Go back three years. We were all desperate. Yao had just went down. Our team was loaded with mediocrity with no end in sight. Older players with pretty much zero upside of turning into stars. Younger players that fit the bill of being very solid players. But more of just a part to a winning team other than star potential. So we sat back, and watched our team put together .500 seasons. Always with no draft luck and constantly getting the 14th pick in the draft. And always adding mediocre talent. Once again....no end in sight.... Then the Lockout happend. Smaller Market teams were tired of losing their star players. Tired of guys "teaming up". So the NBA put luxury tax penalties sky high. Bigger Market teams and teams with more than 2 stars were faced with a tall challenge of keeping cores together. Duril Maurie was licking his chops. Could there finally be light at the end of the tunnel? No quite. Murrey made some desperation moves and the start of free-agency. Asik and Lin. He took full advantage of the poison pill and back loaded deals so these big market clubs could not match. Luxury tax was going to be a killer. Everyone i knew laughed. Everyone on ESPN was thinking what is this team doing? Heck, even i wasnt so sure. I liked Lik and Asiks potential but 50 M over the course of three years? Seemed like we were back to square one. Adding guys that would never turn into stars. Adding mediocre to mediocre. And the end result would be another disapointment. And then OKC mashed the panic button. They were desperate. They knew that Harden would walk at the end of the year and they would get nothing in return after the contract talks had soured. They couldve ammnestied perkins. They couldve waited and listened to offers for Ibaka. But ultimately they decided to move harden, and the new CBA was in full swing. OKC being a small market could not afford to pay the outrageous luxury tax bill. They had to make a move. And thankfully for the City of Houston, our GM was waiting. Hes been waiting for a deal like this since Yao went down. Waiting to put him stamp on this team. He wanted everyone in Houston to know that he was doing whatever it took everyday to get that franchise changer. And it happend. With Harden in Houston, it seems he has elevated the games of Asik, Parsons, and Lin. Thats what superstars do. They elevate their teammates. Who knows where we would be if we still had Kmart, Scola, and some of the older guys. Who knows where Parsons, Lin and Asik would be currently as far as developing goes. Daryl Morey brought the excitement back to houston. Rockets basketball is back. And its here to stay. And for all of that we should be thankful. Thank you Daryl Morey
