OT was a top of the line role player. He did his job. He was as strong as an ox, excellent post defender, finished everything around the basket, and he ran the floor. I thought he was the perfect compliment to Dream. He was an intrical part of our team and our first championship. Without him we probably wouldn't have beaten the Knicks. His toughness was needed more than ever in that series. We got a hall of fame caliber player in return for Thorpe, although Clyde was a little past his prime. Clint won't net us a player of Clyde's caliber. I didn't want to turn this into a random trades thread so I didn't offer up a specific trade proposal ( I have many ). I'll let the random trades thread hash those out for now. The Thorpe trade was emotional. I wasn't sure about it when it happened. But it was the right move. We gave up a beloved bedrock of our team, because we had issues in other areas that needed to be fixed. Vernon was tripping and we needed another consistent scorer. It also lead to moving Horry to the 4 which was beyond brilliant in hind sight. We now had a legit #2 scoring option and we were able to spread the floor with 4 shooters around Dream. I want Harden surrounded by the best defenders/shooters that Clint's money can buy. It would take a gutsy trade. It would help if the owner was as committed as Morey. We already have a #2 in Russ. We lack championship level consistently from our front court as well as our bench. We need defense first, and I would prefer better shooters. I hope that's not to vague.
If Tilman request a Kevin Love for Capela swap, Morey should fire him on the spot for the good of the franchise.
Otis was like P.J. Tucker.... Except taller stronger and literally better at everything but shooting the 3 ball Rocket River
Excellent post. Otis averaged a double-double with ease. His hands were huge, his outlet passes legendary. A basketball was like a softball in those hands. Truly a Rockets legend. I hated the trade, and loved getting Clyde. For UH/Guy Lewis/Phi Slama Jama fans, like me, the trade was a psychic nightmare. Otis was an All Star for us 2 seasons before the championship. If he was a role player, and I think he was a bit more than that, he was elite. I think Clyde was the only player we could have traded Otis for, a player who was a key part of that first championship and who didn’t miss a game that season, that I was truly excited to get. Over the Moon and still very conflicted. I have a very difficult time imagining trading Clint and getting an impact player at a level comparable to Clyde, or Otis. I’ve been out of town on vacation, or I’d say more about a lot of the stuff happening lately.
I loved OT but was ok with the trade at the time because it reunited Dream with Clyde. The one that really pissed me off was trading Horry and Cassel for Barkley.
I hated the trade, but they had to do something the way Seattle punked us in 1996. Seattle looked unbeatable, and Dream was aging quickly. I understood the move, and to some degree it worked (if not for that damned Stockton shot).
Yeah so they traded for another aging guy who, to be fair they couldn't have known, would get far and slow his game down after we made the WCF only once. (Listening to Eugene Peterson in the radio saying "backing it in, backing it in, banking it in..." 50 times a game was brutal.) Meanwhile Will Smith wins rings with two other franchises.
