In the Rockets Team Report, Murphy stirs the pot. Olajuwon might not finish career in Houston JANUARY 16, 2001 The Rockets have proved they can be competitive, but appear one player short of getting over the top. They showed that again Monday night in a 116-104 loss at Utah as they took the Jazz to overtime before falling. The question is, who is that player who can get the team over the hump? Is it Hakeem Olajuwon, who will soon be eligible to come off the injured list? Will he fit into Rudy Tomjanovich's new small-ball lineup? Or is it someone else? Those are the questions that are going to be asked with greater frequency over the next few weeks, especially as the trade deadline closes in. Teams all over the league are clamoring for a center, and the Rockets just happen to have a couple on hand. Well, on the injured list, but you know what we mean. So allow us to indulge in a bit of speculation here. While the Rockets aren't shopping Olajuwon around, you have to expect that the phone is ringing in the Rockets front office, with the big fella the subject of many of those calls. Don't think that the Atlanta Hawks aren't in the same situation, having to listen to call after call about Dikembe Mutombo. The Rockets (or the Hawks) would be the biggest kind of fools to not at least listen to the offers, especially with what appears to be a wide-open race to the NBA title this year. The Lakers aren't the machine that ripped through the league last season. While they were favorites from Day 1 last year, the Lakers have encountered the only team that could take them down this season -- themselves. So every other team in the league is looking at a golden opportunity to win a title, which means most of them will be willing to swing a big deal. Which means some of them will be making a move on Olajuwon, and give something substantial in return. It makes sense. For crying out loud, teams are begging Rik Smits -- the man who needed a team-issue hardhat during last year's Finals because he was getting dunked on so often -- to come out of retirement, so you have to believe that Olajuwon would be a hot topic whenever lustful GMs get anywhere near a phone. But Mutombo isn't practically a hometown kid, which is how many Houstonians feel about Olajuwon, who blossomed from skinny, awkward freshman to national phenomenon during his days at the University of Houston. So dealing a superstar of Olajuwon's stature is a tricky proposition at best, especially given his sparkling public image. As brilliant as Olajuwon has been on the court, he has been even more so off, giving to charities, establishing scholarships and investing his money in the community. Make no mistake, though, the Rockets have been just as good to Olajuwon. Indeed, the relationship between Rockets and Olajuwon has been symbiotic -- the team got back-to-back titles in 1994 and '95, and Olajuwon received fame and wealth far beyond anything he could have imagined back when he was playing soccer on a dirt field in Lagos, Nigeria. At this point in his career, Olajuwon would probably welcome a move. He had been eyeing retirement, but Olajuwon has since let it be known that he wants to play another season or two. Unfortunately, however, the Rockets have turned the corner and are looking at a future that features Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley, which is the way it should be. Despite his relatively advanced age, Olajuwon would be able to help a team that needs an inside presence, especially an Eastern Conference team. While he's not close to being the guy who personally carried the Rockets to the '95 title, Olajuwon is still capable of doing some damage on the court. He still has the tremendous fundamental footwork that allows him to get the separation to get his shot off, and he can still rebound reasonably well. And in the East, where just about every team starts a power forward in the middle (Antonio Davis in Toronto, Theo Ratliff in Philly, Marcus Camby in New York, Jermaine O'Neal in Indy, Brian Grant in Miami, Chris Gatling in Cleveland, Mark Pope in Milwaukee, Andrew DeClerq in Orlando and Kenyon Martin in New Jersey), Olajuwon would be a godsend. And for a contender, where he wouldn't have to pull the lion's share of the load, Olajuwon would be a great fit. In an ideal world, Olajuwon would retire while wearing the Rockets uniform, but the NBA is far from an ideal world. The Rockets have had opportunities to deal Olajuwon (remember Toronto?), but have showed admirable loyalty in a business that puts no value on sentiment. Other organizations would have posted him on E-bay and waited for the offers to pour in, but the Rockets -- and especially Rudy Tomjanovich -- place loyalty above everything else, and that is especially true in Olajuwon's case. Everyone -- Olajuwon included -- fully expected this season to be his last, and everyone was comfortable with that. But things change, and Olajuwon wants to continue his career. He should be free to do so, even if that means ending his career -- and possibly this season -- elsewhere. ------------------ We're going to stay together until something happens, if something happens. - Sidney Lowe on Shareef's career in Vancouver.
