Post by smonch on Mar 4, 2013 0:27:01 GMT -5
When the season started, the Houston Rockets were a struggling franchise. They had a plethora of young talent, but little starpower to speak of. They had 4 young, capable point guards, and a group of young power forwards, all led by sharpshooter Kevin Martin. When smonch received the call letting him know he was hired for the job, one goal came to mind; find a franchise player. Every championship team in the last 15 years had a top 5 player on its roster, and this year was going to be no different. Smonch immediately used their amnesty clause to cut crowd favorite Luis Scola, smonch was quoted as saying "the Rocket organization appreciated all the time and effort Luis put into this franchise, but frankly he was drastically overpaid, but we would love him back at a 1/10th of the cost."
With some salary now freed up, Smonch had to make a ballsy call during free agency; with no cornerstone players available on the free agent market, how would we go about getting "Mr. Houston?" Smonch saw Joe Johnson, a good seasoned vet with knack for scoring the basketball still available he knew what he had to do. Bring him in as eventual trade bait. So he was signed to a 1 year, very attractive 10 million dollar contract.
"Joe brings a veteran presence into our lockeroom, and he now has one of the most moveable contract in all of the NBA," smonch said.
Now with Johnson and Martin on the roster together, and both of them inept at defending paper bags, he knew what he had to do. Deal one of them away in an effort to bringing in an attractive trade piece. Shortly after signing Johnson, the team traded beloved Kevin Martin, along with Jeremy Lin and Patrick Patterson to Minnesota for Mo Williams and contract fillers.
Now as the the first few games went by, smonch was still not satisfied with the current roster. They were missing a prolific scorer, and anything that resembled defense. There were only a couple of teams looking to trade superstars, and the Rockets couldnt get a hold of any of them.
"We were having discussions for Dwight Howard, Dwayne Wade, Deron Williams, Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire, even Paul George, but no one was really convinced on trading with us."
After the first 10 games, the team was allowing a whopping 110 ppg, and the Houston faithful were starting to get restless. Smonch continued to assure everyone that he had a vision, and was going to keep pushing forward for it to be seen by everyone. So just before the next game, he placed a call to the New York Knicks about one of their superstars, Carmelo Anthony, or Amare Stoudemire. Smonch was quickly turned away for Carmelo, but were more than happy to listen for Amare.
"The Knicks weren't too happy with his performance, and he felt a player of his caliber would be better suited as a focal player, and not a second fiddle."
So the two teams came to an agreement on a blockbuster that sent amare to Houston for Kyle Lowry, Jordan Hill, and Martell Webster. Just hours prior the Rockets also made a deal that brought Paul Millsap to Houston for Mo Williams' expiring deal, and a future 1st round pick.
"Bringing in Amare and Paul within hours of eachother was an absolute best case scenario for this franchise, we were struggling with an identity, and those 2 put the initial pieces into place."
So as the season has progressed, the team continued to struggle, especially on the defense end. The Houston Rockets rank in the bottom third in points allowed, and opponent field goal percentage, two critical categories. Going into the all star break the Rockets were in the bottom tier of teams in the league, and there didnt look like much was going to change. The team continued to look for that "Franchise Player" that has escaped them since the Ming dynasty, and there wasn't much on the market. But, one afternoon he received a call from the Brooklyn Nets about the availability of Paul Millsap, who had turned into a double-double machine during the year. What happened next was history. After hours of negotiations, the 2 teams and come to an agreement on an 11 player swap that sent future Hall-of-Famer Tim Duncan to the Houston Rockets.
"We were just looking to move Paul for prospects, but the salaries wouldnt match up, so it started to build on both sides of the trade table."
Now with Johnson on his way to Brooklyn, and Duncan on his way to Houston, the Rockets send out one of the most prolific front courts in the NBA. Perennial All-stars Duncan and Stoudemire complement eachother quite well, and will do great things at the 4, and 5 spots for the Rockets organization.
