The squad with Yao Mac Artest Scola…. just didn't time it with injuries. But they would be absolute all-time power house
If we're starting from the beginning, I'd definitely get Stevie and Cat away from Yao. I'd still make the trade for Mac in 04. But all those guys around him had to go. We've seemed to always need a real pg. If you're lucky and able to get like a Bibby or Billups that would've made the biggest difference. There were many routes a veteran guy like Darrell Armstrong who I believe Mac liked was there. I always like Carlos Arroyo who was a young dude at the time coming in. We could've done so much better than what Carroll Dawson was spending on. I mean we brought in a old out of shape Rod Strickland, what were they thinking?
can't believe no one has said Rudy Gay. that was a blunder that could have been easily avoidable. For those that don't know, we traded the draft rights to Rudy Gay for Stromile Swift. Rudy gay went on to average nearly 20ppg for the next 12 years. Swift only stayed 1 year in houston and never averaged over 10ppg in his 7 remaining seasons after that.
Incorrect. We traded the draft rights for Rudy Gay for Shane Battier. Stromile Swift was a free agent signing. You could still argue trading for Battier was the wrong move, but at least he was a quality starter that stayed with the team for a while.
If you're starting in 2002, the biggest missed opportunity is not getting off of Eddie Griffin (RIP) sooner. The guy had Jabari's draft pedigree, but personal demons worse than KPJ. Losing a top 7 pick that cost you 3 first rounders in trade-up capital for absolutely nothing was a massive loss in value. Getting anything back by trading him after his second year would have been a bonus. Secondly, they cheaped out by refusing to match James Posey in RFA in the summer of 2003. He would have been an absolutely perfect swingman to put around the McGrady/Yao core; especially considering he won the championship in 2006 with Miami as the sixth man supporting the Wade/Shaq duo. Fortunately the Rockets didn't make the same mistake with Kyle Lowry years later, but I remember being so scarred by what they did with Posey that I just assumed Kyle was gone as soon as he signed his offer sheet due to Les Alexander's penny pinching. Finally, dumping Glen Rice with 2!! first round picks just to dodge the Luxury tax in 2003 and save around $3-4M, was complete asset malpractice. Rice was washed and retired after the year, but that move was the old-school version of the Ryan Anderson to Brandon Knight to Iman Shumpert asset sell-off that cost the Rockets De'Anthony Melton and a future first just to fatten the owner's bottom line.
