My mouth always waters at the mention of the trade-that-wasn't. Trade Ralph (and avoid the unfortunate career collapse) while getting Clyde and MJ (via draft) in return? GOAT/Dream/Glide could have derailed the Celtics, Lakers and Pistons throughout the late '80s.
I'm always mad about that Marcus pick over Kawhi! I seriously think we picked him at 14 just to be cute, and have him picked right next to his twin. Who the F cares. Been 7 years, and I don't think I'll ever get over that pick
This. So this. Look at all the kids playing in the Royce White/Draymond Green sandbox. They are so cute.
I'll never forget the night Morey took Morris over Leonard. When Leonard slipped to the Rockets' pick, I couldn't believe their luck. And then I heard Marcus Morris' name... I had a very stiff drink that evening and was vocally about as upset by a draft pick as I've ever been in any sport I've ever followed. In a career full of resounding successes, Morey has very few black marks on his record. But that's probably the biggest one.
I got over the Morris over Kawhi pick a long time ago...people acting like they knew Kawhi would be a superstar...
Haven’t chimed in a while, but this is a topic worthy. Everyone passed on Draymond, picking that is 100% hindsight. Morris over Kawhi is more of the same, Morris was a top 10 pick that fell, B12 player of the year and one of the collegiate elite scorers with a sweet stroke. Kawhi was a good defender with a poor offensive game and projected to go in the 20’s. 100% hindsight. CPHamstrung is fresh, and worthy of an ‘other’ selection. But those talking about the trade that wasn’t is by far the answer. The Rox might have 10-12 Rings over that timeframe, and we’d have the Media in our pockets instead of all these other cities not named LA or Boston, which means we’d have the players from 2k on wanting to be here. Who knows the stroke we’d have now.
I voted "something else". Trading key part of our 95 title team (Horry Cassell) and getting Barkley back (looked good on paper at the time). Seriously, we win back to back then dump key parts of that team? Also, that same year, we move to the Pijama uniforms. I'd like to rewind that too.
Every Clutchfan and his mom wanted the Rockets to draft Kawhi once he fell past Detroit who took Drummond that year. Just a huge case of Morey overthinking that one.
Drafting Kawhi for sure. Marcus had more hype out of college but this is what I would change. Not sure Draymond would be the same player if he wasn't given the opportunities he had in GS. The system and being surrounded by all time shooters really shapes him IMO.
Honestly I didn’t know about this until Clutch mentioned it or tweeted about it recently. Help me out here it was Portland offering the 2 overall and Clyde for Ralph Sampson right?
Not sure it works like this but I’d give T-Mac and Yao decent health. 2008 Morey with two prime superstars and before the league caught up on analytics
We don't know for sure if Clyde was part of the package but it would have made sense because Ralph was a bona-fide sure thing first round pick. We also could have drafted Clyde the year before but drafted McCray instead.
The MJ/Dream/Clyde scenario sounds good in theory, but you never know how players are going to mesh and developed together. The Cassel/Horry experiment worked, and it worked damned well!!! We had a chance at a Dynasty... ....... ....... .......
[Chicago Tribune - June 26, 2007] Sam Smith - Draft deal stranger than '1984' Olajuwon says he, Jordan, Drexler could have been Rockets teammates [...] But there was the other thing that has been long rumored. It has been something of an NBA fable, and Olajuwon even mentioned it in his autobiography, "Living the Dream." Olajuwon claimed the Rockets had an offer from Portland -- which wanted the more talented high-post center (Bowie) -- to trade Sampson for the No. 2 draft pick and the chance to draft Jordan. It was the birth of the so-called "Twin Towers" era, and the Rockets did get to the NBA Finals in 1986, losing in six games to Boston. But it was clear Olajuwon was the superior low-post center and he was the sure keeper. Olajuwon wrote that the deal would have been Sampson for the No. 2 pick and Drexler. "From 1984 until today (1996), the Rockets could have had a lineup with me, Clyde Drexler and Michael Jordan, developing together, playing together, winning together. But the Rockets never made the move." Ramsay said he never heard of such discussions and that general manager Stu Inman handled trade talks. Inman died recently. Fitch, who lives in Houston and New Mexico and remains one of the great coaches in league history, insists the Rockets were committed to keeping Olajuwon and Sampson. ----- -----
