I think much of the extreme reaction--seeking fault against Fagan, Dream, our brass really isn't directed about the actual court impact of Dream leaving the Rockets. While talking with Dream we did not: 1) lose out to Webber. We never could get close via strait FA acquisition to the 120 mil contract Webber was going to get. For him it was always resign with Sac or S & T, the latter of which we had no interest in (losing Francis, Mobes or Griffin + Mo to get him). 2) lose out on our own key FAs. Mo, Moochie and SA have not signed with someone else yet. Whether they do so will not be impacted by the Dream thing. It is still in our hands. So in term of a basketball impact what have we lost? It doesn’t look like we missed major opportunities-- though we already pulled the biggest plum of the lot on draft day. What we have lost on the court is an almost 40-year old once phenomenal center who can still be productive for stretches but who will NOT be in the league anywhere when our young nucleus matures. This is a guy however who could help a select few of contenders (at least within their own conference) this season or maybe the next, in a lesser role than we would have needed now and in the future. The writing was on the wall, the big surprise is he was here as long as he was while we were going through growing pains. Instead, the impact on us fans and the team, as well as the reason for our anger or sadness or all the other emotions we are feeling, is due to the end of an team era that achieved so much. Once we come to deal with this part, we will realize there still are other FA out there who can help or team know and down the line, and most trading options available last month are still open today. So for now let’s indulge ourselves by basking in old glory and celebrating the title runs, our greatest Rocket teams, and our greatest Rocket player. Soon we will see our old hero will also be in a better basketball situation for him (he even has an outside chance to be an all-star in his new conference) and come play off time we will cheer for him on his new team that has a chance to go deep into the playoffs. This will happen while we will move full throttle in the second great Rocket era (or perhaps 3rd or 4th---there was some real good teams before Hakeem was “H”akeem) and look forward to great things to come. Peace!
