Rockets Should Follow Proven Model to Reach Perennial Contention

Take a look at a few contenders in recent history : Oklahoma City and Boston

Oklahoma City was a terrible team when they moved from Seattle, even worse than the Rockets. They found themselves with a couple of high lottery picks, which they turned into Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. The rest is history. Best team in the West right now.

The Boston Celtics were also a lowly team, worse than the Rockets, when they found themselves in the lottery and drafted Rajon Rondo. The rest is history. The last few seasons have been very kind to Boston.

My bottom line is simply that, if the Rockets want to position themselves as perennial contenders in the Western Conference, they need to take a lesson from these two teams and do what they need to in order to get into the Lottery. Being able to draft a difference-maker would do wonders for Houston, who sorely needs a big-time guy.

On a more direct note, trading the 1st Round pick we get from the Knicks this season before March 15th's Trade Deadline makes ZERO sense.

If the Rockets are planning on using the pick as part of a bigger package for Pau Gasol, they are sadly SADLY misguided.

The way the Knicks are playing right now, Morey needs to ask himself if trading what could potentially be a Top 6-10 pick for a veteran player is worth it.

Spoiler Alert: NO. It isn't.

 

My mistake on the Rondo draft position, but stop knit-picking. You see the point I'm trying to make.

And signing KG and Ray Allen almost certainly became a thought AFTER Rajon Rondo blossomed into the player he is today.

For Houston to mortgage the future to get Gasol right now makes ZERO sense. You only make a trade like that when you're a Top 3 or 4 team in your Conference and you're that ONE player away from legitimately making a run at the whole thing. Making the trade when you're a fringe playoff team stinks of a team spinning its wheels while stuck in some delusion of being on the cusp of greatness.

Answer this question: Say the Rockets do trade for Gasol, become a 5 seed in the Western Conference playoffs and lose in the 1st, or even 2nd Round. Then what? We're STILL a team stuck in the middle of the 1st Round that's stuck in some sort of delusion about being on the cusp of greatness. We're also left with aging players on our roster (Remember, we gave a few young guys in the trade).

 

Yes, I agree. The point is that you have to position yourself for sustained success.

Making trades at each season's Trade Deadline, selling young promising players for veterans, etc. just is not an equation for success.