The Rockets' Approach This Offseason Might Not Involve Using Cap Space

Yao Ming a once in a generation hall of famer? Hardly. Bill Russell, Oscar Robertson, Julius Erving, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwan, Tim Duncan - those are once in a generation hall of famers. Yao Ming was a nice player with the potential of joining that group had he managed to stay healthy. As such he's closer to Sam Bowie and Greg Oden which is unfortunate because he was such a nice guy. And as for that big trade of a decade - the one where CD and Les believed that standing Tmac next to Yao was the formula for success, yeah that was once in a decade alright.

 

I thought I just did.

 

I agree that there has been no consistent discernible strategy except "shuffling" assets. As you say there has been no continuity in coaches, players, or anything else. It is like their one great idea was pairing Yao with TMac, and when that didn't pan out they are out of soap. I frankly have no idea how they are going to get out of the pickle they are in, but of this I am certain, they are going to be looking at a boatload of empty seats if they don't get another "big" idea and soon.

 

Their idea, or rather their need, after pairing Yao and TMac was to replenish the roster around them with limited resources. Having traded 3 starters for McGrady, they had to fill in the roster with scrubs aging vets like Barry, Wesley, Juwan Howard, Bowen, Sura, etc. This was what Morey was hired to do, and he did a good job at obtaining guys like Artest, Battier, Scola, Brooks, Landry, Lowry, etc. The injuries and early end to McGrady and Yao's careers ultimately doomed that plan.

After that, the plan is either find another star or putting the team in position to do so in terms of cap room, draft picks, etc. They did so by eating salary for draft picks, signing players to short-term contracts that are easy to trade (Dalembert's for example). It hasn't worked out yet and it's frustrating, but this kind of stuff take years to accomplish. It took the Lakers 4 years to replace the Magic/Worthy team with the Shaq/Kobe team, and then it took them 3 more years to get from Shaq/Kobe to Gasol/Kobe. This is about the bare minimum amount of time that it takes to recover from the loss of stars from a 50+ win team. On the other hand, remember the "Larry Bird isn't walking through that door" Celtics? After the loss of Bird/McHale, it took them more than a decade to become a 50+ win team again.

 

It's frustrating but OTOH, the chances Moray has taken have not saddled the team in any significant way in terms of cap space or loss of picks.

 

And that one great idea was doomed from the start because they had no plan on how to build a team around around those two. About the only good thing to come from that trade was that it's given Morey a 6 year grace period in terms of having to produce. No, I agree with Clutch: It's time to pick a direction and commit to it. If they TRULY feel that McHale is indeed "the one", then rebuild the team with the kind of players he needs to succeed - don't just keep shuffling through players in the hope that someday one of them may actually pan out.

 

If they had "limited resources" to replenish the roster as you point out it was due to actions of Carroll Dawson. I firmly believe that trade was ill conceived seeing as how much it tore the team apart just to get McGrady. It was universally accepted here that CD was the right person to replenish the roster when in fact his track record since the championship years would indicate otherwise. By the time Morey showed up, the die had been cast and the unexpected injuries destroyed the rationale for making that trade.

I generally agree with what you say here except that as late as 2009, Morey was still following the CD gamplan when he traded for Artest. It took Yao's last injury in 2010 to drive the final nail into that coffin. And yes, rebuilding can take years even decades if it's not done right. Seattle - now OKC - last won a title in 1979. Golden State won in 1975. The Washington Bullets won in 1978. The Rockets appear to be on track to joining them and that is what frustrates long time followers such as myself. It is a hard thing to be patient when you see them making the same mistakes over and over again while following in the footsteps of teams like GS & Washngton.

 

I think what he meant was that getting a player of Yao's caliber doesn't happen very often and that we should have some context about how often those players are acquired.

Why wasn't that a great formula for success? CH explained why it didn't work out, but I'm pretty sure pairing a pure scorer and play making wing next to low post beast is a good combo in the NBA.

 

1. I don't think Morey was following the Dawson game plan. Dawson overpaid and gambled on the wrong guys (Cato, Swift, Griffin, Mo Taylor, Moochie, etc.). Morey was much more mindful of the cap implications of his moves and did a much better job finding productive players with low draft picks. The types of moves made under the two GMs are very much different.

2. I don't think the Rockets are following the footsteps of GS and Washington-- each of which spent most of their years being well under .500 over the last couple of decades. In fact, the kind of records and draft position that they have had would have made the pro-tanking folks happy.

If anything, the Rockets are trying to follow the footsteps of the post-Magic Johnson Lakers-- competing while looking out for a new star (which took them 4 years to find). This takes some luck of course, and an unlucky example of the post-Magic Lakers would be the post-Shaq Orlando Magic-- stayed competitive, cleared cap room, found 2 stars but one of them got hurt.

 

Yes, and I have commented on their differences in method in the past. In fact, I would have loved to have seen just how Morey would have filled in the team around Yao & Tmac. But as long as Yao was here, hurt or not, Morey was following CD's blueprint. That trade for Artest was nothing more than Morey swinging for the fences by adding another so-called star to play with Yao & McGrady. And that was the CD plan in its fullest. Unfortunately, while the types of moves under the two GMs may have been different, sadly, the results have turned out pretty much the same.

While the Rox are better than those two in terms of .500 records, the difference is minute when you consider that they are just good enough to be mediocre which leaves them trapped where they currently find themselves. However, in terms of how the years (and other teams) are passing them by, they very much remind me of those two teams.

Now that is an interesting perspective that I had not considered. I would counter that the post Magic Lakers started with a much better team in place than did the post Hakeem Rockets so we are in effect comparing apples to oranges. At any rate, the disparity in talent levels between the two teams would suggest that it is probably easier for a team like the Lakers who were one of the top teams in the NBA to pull off this type of strategy than it would be for a much less talented (and accomplished) team like the Rockets.

 

My plan is to draft the next Kobe in the double digits pick, and steal an all star from a team of idiots and then draft a top 5 Center with another double digit pick.

flawless! Playoffs here we come.

 

The best chance at a Kobe in this draft will be Terrence Ross. He should go anywhere between 12-16. Unlike most of the top 2's in this draft he has legit size. He is 6'7'' 200 lb's and a killer shooter/defender. Now being considered this low he does have weaknesses, his game at the basket is average right now, but that can be developed. He needs to put on some weight and strength too. He really should be playing at 210-215.

 

If you succeed in attracting Williams what do you do for a backup? Dragic won't sign here to come off the bench and Lowry will still be unhappy. I would love love love a Williams/Lowry PG rotation, but that's not very likely. Our best assets are our PGs at this point, do you ship out both to make room for Williams?

I think this gives us a legitimate shot at getting Dwight, so while it is risky, I think it is well worth it. As long as we don't have to do a sign and trade that loses most of our role players, I am all for going after Williams.