the WORST decision that the rockets made was pickin mirsad and bryce drew over RASHARD LEWIS! these boys need to make it up and go get that boy rashard...DO NOT pass him up once again...cuz they are going to regret it...espcecially with rice as their starting SF.......cuz...he SUCKS!!!!
Let's be clear on one thing: when you say we "passed" on Jordan, we did so to draft Olajuwon. I'd call that a push. Passing on Clyde Drexler to take Rodney McCray was a much more incongruous move given the way their careers worked out. Not trading Sampson for Jordan-- I am unclear as to when this was an option...? Is this an NBA urban legend of some sort? I definitely don't believe Chicago would have agreed to that trade in 1987. I think enough was known about Sampson and Jordan at that point.
Count me as ignorant too. I will never follow the logic to build or add to your team to beat one targeted team - Seattle. Barkley was a worse trade than Pippen - in that there were more far reaching consequences. Remember after trading Cassell we wasted great resources searching for a point guard??? Remember the Maloney signing- multi million $ that still count against our cap?. Brent Price - though not al his fault due tpo injuries?? Both of these consequential damages were a direct result of the Barkley trade. This trade aftermath damage was further compounded by Barkley coming to training camp overweight by 30 lb. Barkley was combative and had chemistry problems with Clyde and Hakeem. Barkley makes me laugh, but he was a broken down old player by the time we had him. He was a head case. Charles is the main reason Phoenix choked in '94 and '95. He was not a winner. Bad all the way around....
As far as the not trading Sampson for Jordan thing goes, Sampson, at the time was 7-4, a 3-time NCAA player of the year, and the reigning NBA Rookie of the YEar. Every indication was that he was going to be the next great center in the NBA, he was a can't miss prospect, and he wasn't missing. The closest comparison recently I guess would be Tim Duncan after his Rookie season. (not that he played like him, but same resume/age/promise) Hindsight is 20/20, but probably pretty much all of the NBA gms at the time would not have even thought about trading him unless it was Magic or Bird or something, much less the #3 pick (which could been Sam Bowie depending on how the draft went). If anything, you have to fault them for not taking jordan, logically speaking. Granted, Olajuwon was about as good a consolation prize as one could possibly imagine, but if they had a great big man, then take a great guard. I bet if this BBS existed back then, the draft Jordan faction would be huge and apopleptic on draft night.
WOW, I didn't know the deal was THAT good. That truly is dumb. I still think passing Rashard up was really stupid as well. THREE CHANCES.... Cato's contract after 5 preseason games is unbelievable as well...
I didn't realize Chicago offered the #3 for Sampson. Gawd, can you imagine? I do know the Portland Jailblazers took Bowie at #2. We coulda offered Sampson for the #2 and taken MJ. That's what I thought the deal was. Still, it amounts to the same thing.
Actually...yuo may be right...i think it was the Blazers who offered the #2 for Ralph and then afterwards, the Bulls offered Jordan for Ralph.
You're right. The deal was Drexler + #2 overall (MJ) for Sampson. However at the time the Twin Towers seemed unstoppable, and would've been a dynasty had Sampson's knees not crapped out. Funny, but we traded Rodney McCray for OT, then OT for Drexler. Strange coincidence.
Kagy, the trade was not with the Bulls. It was with Portland, who had the #2 pick in 1984 and had Drexler on their roster. The idea from the fans was not to go Twin Towers, rather to get Hakeem and Jordan by trading Sampson to Portland for the second pick. The Twin Tower vs Center/Guard argument was pretty fierce at the time. I'm not sure about the Drexler as a kicker part. That might be Urban Legend. But Portland took Sam Bowie, so they damn sure would have giving us that #2 and veterans for Sampson, instead.
Well had Portland offered drexler and 2 I bet we would have taken Bowie, bc we would have had McCray at 3, Drexler at 2, Olajuowon at 5, and Lucas at 1, so we would have needed a PF. Then we would have been remembered as Portland is now, which ain't so good. I never heard about the drexler part, I always thought it was just 2 straight up so we could pick Hakeem and Jordan and portland could have their center. I first remember reading about it in an old Houston Post, left side of the front page of Sports section column by Mickey Herskowitz or Dale Robertson several years later so I always wondered about how true it was.
Chuckles trade for Sam, Hory, Bryany, and Chuckie Who! included getting Price and Willis. It was, in effect -- and fact, a 4 - 3 deal. I believe if Price's knee hadn't collapsed the Good Guys woulda played, and beaten, the Bulls in June -- instead of the foldo against Seattle which gave tired legs to give-a-way the 1st 2 against Utah (and Game 6, oh so sad), so, no -- that 'deal' was 'ok'. The worst of recent vintage? Mo's $. We still need an inside, rebounding 4, a Maurice. Lucas, that is. I'll settle for Clark today. Or even Jerome Wms to bang off the bench at the 3...
You do understand that the Lakers won the title with Glen Rice. Any trade that results in a SINGLE title regardless of what happens afterward is worth it. I would trade Pau Gasol for pop rocks if you could ensure Memphis would win a championship this season.
This isn't the worst ever, but it really shows why owners shouldn't interfere with GMs... In Larry Bird's brief stay with Celtics management, the owner kept making decisions that should have been left to the GM. Bird was in favor of hiring Larry Brown for a coach, and the owner hired Rick Pitino. Bird was in favor of drafting Eddie Jones, but the owner drafted Montross . How stupid can you be? If you're going to do that, why even pay a GM? PS: This idiot also committed the mortal sin of firing Auerbach from the presidency. What's the matter, he wasn't good enough for you? He's only the greatest basketball mind ever .
The Moses Malone trade was the best trade in Rockets history. That trade made the team so bad (intentionally so, I might add) that the result was Sampson, McCray and finally Olajuwon.
If they made the Sampson for Drexler and #2 they would have needed a big man, not a guard. So they may have picked Bowie, or maybe they draft Barkley. The big three together for the length of their careers. They could have ten-peated.
