OK, I hate starting a new thread about a topic that's been done to death, but here is the way I see the Hakeem situation. When a team rebuilds so quickly (as the Rockets did), it is inevitable that eventually the vets are gonna get tossed out, and subsequently they are going to feel rejected. First Drexler retired, then we got rid of Willis (who we traded to Tor for Roy Rogers), then we got Pippen, and then got rid of him and took on 'potentially good players' with Cato, Wizard, Los, Augmon, Gray and Shaw. We then got rid of Augmon, Gray and Shaw. And signed Cato to a massively big contract, for he was going to be the answer when Dream retired nobelly as a Rocket. That offseason we also signed Shandon Anderson, and aquired Steve Francis. The last remaining vets we had on the team were Chuck and Dream. Chuck always had the option of going elsewhere because he was a free agent, but chose to stay with the Rockets. And Dream was signed until the end of the 2000-01 season, which was when he would have two choices: a)Stay on as a Rocket, or b) Retire as a Rocket. So much for those two choices! As it turned out, our new team had a great chemistry, and the addition of Mo Taylor did more good than harm. So forth came the 'Younger, faster, more exciting Rockets'. Ofcourse this pissed Dream off (Chuck had blown his knee out and retired), and he then took us on a roller coaster ride- asking to be traded, then saying he liked the team, then saying that you can't play without going through post players, etc... Then, as the season ended and the offseason began, Dream kept us hanging by a thread. Will he, or won't he? was the question on every Rocket fans lips. He turns down a 3 year contract by the Rockets, and blocks a trade to Toronto (which I thought it meant he wanted to come back), but then, low and behold, I wake up one morning and see that Hakeem has left the building. Now, lets trade for a decent centre, sign our free agents, and kick ass next season. So, I'll state my main point again- normally it takes a team ages to rebuild (look at the Clippers), but in the case of the Rockets it only took a couple of seasons. Of course our vets were going to get hurt and feel rejected, unfortunatly it turned out that Hakeem felt hurt and rejected. This is the longest post I've ever written, and it turned out to be more of a couselling session than anything!
