With the NBA world turned upside down, Thank God for the Rockets

If anyone would have told me ten years ago that out of the first four players in the NBA draft none would come from the NCAA I would have laughed proclaimed them to be total idiots. My how things change.

No longer do we see teams draft and keep the same players until the end of their careers. Super Stars are now passed around like trading cards. The World Champion L.A. Lakers are a team full of players drafted by other teams including their MVP Shaq. We have just recently seen Jason Kidd sent to his third home in New Jersey. His replacement in Phoenix, Stephon Marbury is on his third home. Jason Williams was just traded for Mike Bibby, Shareef Abdul Raheem was traded for a draft pick and Elton Brand was traded for a high school kid all in the same week! The top free agent in the league Chris Webber is expected to find his way to a fourth home sometimes next month. Certainly there has been big name players move to new cities in the past but nothing like we are seeing today. Kareem Abdul Jabar was traded from the Bucks to the Lakers. A few years later Elvan Hayes was traded from the Rockets to the Bullets and back to the Rockets. In the early 80s Moses Malone packed his bags and went to Philly but these were blockbuster trades that happened over a period of years. Rarely have we seen such a mass of top line talents move from one team to another in such a short period of time.

Hopefully the Rockets have a core of top line young talent that will remain in Houston for the rest of the decade. Three players that have wore nothing but Rockets colors and a fourth that was acquired at a very early age. Steve Francis, Cuttino Mobely, Eddie Griffin and Mo Taylor make up what is one of the youngest and one of the most exiting quadruplets of talent in the NBA.

It appears that Les, Rudy and CD have every intention of keeping this group together for the long haul and allowing them to mature together. Imagine living in Chicago, Phoenix or New Jersey and not knowing who you were going to cheer for from one season to the next. In today’s NBA they appear to be a rare breed.

I for one am excited knowing that I will get a chance to watch these four grow into a perennial play-off team and someday a champion. The journey is the reward and for many teams trying for the quick fix they miss out on the journey and almost never become champions. Makes me glad to be a Rocket fan.

Just my 2 cents





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