Houston Rockets - Competitive Rebuilding

On NBA Trade Deadline, the Houston Rockets traded Patrick Patterson, center Cole Aldrich, guard Toney Douglas, and cash for this year’s 5th pick Thomas Robinson, Francisco Garcia and Tyler Honeycutt.

Back in time till 2012, Rockets was a decent team, a team that hung on to the 9th and always remained mediocre, as it never got a high pick in lottery and never had a decent salary space/market to attract Free Agents. But then they went on a complete rebuild and what seem like a disastrous season for the Rockets turned out to successful one.

So how they did it ?

They started off the rebuilding process near the end of 2011 season when they failed to make the playoffs. The Rockets cleared cap for Dwight Howard and made many off-season deals which completely disjointed their whole squad. They also brought in a number of new players via signings.

So, before the 2012 NBA Draft, The Milwaukee Bucks sent the 12th pick, Shaun Livingston, Jon Brockman, and Jon Leuer to the Rockets for the 14th overall pick and Samuel Dalembert, while the Minnesota Timberwolves traded the 18th pick to Rockets for Chase Budinger.

With those three picks, Houston drafted Jeremy Lamb of Connecticut, Royce White of Iowa State, and Terrence Jones of Kentucky with the 12th, 16th, and 18th picks.

They dealt Kyle Lowry to the Toronto Raptors for a future first round pick and let Goran Dragic sign with Suns, and they also amnestied Luis Scola who later signed with Phoenix. Courtney Lee was also dealt to Celtics.

They signed Jeremy Lin to a 3 year, $25.1 million contract as the New York Knicks decided not to match this offer, a move which was more inclined towards market as Lin would bring a lot of international market to Houston. They signed Omer Asik with an offer sheet with the Rockets worth $25.1 million for three years which Chicago Bulls decided not to match. They also signed Carlos Delfino in the off-season who was a decent scorer off the bench.

They did all these moves to get Dwight Howard but they couldn’t as he was dealt to the Lakers in a blockbuster 4 team trade, with everybody calling them the big losers of the off-season.

But then the trade happened. The Rockets traded Kevin Martin and Jeremy Lamb and other draft picks for sixth man of the year James Harden, along with teammate members Cole Aldrich, Daequan Cook, and Lazar Hayward.

They bought “the beard” in Houston who quickly became the face of franchise with stellar performances – notably 37 points, 12 assists, 6 rebounds, 4 steals, and a block on his debut as a Rocket.

Houston hit both the right chords with the trade; they brought in a future all star and a market potential star in Houston, and suddenly the Rockets had the two biggest market players – The Beard and Jeremy Lin.

The Rockets also exceeded expectations – the offensive improvement of Omer Asik was a big factor as nobody expected him to score and suddenly he was averaging a double-double. Chandler Parsons’ rise as a do-everything type of player (whom they stole at 38th in the 2011 draft) was a surprise and James Harden exploded to be the best shooting guard in the league right now, leading in PER, Estimated Wins Added and Value Added.

Houston Rockets, who were projected to go nowhere, were suddenly holding on to the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, 3 1/2 games ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers, 4 games ahead of the Portland Trail Blazers, and 4 1/2 games over the Dallas Mavericks.

They also had the league best offense scoring 106.4 pts per game.

Then, at trade deadline, they got Thomas Robinson for Patrick Patterson. Patterson was a good player and a starter for the Rockets and changing a starter for a rookie who’s not playing as well as he should is a big but-if, but he has done well.

Just look at the guy dunk on Dwight Howard, amazing.

In just one year the Rockets changed their lineup from Lowry/Dragic – Kevin Martin – Parsons – Scola – Dalembert to Lin – Harden – Parsons – Robinson – Asik.

Which fanbase doesn’t want that ?

Plus the best part is yet to come. The Rockets will have enough cap space next season to offer a maximum to a FA. Just think the above lineup plus a star like Al Jefferson, Josh Smith and maybe even Dwight Howard?

The future looks bright for the Rockets.

All due to Daryl Morey, who gets my vote for this year’s Executive of the Year. Genius.

Other NBA teams, take note.