If you could add one former Rocket not named Hakeem

Young Moses was an athletic freak, not the plodding type of guy you saw later in his career in Philly.

Healthy Sampson was just an amazing player, he would fit perfectly on any team in today's NBA.

 

That's easy....

Spoiler

BeWell (a.k.a. Royce White)

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Moses cleaning the defensive and offensive boards on a team like our which sadly lacks that right now. Moses getting the defensive board and throwing outlet passes or handing it to Harden or EG to start the fast breaks.

 

Moses cleaning the defensive and offensive boards on a team like our's which right now sadly lacks that. Moses getting the defensive board and throwing outlet passes or handing it to Harden or EG to start the fast breaks or scoring in the low block at will.

 

Because he got hurt so early in his career, some of you youngsters do not realize how ahead of his time and talented Ralph was as a player. He was Durant-like long before Durant was born.

He would be amazing in today's game.

 

Otis Thorpe

Great rebounder, great outlet passer, knew how to get open underneath the basket

 

Yao. He was once a technical foul shooter for the team. Barkley kissing the sheep is all you need to know about Yao.

 

I think the poll results are being skewed by the age distribution of active posters.

 

No doubt. If I had to rank them in order (and I'm assuming they are all rookies and have a clean bill of health):

1. Moses Malone: three-time MVP is three-time MVP
2. Tracy McGrady: I think he could guard 1-4 in the modern NBA
3. Ralph Sampson: Sampson was unique in that he could dribble like a guard and shoot. I believe he'd be able to hit the 3 if he were enterting the nba today. Can you imagine a 7'3 player who can run, dribble and pass like a guard but also post up?
4. Yao: I worry about his ability to keep up with the pace of modern small ball, but he was such a force that on the flip side it would be fun to watch the Dramond Greens of the world have to guard him.
5. Elvin Hayes: One of the all time greats! Big E could play in any era.
6. Clyde Drexler: I might put him higher on the list but he duplicates what Harden brings to the table the most. Still, put Dexler at small forward or leave him at shooting guard with Harden at the point! Devastating with today's rules! I think it would be superior to a Curry/Thompson combo even!
7. Dwight Howard: I wish I could rank him lower, but before his injuries he was a monster.
8. Robert Horry: Is it crazy that I rank Horry this high? Maybe but he was defensively elite and would be a perfect stretch 4 in the modern NBA. Hell, he was one of the original stretch 4s.
9. Charles Barkley - It seems like Chuck should be ranked higher but he wasn't committed to the defensive end and modern NBA rules wouldn't allow for him to post up and back back back it in like he did for much of his career. Still, he was a rebounding monster and a threat from 3 point land.
10. Calvin Murphy: I would LOVE to see what Murph could do with the modern rules concerning guards. Sure, he and Harden would be a seriously defensively challenged back court, but on the offensive end it would be a lot of fun.
11. Rudy Tomjanovich: Another guy I think could play small ball 4 in today's NBA and he was a 5 time all-star. He should probably be ranked above Calvin but in this guard oriented league I would just love to see what Calvin could do.
12. Dikembe Mutumbo: Deke moved quick enough to play with a run and gun team in his younger days and was always a defensive monster. He's basically what we wish Capela was.
13. Kyle Lowry: I'd rank him higher but he was such a slow starter. He was in the NBA for years before he was ready to make an impact. Still, at his prime he'd be pretty perfect to pair with Harden.
14. Steve Francis: Really, I'd rather have Matt Bullard than this over-rated, inefficient iso-guard. He was an incredible athlete but he wasn't built for the current nba rules. Back to Bullard - how fun would he be as a back up on the teams we've had in recent years? He was a deadeye shooter and we're shooting threes more than ever!

And I know, Calvin, Rudy, Chuck and Dikembe weren't among my options, but I think they should be.

 

Depends which year of Tracy and Yao. Assuming we can pick their best year, I'd go with Tracy. I understand the argument for Yao, though... Either player would probably help us quite a bit, but we are hurting more for true wing players right now, and Tracy could easily play any one of three positions for us. Plus, I'm not sure Yao could keep up with our pace. I believe Harden and McGrady could make beautiful music together.

 

Prime Moses.We need an athletic low post rebounding monster who can clean the offensive and defensive glass and score at will. Moses fits the bill and is a former MVP

 

Big Shot Bob.

He is the hero this team needs.

 

Malone. Could you imagine what he would do to Draymond, when he goes all involuntary leg spasm. Or Russ, when he pulls his free throw rebounding shtick. Moses would crush'em.

 

1. YAO
2. Horry
2b. Vernon
3. Sam Cassell

Rocket River
Edit!

 

Yao too slow for this league. Moses is tempting but don't think he would do a lot offensively in this style of basketball. TMac is a loser and a quitter.

Clear choice is Drexler. He is a do everything guard who can play defense and is comfortable with a fast pace. Rockets would be faves for the title putting a prime Drexler next to Harden.

 

Still Yao Ming, that PnR with him would be amazing and he could handle anyone in the middle by himself.

DD

 

He was talented no doubt but a guy like Draymond would always shut him down. Bill Hanzlik used to pull a Draymond and make Ralph meltdown. As soon as any one started getting physical with Ralph he became a different player.

 

Solid post. Drexler was relentless and just a pure winner. In today's NBA, and especially in MDA's system, Drexler paired with Harden would be a matchup nightmare for opponents.

That being said, I'm tempted to see what Sampson could do playing with Harden in this system. He's essentially the superhero version of Capela -- except with a nasty low post presence on offense AND defense. He was also a 7'4" demon running the break in the open court. He also had solid rebounding fundamentals and nice 15-18 ft jumper. OK, never mind. He was nothing like Capela.

Carry on.

 

T-Mac easy.

 

Moses would fix our biggest issue rebounding and inside toughness. Imagine all those putbacks and extra shots.

Pnr with Moses and Harden!?!! Drool.