it doesn't matter that was an important trade. yet it's ok to put the Steve Francis trade that made us what? a lottery team? Barkley made us contenders, yes REAL CONTENDERS. like TWO GAMES FROM THE NBA FINALS. Did Steve Francis or Tmac do that? no.
For better or worse Charles was the hardest working man on the court. Hakeem and Clyde never matched his intensity or pace. Hakeem in 1997 was not Hakeem of 1994-1995. Clyde was pretty much done after 1996. He couldn't jump high anymore. Think about when Jordan started missing dunks on the Wizards in 2003...it was that bad watching him play.
It looks like we all define "best trade" differently. Maybe it'd be better if we all explain our picks with our definitions of the best trade.
Maybe we never win a championship if not for the Malone trade.Rockets drafted McCray with one of the picks from that deal.McCray traded for Thorpe.I don't think we win that first one without OT on the team.
Yeah, I had to go with mad max, although there were so many good options. For me the deciding factor was that he was a huge part of our championship team, we gave up absolutely nothing but a little cash, and he's one of the all-time rockets fan favorites.
Maybe it appeared that way to you,but I remember Barkley as a black hole that clogged the paint,while endlessly backing down opponents.I would have much preferred watching Hakeem do his thing,but he was usually on the perimeter as a spectator.It was a huge mistake to bring in another dominate post player to play beside Dream.
The best trade came in 95 when Hakeem traded his MVP trophy to David Robinson in exchange for Robinson's soul.
I picked the trade FOR thorpe & the 1st ring as the best, followed closely by the trade OF thorpe for Drexler & the 2nd ring. The trade for Barkley was also good in that Kevin Willis said he signed with us because we got Barkley. I also agree with emcitymisfit that we may have to include the Brad Miller for DMo trade in this discussion.
To leave out the Barkley trade is an insult to the intelligence of any Rocket fan... correction, any REAL ROCKETS fan. Look, I hate Pippen like every real Rocket fan, but if I had to put a poll of free agent acquisitions in Rockets history, I have to put him on that list. The Barkley hate by some fans is ridiculous.
when Drexler walked into the Summit right after the trade, and the entire place erupted...that is a moment I will never forget. I was jumping on furniture and bouncing off the walls. He, OT and Mad Max all had a hand in bringing us a Championship, but I had to put Clyde in first for one surreal moment as a kid.
spanoulis for scola was the greatest in terms of trading a player who was a net negative for a player who became one of the most loved and best producing. francis, et al for tmac, et al would be a close 2nd using that criteria.
Tinman, if we had a prime Tracy McGrady on our 2sun championship squads instead of Scott Brooks, do you think we still would have won?
