I understand what you are saying, but its like the real lottery, you can't win if you don't play and some teams hit it big and some teams don't. Bad teams with bad management are the ones that are in the lottery year in and year out. But we have good management with a good track record of drafting good players. I don't want to go another year with us being stuck in the middle of being good and bad.
But the question is have you really given the Rockets an honest chance to build a team before completely starting over? We haven't even shed the dead weight that has been sitting on the bench taking up over 50% of our salary cap space the past three seasons. Also, this team is young and doesn't have any debilitating contracts. Why do you view the future as hopeless? I just think y'all are being way too cavalier in your call to blow up the team.
I would say Houston not having a top 5 pick in terms of talent or actual pick was the deciding factor. And it will continue to be the deciding factor as long as superstars are involved.
The Lakers were the definition of mediocrity's windmill for many seasons in the mid 2000s. You're an idiot.
Actually, the Rockets WERE in this position back when they played at The Summit. Those days, you could buy a ticket for $5 with an empty Rainbow bread bag. Those were good times indeed...
But what helped in their turn around besides the Gasol trade? They got Andrew Bynum in the lottery, their first time there since 96 I believe. You made my point idiot.
Yeah his 6 ppg and 5 rpg really made the difference in the playoffs. Anyway, if it's the 10th pick you seek, I'm sure the Rockets could trade TWill and some garbage to move up 4 picks. You're one of the most dense people I've seen. Stop being an idiot and just admit you're wrong. The Lakers were the definition of the mediocre sawmill that's in your sig.
Back when players could join the NBA straight out of high school. Times a done changed little boy. You don't get high potential gems falling all the way down to the late lottery. You can keep your fingers crossed hoping you stumble across the next Tony Parker, but NBA scouting is too advanced nowadays. Drafts aren't the crap shoot they used to be. Now if you're looking to add 20 more Courtney Lee's to your team, the Rockets are in a great spot. Role players are abound in the late lottery. But you can't stack average on top of average hoping it turns into great. And that's why Utah ignored the Rockets offer for Deron. No top 5 pick, no top 5 talent - not worth it.
This thread is talking about tanking...serious tanking. The Lakers did not seriously tank, kept their core players, and made their actual impact deal through trading non-lottery picks. You think is a good example for preaching the benefits of tanking? Not to mention Bynum's overall impact to the Lakers success isn't even that great.
utah may get high picks but they like them whiteys. Its a good laugh when you see gordon heyward go when he did.
Comparing the Rockets to the Lakers is a monumental stretch at best.The Lakers have made SEVEN Finals appearances since 2000, and 4 since 2004. They have 5 NBA titles total since 2000. The longest period between Finals appearances was 3 seasons(Thanks Memphis!). I love the Rox, but even when everyone was healthy we don't compare. To be brutally honest we've NEVER enjoyed a run like that. Just a fact.
The Lakers are a fluke example due to the Gasol trade. There are millions, most likely billions, of examples proving the benefits of tanking. Even more telling is that every contender has atleast one top 5 pick on their team. And you don't get those by offering a bunch of "mediocre" assets that are the glorified Rocket role players.
How is that a fluke? The Grizzlies were following your genius theory of tanking, they traded away veterans for highly skilled young players when it was apparent that their current team was going nowhere. Oh the irony, the tank-master himself calling a run-of-the-mill tank trade a fluke. Oh and I would hope that every contender would have at least one top 5 pick on their team, considering there are over 50 of them in the NBA. Minnesota has 5 after all. Your causation/corrolation logic could use some work.
Yeah people said this 10 years ago too, and then Scola and Gortat were taken in the 50s. Clearly 2006 was the dark ages, with "Internet" just a fledgling idea and mobile phones in the hands of only 5% of the population. It's not like high school games of top prospects had been televised nationally in years past, no.
LOL, you are a quivering, angry nerd with no savvy on how to make a point. But I'll humor myself. The Rockets have no one on the team as valuable as Gasol. He is a top 5 pick. Scola and Martin are good, but not top 10 good. Suppose Pau becomes available, and the Rockets trade Dragic and a #14 for him because Kupchak is tripping on shrooms. They are still very mediocre, because Pau is a #2 option. In order to get that #1 player, they need a top 5 pick or talent, which they do not currently have. And NBA GM's know this - all the mediocre assets and ipad's and spreadsheets in the world won't make this small, glaring problem the Rockets have go away. And why they're continuously left in the dirt by superstar FA's and superstars requiring trades. When Houston traded for McGrady, they had Francis, a top 3 pick, Mobley and Kelvin Cato. They don't have that package currently, sad as that is. Tanking (for 2 seasons) is the only way to get that valued top 5 talent to compete with the best. But Morey, like you (guy who is aggressive on the net), is a pansy and will probably keep competing for a 6-8 seed in the playoffs until the talent in the league becomes a little more spread out. Just the bare minimum to keep fans interested.
Doesn't matter, it's just mediocrity for further mediocrity. What exactly did the Rockets accomplish with Francis? A playoff series? And look at the process and years spent it took to go from Francis (#2 option) to McGrady (#1 option). Keep banking on miracles. An 11 player trade over a decade ago with 1st and 2nd round picks included to a franchise that had absolutely no leverage over an unproven player with 0 minutes of NBA basketball. In fact, that's what Morey is banking on to get Rubio. We'll see how that works out while his value is still worth something. Zilch.
