That's what I've been trying to tell people with this trade. Some fans just can't understand the idea that T-Mac WILL NOT PLAY for the Rockets next season. Forget his injury even if recovers miraculously, the team does not want him back. He burned his bridges and will either be traded or placed on the inactive list for the remainder of the season. If we are going to let him ride out his contract then why not trade him for a center with the exact same contract a one year rental and put a good team on the floor?
And why exactly would the Heat want to make this deal? You seem to forget Oneal is their starting center and they don't really have anything to replace him with. So they trade away their starting center with a huge expiring contract for the huge expiring contract of a player that might not suit up next year? Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.
Brandon Roy was an aberration, a case of the best player in the draft being a late bloomer (i.e. becoming an amazing player during in the NBA). Superstars like don't come in every draft, much less the 5-7th positions.
The Rockets are talented enough to win more than 40 games next season, even with the cheapest center money can buy. Don't expect them to sit players and tank. Sorry, not gonna happen.
How about just getting a star, instead of a superstar. The odds are 5 times at the 5th position(60%) compared to the 15th position(10%), the highest non-lottery pick, for drafting a star player. Unless the draft is loaded like 2004, when there were a few star players drafted later(Al Jefferson, Jameer Nelson, Kevin Martin). http://www.82games.com/nbadraftpicks.htm