Smonch took what once a lottery bound team, and turned it into a dark horse for the bottom tier of the playoff bracket, and certainly not a team anyone would like to face. Things at the beginning of the year were looking bleak, but smonch has seen some light at the end of the tunnel, and is driving the train at full-speed to get there.
Franchise Rating: 7/10
With some salary now freed up, Smonch had to make a ballsy call during free agency; with no cornerstone players available on the free agent market, how would we go about getting "Mr. Houston?" Smonch saw Joe Johnson, a good seasoned vet with knack for scoring the basketball still available he knew what he had to do. Bring him in as eventual trade bait. So he was signed to a 1 year, very attractive 10 million dollar contract.
"Joe brings a veteran presence into our lockeroom, and he now has one of the most moveable contract in all of the NBA," smonch said.
Now with Johnson and Martin on the roster together, and both of them inept at defending paper bags, he knew what he had to do. Deal one of them away in an effort to bringing in an attractive trade piece. Shortly after signing Johnson, the team traded beloved Kevin Martin, along with Jeremy Lin and Patrick Patterson to Minnesota for Mo Williams and contract fillers.
Now as the the first few games went by, smonch was still not satisfied with the current roster. They were missing a prolific scorer, and anything that resembled defense. There were only a couple of teams looking to trade superstars, and the Rockets couldnt get a hold of any of them.
"We were having discussions for Dwight Howard, Dwayne Wade, Deron Williams, Carmelo Anthony, Amare Stoudemire, even Paul George, but no one was really convinced on trading with us."
After the first 10 games, the team was allowing a whopping 110 ppg, and the Houston faithful were starting to get restless. Smonch continued to assure everyone that he had a vision, and was going to keep pushing forward for it to be seen by everyone. So just before the next game, he placed a call to the New York Knicks about one of their superstars, Carmelo Anthony, or Amare Stoudemire. Smonch was quickly turned away for Carmelo, but were more than happy to listen for Amare.
"The Knicks weren't too happy with his performance, and he felt a player of his caliber would be better suited as a focal player, and not a second fiddle."
So the two teams came to an agreement on a blockbuster that sent amare to Houston for Kyle Lowry, Jordan Hill, and Martell Webster. Just hours prior the Rockets also made a deal that brought Paul Millsap to Houston for Mo Williams' expiring deal, and a future 1st round pick.
"Bringing in Amare and Paul within hours of eachother was an absolute best case scenario for this franchise, we were struggling with an identity, and those 2 put the initial pieces into place."
So as the season has progressed, the team continued to struggle, especially on the defense end. The Houston Rockets rank in the bottom third in points allowed, and opponent field goal percentage, two critical categories. Going into the all star break the Rockets were in the bottom tier of teams in the league, and there didnt look like much was going to change. The team continued to look for that "Franchise Player" that has escaped them since the Ming dynasty, and there wasn't much on the market. But, one afternoon he received a call from the Brooklyn Nets about the availability of Paul Millsap, who had turned into a double-double machine during the year. What happened next was history. After hours of negotiations, the 2 teams and come to an agreement on an 11 player swap that sent future Hall-of-Famer Tim Duncan to the Houston Rockets.
"We were just looking to move Paul for prospects, but the salaries wouldnt match up, so it started to build on both sides of the trade table."
Now with Johnson on his way to Brooklyn, and Duncan on his way to Houston, the Rockets send out one of the most prolific front courts in the NBA. Perennial All-stars Duncan and Stoudemire complement eachother quite well, and will do great things at the 4, and 5 spots for the Rockets organization.
Smonch took what once a lottery bound team, and turned it into a dark horse for the bottom tier of the playoff bracket, and certainly not a team anyone would like to face. Things at the beginning of the year were looking bleak, but smonch has seen some light at the end of the tunnel, and is driving the train at full-speed to get there.
Franchise Rating: 7/10
