10. Houston Rockets | Future Power Rating: 670 PLAYERS MANAGEMENT MONEY MARKET DRAFT 246(19th) 145(8th) 165(2nd) 59(9th) 55(13th) These guys are holding down the fort remarkably well considering the circumstances. Houston has been hammered twice in the past year -- once when Yao Ming had to retire due to injuries, and a second time when the league, acting as stewards of the Hornets, overturned a trade for Pau Gasol at the 11th hour. The Rockets have no big stars, but have built enough depth to stay in playoff position in the tough West. We're not crazy about the current roster -- rated just 19th going forward -- because most of the young talent is more of the role player variety. However, Houston has everything else going in its favor. Thanks to shrewd cap management, the Rockets have put themselves in position to be players in free agency, where a strong market that includes low taxes and warm weather will help them. Additionally, Houston has shown a willingness to spend -- including buying draft picks -- and is in a sneaky-good position with the draft thanks to owning New York's first-round pick. They'd be even better off if their own pick wasn't headed to New Jersey as a result of the baffling Terrence Williams trade, the one blemish on the otherwise rock-solid tenure of GM Daryl Morey. Sum up all those advantages and we like Houston's future enough to put the Rockets 10th overall, even though the roster doesn't overwhelm. (Previous rank: 16) link: http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/stor...?page=FuturePowerRankings-1-120208&_slug_=1-5
Rockets have top 5 management IMO, so this probably underrates us by a spot or 2. And yes, I still have that much faith in Morey.
Uncanny how you could tell it was Hollinger who wrote the article before finishing the first sentence. If you didn't know it was him by the time Daryl Morey was mentioned you better step up your game.
I agree with pretty much everything that was written in that article. I have total and complete faith that Morey & Co. will get us that coveted star.
Sweet, we'll let future Rockets worry about that championship. We've got the mediocrity thing down for now.
I don't see anything wrong with owing NJ that 1st round pick; it's top 14 protected until 2016 and then turns into a 2nd rounder.
I guess we can make qualifying offers to batum and hibbert and hope that the dirkman retires, kobe retires, manu retires and hope that cp3 suffers an injury after trying to sell a flop. So that leaves the thunder and the rockets as 1 and 2.
I'm not sure if you're referencing this specifically, but it's worth posting regardless. <object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/om7O0MFkmpw?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/om7O0MFkmpw?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>
