefully in the future, we’re going to be together.”

Despite the late-season swoon, the Rockets’ other free agents — Camby and Courtney Lee — felt the same way.

Coach Kevin McHale said improvement must come “from within,” whether there are roster changes or not.

“You always have to add talent,” McHale said. “That’s the way this league is. Then you have to develop the guys you have. You develop from within and hopefully add pieces that mesh. The bottom line is we’ve got to get better. Our goal was to make the playoffs. We didn’t do that.”

To Lee, the Rockets’ late-season fade, with losses in seven of eight games heading into Thursday’s finale against the Hornets, was painful. But it’s his hope this season’s team will be together to make amends next season.

“Hopefully, that will never happen again,” Lee said. “If I’m here next year or the team is the same next year, we can just pick up the pieces and know how that felt to not make the playoffs when we were so close.”