Rockets Are At A Crossroad

For 12 years now the Rockets have been flirting with playoffs success. A decade ago, many thought Steve Francis and Mobley could get us to the next level with only 1-2 major moves. Then we landed Yao out of pure luck but we were still shy one player away from truly contending. Along came Tracy McGrady and everyone thought this was it, now we must compete on the big stage. Well, 5 years later we are still looking for that elusive moment where all the stars align in our favor and we breakout in the league to put our name in ranks and file of the elite.

Sorry but this journey of the past decade and has been one of biterness and joy at the same time. Perhaps the thing that makes me truly happy about the Rockets is that we finally have a system where our GM and coach both make wise decisions and let players flourish. It wasn't too long ago the Rockets had a terrible payroll with huge bloated contracts and drafts picks that were either traded away in lopsided deals or just thrown at the end of bench to play cheerleader. The transition the the Rockets have made the last few years of reducing our excess number of players having the same role and shaving off a sizable portion of the payroll in the process is quite remarkable. Gone are the Maurice Taylor, Juwan Howard, Stromile Swift, Bonzi Wells, Jim Jackson etc...Replaced by the talented Shane Battier, Aaron Brooks, Luis Scola, Carl Landry, Kyle Lowry.

In short the Rockets drifted around for about 10 years with no real sense of direction until we found Daryl Morey and Rick Adelman.

Now we are at a crossroad where a lot can happen in 1-2 years that could decide which direction this team takes for the next 10 years.

Summer 2009

Ron Artest - At this point if he demands more than 9 mil a season for more than 3 season then the Rockets should just walk away from him. He has been a tremendous player this season but we caught him on the downside of his career.

Tracy McGrady - Do not trade him just for the sake of wanting something in return. Unless something really good is available don't move him especially if we get bad contracts in return. Nope just let him become a free agent next summer.

This brings me to my final point which is CAP SPACE.

T-Mac has huge cap number which will come off next summer. Now most people on this board think we need to use him as a chip in order to get some value in return, I say no to that proposition. Please remember what wonders cap space can do for you. Anyone remember Orlando 2 years ago?

I am not saying we unload our team to make a run at 2010 Free Agency but it would nice to see us keeping our options open to perhaps making a real splash. Even if we don't, Brooks, Landry and Scola are gonna need to get paid sooner or later. Look at their contracts its ridiculously cheap right now for Rockets.

In the mean time, I love the way Morey is going out and outright buying draft picks. Who knows, we might find another Brooks type gem late in the first round. See that is the type open free thinking that eventually leads to success.

Those who still speak of the "invisible" window of oppurtunity for Yao to win a ring have no idea how many top 50 players never won a ring for that very reason. We need to stop this Win now or bust mentality. 5 years ago, T-Mac was young, dominant and athletic. Instead of wasting our time of acquiring the "OLD" veterans role players like Jon Barry, David Wesley, Bob Sura, the Rockets should have built some young talent around the nucleus of McGrady and Yao. Imagine if we had taken some young players in 2004 and spend real time and effort in developing them. Perhaps by now in 2009, a rookie from 2004-2005 would be fully developed and ready to contribute in his prime.

This is the crossroad I am speaking off, its time to make some tough decisions about the future of this franchise. We cannot be blinded be the simple desire to win now at all cost.

GO Rockets!!!

 

What I meant by the now almost ridculed term "crossroad" is that we have to decide what our team identity will be for the next decade. Yao and T-Mac combo has imploded, sorry but that is truth. McGrady is nothing compare to what he was back in 2004 when we first got him. Yao is still a keeper but we need a new nucleus around where I can see Brooks, Scola, Landry and maybe Lowry. Everyone else is tradable or worth letting go especially Ron if his price is too high. I seriously believe McGrady has played his last game in a Rocket uniform and will not be part of this team anymore. So now the Rockets have to decide will they keep the good core of young players they have or use them as trade fillers in other boneheaded trade in order to appease that win now at all cost attitude.

I have so much trust in Morey right now that even if McGrady and Artest were to walk away without anything in return, Morey will be able to quickly find cheap and efficient replacements. Imagine giving him decent cap space to work with next summer in the free agency market. I love the fact that Morey unlike his predecessor CD, will not overly commit to a player and just handout huge paychecks. Look at the best contributors on this team: Artest, Battier, Scola, Landry, Brooks are all very cheap contracts compared to market price for similar players. Time and again Morey has proven he can get talented players for a very low price.

I now believe that the continuity of system (GM and Coach) are more important than any player on this team. Moreyball is taking over this league and you saw a preview of that in the 7 games against the Lakers where our role players and bench outplayed a 65 win team juggernaut.

The point, is do we start packaging some of our hard earned talented young players with McGrady in one last ditch effort to salvage this sinking boat or we let things play out and make smart moves with the players we have and develop our own talent. I have said before Aaron Brooks is a future All-Star in this league much like Tony Parker and Jameer Nelson most recently.