What do you guys think was the worst transaction the Red and Gold ever made? Personally #1 I hated the trade for Barkley--sacrificing our future for a selfish old vet who failed to lead 2 very talented teams to a championship. He was an interesting character but he ruined team chemistry and influenced Clyde's early departure. I thought it was a hasty decision. Other moves I hated were of course Cheavous and the firing of Don Cheaney which ultimately worked itself out beautifully. Enough with my venting--dig in....
I love the trade for Barkley. It woke up the team and the city. I always like trading lazy players (like what Horry became) for fierce competitors and the epitome of team player and true determination and willingness to go for the ball with disregard for personal injury. Horry became a pretty boy looking to avoid injury. imo, the trade was just Sam Cassell for Barkley, if you want to talk about sacrificing the future. Barkley brought chemistry to the team, and inspired Kevin Willis to join us for very cheap. Drexler was a known whiner all his career. Dream was not void of complaining, but had a right, too. Blaming Barkley for Drexler's fragile, whining character resurfacing is rewriting history, imo, and is bias against loud mouths. Personally, I have no respect for politicians like Drexler who try to invent charisma. All role players love Barkley. Superstars who can't get along is a two-way street...Drexler takes blame for that loss of chemistry, not Carroll Dawson. What pissed me off was the Pippen trade. I would have kept that ******* on the bench. That trade has strapped the Rockets with mediocrity versus just letting the jerk sit and stew. I would rather have waited it out and gotten Juwan Howard or Anfernee Hardaway or some other bloated, single contract rather than a hodge-podge collection of no names.
Actually, we could have had Hakeem, Michael Jordan and Clyde Drexler. The year we drafted Ralph Sampson #1 we had the #3 pick as well -- we took Rodney McCray rather than Clyde, the hometown favorite. The following year, just after we drafted Hakeem, Chicago offered the #3 (Jordan) and a couple of other players for Ralph Sampson. The Rockets (Fitch) declined. Of course, hindsight is always 20-20, but wouldn't that have been a special team?
in my opinion the Barkley trade helped us in the short term and eventually in the long term. Without Barkley we probably don't get Kevin Willis. Now if the Rocks had kept the old team like a lot of people wanted, we would have been stuck with an aging Dream and Clyde, and injury prone Horry, and an injury prone and constantly complaining Sam Cassell, and NO cap space. Instead, the Rockets made a good run with Charles, and THEN rebuilt on the fly, adding Francis, Mobley, Griffin, and Mo. Granted we have a bad contract with Cato, but I would take that over having a team that would be stuck in limbo like we would have with Horry, who is a shadow of himself, Dream, who is a shell of himself, a retired Drexler, and maybe a few role players. It would have been a nightmare rebuilding that team!
You are right NBA ... EN Beee Huh? .... whatever ... you are right anyway. There is a hindsight grimace by everyone intimately involved in those decisions. It is known as probably the biggest no deal ever to have been discussed. Fitch wanted to keep Ralph because (1) he thought he could get more good years out of him, whereas in reality Ralph was expended early in his career. He was beat up and hurting. His small lanky body was no match for the emerging BIG guys of the NBA. (2) .... basically Fitch was not innovative and this precluded that he would never have to change his game plan.(3) .... Fitch was not overly impressed with Jordan. Fact is, if they took Chicago's #3 there are intelligent forecastors who speculate then and now that the Rockets may have added hindsight insult to hindsight injury by NOT selecting Jordan having been given the opportunity. But man, what a team they would have made....
You really can't say that, enbehay (NBA? nice pun) If we had drafted Clyde, then we probably would have finished with more than 29 wins, which means that we probably wouldn't have gotten the first pick in the '84 draft and not drafted Hakeem. During the '84 draft, the Rockets probably would have said, "Well, we already have Drexler, so we don't need Jordan, who is also a shooting guard", so we probably would have drafted...Charles Barkley?? John Stockton?? Hmmm...Stockton to Clyde...that has a nice ring to it
Coulda woulda shoulda. Nobody, I mean nobody, can blame the Rockets for that decision. People predicted great things for Dream which all came true. Nobody predicted Air Jordan=6. Now what's interesting is the possibility that we could've had Dream and MJ. Wouldn't be too bad I suppose. But again, coulda woulda shoulda. It wasn't a BAD decision. It just turned out that one was a "better" decision only in hindsight 20/20. I think I'm going to invent a hindsight 20/20 machine and go rule the world. Wait by for my results... -krosfyah
A-Train, I thought the deal was trading Sampson for Drexler and a pick. The Portland #2 pick is then used on Jordan. So in one sweep, we get Dream, Jordan and Drexler in the same draft. When you look at that though, it makes sense what oeilpere says about the hindsight might not have picked Jordan after receiving Drexler (same position). We would have taken the best available PF instead. Barkley Hakeem, Drexler and Barkley as rookies.....oooh boy! Screw Jordan's iso game...we'd be PhiSlammaJamma from day one!
Amen. (Read the whole post for more.) Those of you who would rather have kept Cassell, Horry, Brown, and Bryant should be sentenced to watching that team -- or what was left of it after Cassell's and Horry's rookie contracts ran out -- play out the next four years.
When you go back in time, the future changes. Sooo...Clyde breaks his foot, sits out the year and the Rockets finish with the same record. What if... What if... What if.... The scenario is unending. However, those were the opportunities on those given days.
OH...I get it. So...... 1983 - We draft Clyde Drexler and Ralph Sampson 1984 - After drafting Hakeem, we trade Ralph Sampson for the #3 pick and those other two Chicago players. We draft Jordan, but then realize that we won't be able to fit those other two players on our roster, so we trade them to Utah for their pick that year at #16, with which we take John Stockton. Of course, Stockton's assist numbers are extremely high in his rookie season due to so many scoring threats. We figure, "Hey, we should trade with the Jazz again!" so... 1985 - we trade our pick plus John Lucas and Lewis Lloyd to the Jazz, where we select Karl Malone! Olajuwon Jordan Drexler Stockton Malone Then, we win every NBA title from 1986 to 1998
Then it will take us 30 years to rebuild the team once these greats get old or retire (which they are in either category as of now).
I have thought about that as well. But according to a poster who has spoken out about this topic, Rocket's execs were holding two jerseys at the 1984-1985 draft(When the deal was still on the table and actively being discussed):Jordan and Olajuwon. That seems kind of fishy, but if indeed it was true, then we would have had MJ. Also, I would think that if the Rockets did skip the MJ route, then they would have drafted Sam Bowie, and not Chuck. They could have Clyde and the twin towers.
