I think you remember it wrong. Francis was not getting better. His last year in Houston was the worst since his rookie year, by a lot, and he declined even faster than McGrady. In a way, losing Mobley was more significant. But Mobley was a complementary player, not a centerpiece. Francis never took us to more than 50 wins. The year after the trade, we won 51 games. The problem with the Yao-TMac team was injuries. Yao began to get hurt every season since the trade. I don't think a Francis led team with Yao on the sideline would be any better, probably worse. But TMac himself was also injury prone. Anyway, if you had a chance to trade Francis for prime TMac, you do it. The subsequent turn out for McGrady was regrettable. But the trade was not a bad trade.
because people arent dumb, they'll troll james for sure but he was a top 5 player for close to a decade with us. Without him we have been the worst team in the league
only because the organisation fed him the ball... build a team around kpj rn, he would be able to have the same career
Wow. We have some Harden trolls and some delusional KPJ fans, but to combine them into one person…. Impressive.
still struggle to get over how people don't think kpj will be able to flourish surrounded by eric gordon, ryan anderson, pj tucker, robert covington etc. that squad had arguably half of the top 20 role players of all time
Statistically bad but actual team ball probably his best - Went to the playoffs and lost to 4 hall of famers Tmac got 51 wins but still lost to an inferior team in the playoffs . . .again and again I think Francis and Yao had better chemistry I know we also must comment on JVG's one side of the court coaching style Rocket River
I'm glad you brought him up, although I don't think he fits the topic, not really. His rookie year was during the "lock-out" 50 game season, and he played really well for us. So well that Vancouver demanded that we include him in the Francis trade. Dickerson was on the All-Rookie 2nd team, played all 50 games, and hit 43% of his 3 pointers. He ended up in Memphis after the franchise moved there and had a really good season and then the injuries started. Michael's one of those sad NBA stories, a real talent who's career, like Sampson (although not remotely as talented or famous, of course), was cut short by injuries. Kept trying to play for a few years, including one season in Europe, and then hung up his sneakers. I liked him during his short time with the Rockets and was bummed out about needing to deal him, but not so bummed out that I wasn't glad to get Francis. ;-)
I stumbled across this jewel from @vator on twitter and had to find somewhere to post it here. Your post was perfect! Not only is this clip focused on Cat, it also highlights the play of Francis and even has an appearance from Walt Williams. The topper for me is being able to listen to prime Bill and Calvin. How I miss them!
Mirsad Türkcan... The third and final pick who was not Rashard Lewis who also happened to play PF. Might be tasteless to mention 3 for 1 Eddie Griffin, whom we thought was a steal on draft day. Yeah Carol Dawson set us back for decades lol.
Sorta stunned no one has named Boki Nachbar... The way he was talked about on here back in the day made me SURE he was gonna be a superstar
The Ty Lawson arrival, straight up embarrassing Harden was good and gave us some great regular season performances, but he was hyped to be a top 10 player all time, and GOAT by some (legit not lying-- with the metrics and advanced stats people fabricated and posted out of context to say he did it better than anyone). Of course he expectedly played lazy pretty often and laid an egg in the post season almost like the seasons. I'm not trying to hate, When martin got traded and we ended up with James I was a die hard fan. His first couple of years were great, the latter years is when he was hyped to be something he clearly was not.
Another one nobody's mentioned (?) - Damn Lanky (Dan Langhi). Forever etched in Rockets lore as being co-SEC Player of the Year with Stromile "I make crazy dunks so you can overpay me and be let down" Not-So-Swift.
Don't know about all time, but according to the boards, half our current roster has all star potential
LMAO. If Harden is one of your most overrated Rockets you’re doing it wrong. He was also considerably better than anyone remotely anticipated when the trade happened.
