"Title contender" status or bust. The Rockets weren't gonna do $**t in the playoffs anyway. They're just a mediocre team and always have been. I'm looking forward to the draft and beyond that.
We need you to buy the Team and change the logo back to classic and theme song and bring back Turbo and Calvin.
Kind of feels like the Astros. Limbo. At least the case with the Astros, they are finally developing young talent.
This season was not a total fail. The emergence of Dragic (assuming we can resign him) means we have a huge trade asset in Lowry, combined with the 14th and 17th picks to throw in. I think this summer we finally succeed in making the big splash trade for a star. Adding the second round steal of Parsons to the mix, plus another potential steal in DMo, and we can end up with an exciting roster for next year.
I can't tell you how excited I'd be if Les announced he were selling the team. The franchise needs a jolt of new energy.
How long would you watch a team that sucks with a top three player? one year? three years? five years? ten years? People seem to think that tanking and getting a high pick will result in a quick turnaround. Some teams do this and they suck for many many years.
And don't forget the argument that tanking would hurt Martin's value. Oh boy, what a season. Les-More wasted the perfect opportunity to tank, and the disturbing part is that they might stubbornly plow ahead and make the same mistakes next year. No one should make the mistake of assuming that Les will finally get a clue.
I totally agree with this and have been saying this kind of stuff for the last 3 years. We need to do that "KA-POW" move that either results in a huge gain for the team or a meteoric implosion of the team into total suckyness ala Bobcats. I say we trade the WHOLE team, meaning EVERYONE, and make room to sign Dragic and Lee in the off-season. Keep Chandler Parsons as we'll never get equal value for him, UNLESS the other team insists on having him part of any major deal. Orlando is in total mediocrity right now, I am sure an offer of Lowry, Martin, Patterson, Camby, Dalembert, Scola, Budinger, Morris, can surely get us a star. In fact, I'd trade the WHOLE LOT for Dwight Howard leaving it to be only DH12 with a bunch of scrubs. 2012 after the summer Dragic / Llull Lee / Scrub Parsons / Rookie Morris / Rookie Howard / Motiejunas I'd run with that. That's not a bad team, and it would save Dragic and Lee from walking away for nothing. That team will at least be watchable, and we will for sure get a top 10 pick with that in the WC.
This. This. And This. I think any basketball knowledgeable person saw at the beginning of the season that baring some magic trade we would be right where we are at - fighting for a playoff spot. This team's objective should be winning a championship - not getting in the playoffs. This team was not and is not built for a championship. I would have rather traded Martin and Scola, not sign Dalembert, give consistent minutes to the rest of the team and see what turns dirt into diamonds. But we are Rocket fans so even in our disagreement of what we should be doing, we sigh, take a breath and move on to continue to support because that is what fans do. So here we are. As the OP pointed out, we wasted an open opportunity and we are in no better shape or even worse shape than we were before the start of the season. Les needs to do the fans a favor and either change his philosophy or sell the team to someone willing to pay the price. Trust me, the real fans will support them even more.
and if the Magic runs with Lowry / Nelson Martin / Richardson Turkoglu / Budinger Scola / Patterson / Big Baby Dalembert / Camby / Earl Clark that team is top 3 in the East
WAY TO GO MCHALE!!! You pretty much single handily ruined our season with your dumbass small line up of Scola and Patterson playing PF/C. Patterson has sucked all year and you should see that on the court.
Making the playoffs would have been an over achievement for this time, although I feel the trade for Camby did make us a for sure thing for the playoff It's funny when we would go on a 3 game winning streak and you'd hear everyone crying for a playoff push, I even had a lot finals talk. The reality is this team is just not that good. Like the OP said, you know we're going nowhere when talks of real free agent talent is laughable if you propose a trade to Houston.. For the last 3 off seasons we have our eye on second rate "stars" and we aren't even able to land them. The most annoying part? All the tank/anti-tank threads, as if anti-tankers actually believe to themselves not tanking will help this team. It just goes to show people care more about the short term then long term. They want to see a first round exit? Float around maybe 6th seed? I understand there's a low chance to draft a superstar and turn it around, but that's your ONLY chance! Unless you're happy being mediocre and some fans here clearly are. Well I'm not happy being mediocre. I want to be among the playoffs talks. No, I want to be among the contender talks. I want to have a top 5 player we can dream of making the HOF one day. I want a franchise player that represents the city. The bottom line is this year was a sad, sad example of the Rockets organization not even knowing what they're doing. A mixture of young and veteran players (we love Scola but really what is he doing here?) fumbling between playoffs and lottery picks..
