| Rockets Make Small Strides Towards Contention Authored by Dennis L. Silva II - July 25, 2006 - 12:43 am
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What Can Make The Blazers Truly Special And UniqueEven with the Lakers and wherever LeBron ends up looming, there are any number of ways the Blazers can win multiple championships, one of them especially interesting.
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The Houston Rockets are a prime example of such a scenario.
Last offseason, the Rockets made a few moves that would have suggested that they were ready to become a formidable team that could go deep in the Western Conference. They acquired prized forward Stromile Swift with their mid-level exception. They signed guard Derek Anderson. They re-signed their own significant free agents, Jon Barry and Dikembe Mutombo.
To capitalize on such movement, they had even drafted a diamond in the rough in guard Luther Head with the 24th pick in the 2005 NBA draft. It seemed as if all was well and the Rockets were one of the few teams mentioned who could possibly give the San Antonio Spurs a run for their throne.
But as is often the case in the cruel and unforgiving world of professional sports, things did not work out in the Rockets’ favor. Tracy McGrady missed 35 games due to a lingering, chronic back injury. Yao Ming was also held out of action for most of the season, participating in only 57 games, most due to the inflammation of a toe.
That led to a 34-48 season, and placed Houston in the draft lottery for the first time in four years. It also signaled yet another important offseason for the Rockets as their window of opportunity seems ready to slam shut at any moment’s notice.
Unfortunately, what took place was a horrific series of player movement that, if nothing else, verifies that Rockets management knows not of what they’re doing.
After a questionable draft night in which Houston traded their No. 8 selection—Uconn hyper-athlete Rudy Gay—and reserve forward Stromile Swift for Memphis’ Shane Battier, it appeared the Rockets were quickly looking to add defense, shooting and veteran leadership to a fragile rotation that, aside from McGrady and Yao, was overwhelmed with inexperience and/or the inability to provide consistant contributions on both ends of the floor.
"I got all kinds of calls from people in the basketball world who congratulated us on a great pickup because they know want Shane can do for us," Rockets GM Carroll Dawson said. "I understood why fans reacted the way they did to the trade, but Shane is going to become a very popular player in Houston for many years to come."
That fan reaction was based on how the Rockets could possibly trade a young, athletic swingman who can run the floor, as well an athletic forward who could block shots and provide a dose of energy, for a veteran swingman who has put up steady impact, but whom, according to fans, would not have as dramatic of an impact on the Rockets as Gay would.
For the following few weeks, Houston then tried to pursue free-agent guard Mike James, formerly of the Toronto Raptors. In the irony of ironies, the Rockets had traded James prior to training camp last season, and now desperately demanded his services as a potential third scorer for the team. Rockets management, and fans alike, felt James could bring them a spark and revive a cold and dreary offense that has been amongst the league’s worst since the departure of Rudy Tomjanovich.
Instead, James proved he has a lasting memory and essentially played the Rockets, using the club to up his asking price, which he did successfully. Minnesota offered James a trade-kicker clause in his contract that Houston, nor the Dallas Mavericks, were willing to include.
The action since then? Trading cash and future draft considerations for Hornets swingman Kirk Snyder (6.5 ppg on 41.9% shooting for his career), signing Euro guard Vassilis Spanoulis to a 3-year deal and coming to a verbal agreement to sign guard John Lucas III, who, at this point of his career, has shown nothing more than to be one of the best players in the history of summer league basketball.
All in all, not a promising offseason for the red and silver.
"Getting Shane Battier, getting Kirk Snyder and getting (2006 second round pick) Steve Novak fills a lot of holes that were on the board," Dawson said. "We've still got the whole summer to improve the team and we're still looking to trade. But we're real happy with what we have done so far."
Of course they are. But the Rockets have made moves out of desperation. They lost out on James, so what do they do? Acquire Snyder, who is not significantly better than last season’s token backup swingman, Keith Bogans. The Rockets took too long to decide if they wanted point guard Marcus Banks—who would have added speed, quickness and defensive ability—so they let him head to Phoenix and instead pen Lucas, who is, essentially, a poor man’s Banks.
Prior to the end of the 2005-06 season, coach Jeff Van Gundy listed assets that the Rockets would covet during this offseason. He wanted a range-shooting big man who could space the floor and be deadly in pick-and-roll situations. He wanted speed and athleticism. He desperately wanted depth in case the injury bug of last season bit again.
Battier is the only new acquisition who will make an immediate impact on the club. Snyder will be in and out of Van Gundy’s doghouse. Bogans worked hard at his craft, despite his limitations. Snyder’s work habits have been called in question by two coaches who have histories of winning—Utah’s Jerry Sloan and the Hornets’ Byron Scott. Novak is a solid shooter but suffers on the defensive end. Lucas—at 5’10”—is too short to make a drastic impact. He’s effective in short 5-10 minute stints but other teams will post their bigger guards on him time and time again. No one is sure of what Spanoulis can do.
Perhaps Dawson still has a few more tricks left in his deck of cards. At this point, however, with the free agent frenzy a month in, it appears that he’s played this offseason as a Joker. |
