Kudos to Carroll Dawson. One month ago following a first-round playoff exit and possessing only one draft pick, the future appeared bleak for the Houston Rockets and their General Manager.
Rising complaints and dissatisfaction from leading scorer Steve Francis compounded the problems facing the team. However, by orchestrating a single trade, Dawson drastically changed the course of the Rockets' future.
In a monumental deal, the Rockets traded guards Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley and center/forward Kelvin Cato to the Orlando Magic for the NBA's leading scorer Tracy McGrady, forward Juwan Howard and guards Tyronn Lue and Reece Gaines.
The trade marks a turning point for both franchises.
Over the past five seasons, Francis became a perennial all-star for the Rockets, becoming only the fourth player in NBA history to average 20 points, five rebounds and five assists in each of his first five seasons. However, new coach Jeff Van Gundy's slow-tempo style of play curtailed Francis' offense last year, and Francis finished with the worst offensive statistics of his career.
While the Magic will try to rejuvenate Francis by building their team around him and a core of young players, the trade for McGrady offers the Rockets a chance to improve immediately. McGrady will join the 7-foot, 5-inch Yao Ming to create a dynamic scoring duo that will greatly augment the team's offense, which ranked 25th last season in scoring.
By acquiring McGrady, a playmaker who thrives in the half-court set and will inevitably open opportunities for Yao inside, Van Gundy can maintain his deliberate, defensively-oriented style without offensive production suffering as a result.
The new McGrady-Yao alliance prompted immediate comparison to another fabled -- though likely to be disbanded -- offensive duo in the Western Conference, that of Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers. When asked about the apparent similarities between the duos, McGrady responded "hopefully we can be like a Shaq and Kobe, if not better." With the McGrady-Yao duo, the Rockets finally have the size and scoring ability to equal that of the Western Conference elite.
The Rockets have solidified a place among the Western Conference's best, especially considering the tough luck of other teams. The apparent dissolution of the Los Angeles Lakers seems the most prominent case -- Shaq has demanded a trade and Kobe is a free-agent. The Sacramento Kings are also beset by mounting free-agency problems; howeever, the Minnesota Timberwolves have age and health issues and the San Antonio Spurs and Dallas Mavericks are both searching for players to fill necessary holes.
By addressing a few other problem areas, the Rockets could surpass most of the Conference's great teams.
Howard, Lue and Gaines will all contribute to the team's depth, another area with which the team struggled last season. Despite increased depth, Francis' departure leaves the Rockets without a true, capable point guard. As neither Lue, a career backup, nor Gaines, who last year averaged a mere 1.1 minutes per game on the league's worst team, provide anything substantial at the point spot, the Rockets need to acquire a proven player to run the offense.
While Van Gundy's offense does not necessitate playmaking from the point guard position, the team nonetheless would benefit from acquiring a veteran leader who avoids turnovers and would bring cohesion to the disparate offensive games of McGrady and Yao.
With players such as Chucky Atkins and Eric Snow on the trading block and Carlos Arroyo and Jacque Vaughn available for free agency, the Rockets still have many options to fill their need.
In addition to finding a point guard, the Rockets organization needs to trade for or sign an established three-point shooter who would add another dimension to its offensive attack.
A shooter such as Derek Fisher, Bruce Bowen or Argentine Andres Nocioni could exploit the zone defenses which opposing teams will use to counteract McGrady and Yao, thereby enhancing the Rockets' offensive repertoire.
Regardless of any additional player movement, the Rockets greatly improved their roster for the next season through the trade. Though injury and fatigue problems could hinder the team's strength -- recurring back pains plagued McGrady last year and Yao will spend most of the summer with the Chinese National Team -- the Rockets will finish the offseason and begin next season with a newfound optimism.
That optimism, combined with McGrady's offensive prowess, additional talent depth and the concurrent problems amongst other Western Conference teams, give the Rockets a decided -- albeit very early -- advantage going into the next season. By changing the guards on their team, the Rockets and Carroll Dawson may also have initiated a changing of the guard atop the Western Conference standings.
