What happens when you mix 3/5 of a lottery team with 2/5 of a marginal playoff team?

A lineup of Shaq, Kobe and a bunch of nobodys didnt look at the good either.

Granted, that combo would have an edge of Yao/TMac, but the point is, you build around that combo and fill in the pieces.

This team will likely change this summer and after next season, and after the season after that. The pieces will change until a winning combo is found.

I am not going to base my championship hopes on the group we have left after the trade, but rather, base it on the team we end up with after some trail, error, trades, and FA signings.

 

I highly doubt that the Rockets are done with their house cleaning. I do think we can make the playoffs next year if Carroll makes some extra moves. I am confident however that we will see players willing to sign with Houston, and those holes will be plugged up. I think this team would have enough talent to beat a team like the Spurs & I think this team gains what a Steve Francis team lacked, intelligence on the court. The Spurs don't beat you with more talent, they beat you with smarter play.

 

Posssibly its going to take several seasons to build a Championship Team.

 

If the Rox play their cards right (thats a BIG IF) they can contend as early as NEXT YEAR. Yao will continue to improve and T-Mac will be well uh...T-Mac. Add some quality role players and Presto.....Title Contender.

 

anytime you can build a team around two superstar players, the team is a championship contender. If this trade goes through, hopefully tomorrow some time; its all a matter of filling in the pieces.

Imagine if the rockets would have had Drexler along with Hakeem both in their prime. That is what this trade brings to the city. Two young superstars who haven't even hit their's primes. The sky is the limit

 

Steve is a great player, but he isn't a superstar. I wouldn't put Cat in the top 5.

in no particular order, Paul Pierce, Tracy McGrady, Kobe Bryant, Allen Iverson, Rip Hamilton. There are a few others as well.

 

Thats why we need a good solid point guard and a good 10+ boards a game power foward to pick up Yao's slack. I was never a big fan of Lue and Howard and I don't even want them on the team but I'm not Les or Carrol Dawson so my opinion doesn't matter.

 

There are two big mistakes some are making with this trade:

1. Assuming this is ALL we will do this summer. Trading Francis means the team will HAVE to find a PG. Trading Cato means they will HAVE to find a backup at the five. We're not done. We still have the MLE, the veteran's exception AND the trade exception.

2. Assuming that this was for us to win next season. This isn't a rental like the Beltran trade. This is a LONG-term situation. T-Mac and Yao could play together for 10 years. Just a guess, but I'm thinking we can work out the other problems along the way.

 

Cat a top 5 2 guard in the league? You've gotta be kidding. Cat is the reason the Rockets couldn't push it over the top. I wouldn't even put Cat in the top half of starting 2's in the league. He's streaky, he's careless, and he doesn't pass the ball.

 

Well, people are going to have to be patient and wait for the Rockets to get their deals done. If it were September and this were a problem I understand, but it's only June. We had the same problems BEFORE the trade save for PG. Howard grabs pretty much the same number of rebounds that Cato does.

 

Chauncey Billups, Corliss Wiliamson, Darvin Ham, Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, Tayshaun Prince, Rip Hamilton, Lindsey Hunter, Elden Campbell. What's common about most of the guys is that most came from sorry teams or have been kicked around from team to team throughout their career. Then you have Rasheed who was labeled a malcontent thrown into the mix. Ben Wallace? Where was he drafted? Yet.... they just won a championship. Why? Because they adopted a system and believed in it.

JVG has said in the past that the talent level in the league isn't as disparate as many believe. He said the teams that win are the ones that can execute the system and work as a team (paraphrasing).

So to answer your question as to what happens when 3/5 of a lottery team mixes with 2/5 of a marginal playoff team - quite possibly a championship team if they come together as a team.

 

I think the Rockets will make some key FA additions through out the summer. The MLE and TE actually gives us something to work with:

1. PG- Biggest need, period. Barry or Fisher will do for now.

2. Backup C- Skinner? MyDyess? Eddie?

I heard that Lue can opt out after the 15th. His agent said he could find a better deal. I don't really like Lue, his departure would leave us with more money. However, Lue would be a legit backup PG.

 

So you trade those who don't believe to get those who will. Luckily one of those is a 6'8" versatile, scoring champion.

 

K. Kobe (all-star)
T. McGrady (all-star)
P. Pierce (all-star)
A. Iverson (all-star, dominant scorer when healthy)
V. Carter (all-star)
R. Allen (all-star)
M. Redd (all-star)
M. Finley (reliable vet)
E. Jones (despite his contract)
A. Houston (ditto)
C. Maggette (plays both 2 and 3)
J. Johnson (bigger, younger, more vertsatile)
L. James (Not a Point Guard yet)

That said, I'm still gonna stick to my guns and say that if the Magic have a huge turnaround and Cat puts up big numbers, he'll have a chance at an all-star game. Not if he goes to the Warriors though.

 

Meant K. Bryant