Smart teams vs athletic teams

First of all, yes, it's great to have players that cover both, but not everyone can have an MJ or D-Wade on their team.

Conflict
Why is Houston seemingly prioritizing 'smart' players over 'athletic' players.

Transition
With the coming of the internet and the evolution towards what is known as a 'knowledge economy' (ie manufacturing entities like GM go down while information entities like Google go up), NBA teams are finding they need to evolve as well, and that means players who use knowledge as well as their physical skills. As a business product analogy, what good is Motorola's RAZR (talent) if the service (basketball IQ) sucked?

History
Take Gay, Eddie Griffin and Swift, all Rockets at one point, all hyped to be the best player in the draft in their respective years on account of their physical talent. Lack of understanding of the game? Didn't matter at the time, but the Rockets aren't about to make the same mistake three times. What's consistent is, those kinds of players don't get smarter - you either have a sense for the game, or you don't.

Take the Miami Heat - of their starting 5, D-Wade and JW were arguably their most explosive players, however D-Wade is also intelligent. The Heat won despite JW, who did little for the Heat's cause. As for Dallas, many of their players exploited their athleticism, and when they turned it on, they looked unstoppable. But you know what? That's unsustainable - they got tired. They lost their composure, their cool, and didn't have enough collective basketball sense to compete when they needed to reserve their energy. They needed Nash, like the Heat needs Wade, like the Rockets need someone like Sura (but with more talent) - and word is that Battier can take that role on.

This explains the consistent quotes on Gay: "There are times where his explosiveness to the basket makes pro personnel drool, and then there are times he will disappear for two or three games at a time. Although he is able to seemingly score at will at times, Gay tends to get lost in the flow of the game too often. He floats in and out of games, and tended to defer to teammates in clutch situations."

Now, if regular fans get frustrated with Swift's decision-making on the court, can you imagine what it's like for the players? Can you imagine if you added yet another 'Swift' to the team in Gay? Have you ever played volleyball and one person always bumps the ball to the wrong person, if to a person at all? Very frustrating, and impossible to get a rhythm, probably the single-most important ingredient in scoring.

The Turning Point
- The Rockets now have a team where everyone has the intelligence to get on the same page. Battier's Duke heritage was founded in that philosophy (and yes, I hate Duke) and the Rockets need a leader on the court not seen since Mario Elie left.
- The Rockets starting five will average over 6'-8". If not entirely athletic, definitely compensating in height advantage.
- Defensively, the height advantage is significant, especially with the 6'-8 McGrady playing the 2. Plus Battier is already regarded as one of the top defensive players in the league.
- With Battier playing the 4 at times, McGrady at the 3, and Head and Alston (assuming he gets better during the off-season), and with the defenders drawn out, that's four legitimate three-point shooters and more room in the paint for McGrady, Head or Alston to drive inside.

So... the bottom line is, no one really wanted Swift, even at the NBA average salary, and the first seven teams, all of whom have the time to develop a player, passed on Gay. Athletes without basketball intelligence just aren't championship caliber, but they're great for lottery-bound teams that need to create some kind of excitement - and that's not the Rockets.