Like any other Rockets fan this offseason (so far) I have felt teased and used. I know numerous people within the Rockets organization who are high up and former players who are close personal friends. Here's the deal with the Rockets... Les Alexander needs to sell the team and we will be a mediocre franchise until he does so. His hunger for winning is gone, and his pride has been satisfied. When Morey was first hired, it was Les's last hurrah at winning a championship when T-Mac was traded to town. Unfortunately, due to injuries the team never lived up to its potential. Since the 08-09 season there has been no spark in the front office, no drive, no turnover, and a lot of wishful thinking. We have finished 9th-10th each year, overpayed players who are disgruntled with Houston and made some ridiculous mistakes along the way. These so called "assets" that we have tried to trade for years have panned out to be traded for nothing better than an average to below-average player and/or draft pick. Regarding the front office, we have seen one major move in the past three years which was firing Rick Adelman who was a solid coach for the franchise because he didn't get along with DM. Scouting has been awful (i.e: Marcus Morris), and with the picks from this past draft there is no huge upside to speak of. From who I've talked to, Les is doing very little of anything, and will continue his way until he stops turning a profit. Former players are disturbed by the idea that he sits back and let's Morey call all of the shots, and that his "winning" ego has turned into greed. Let's all be real here, Houston is not an NBA destination nor a great organization. Free agents are willing to choose one of those two types of teams which fall into about 13 teams. We're not getting Dwight, nor Bynum, or any other big time star this offseason. Until Morey is gone the Rockets will stay stagnant and in the same position and until Les sells the team the franchise is not going anywhere.

[This message has been edited by TexAgs1992 (edited 7/1/2012 4:47p).]

[This message has been edited by TexAgs1992 (edited 7/1/2012 4:49p).]

I think Morey is hurting the Rox for other reasons. He is able to find pretty good role players and thus allow the Rockets to win at a pretty respectable rate despite the lack of stars. As a result, they are stuck in mediocrity. If he was a crappy GM, then the Rox would hit rock bottom and they'd be able to draft some young studs.

That settles it then, Houston needs to fire Morey and bring in Isaiah Thomas. Two years and we will see the Rockets at the bottom.

"Sports do not build character. They reveal it."
-John Wooden

Rockets just need to suck for a while and try and get lucky in the lottery. No big free agents want to play in Houston.

That's my point. There are 14 teams that could be considered destinations or great organizations that are desirable to free agents.
Destinations:
New York
Brooklyn
LA (clippers/lakers)
Miami
Chicago
Dallas (yeah I know but let's face it)
Great organizations:
Portland (have had bad luck)
Boston
Indiana
OKC
San Antonio
Utah
New Orleans (with the new regime I think they're gonna be the real deal)

Players want to be in big markets or winning cities. Houston hasn't been either as of those in years.

The Clippers have never been a destination team. The only reason they were able to get Chris Paul was because David Stern is a ***** and rejected the trade that would have sent him to LAL and Gasol to Houston. Otherwise the Clippers would have never had a chance.

Also, I wouldn't use the word "great" to describe the Blazers, Pacers or Hornets, but that may just be me

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The Clippers have never been a destination team. The only reason they were able to get Chris Paul was because David Stern is a ***** and rejected the trade that would have sent him to LAL and Gasol to Houston. Otherwise the Clippers would have never had a chance.

Also, I wouldn't use the word "great" to describe the Blazers, Pacers or Hornets, but that may just be me

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Clippers are in LA. That's a big market and a destination. Blazers sell out every game and the pacers have a very good front office. If you do not consider teams that sell out no matter what the outcome may be then you don't know what players enjoy.

I realize the Clips are in LA, but before this year they had been in the postseason just once in the last 15 some odd years. That doesn't exactly indicate that free agents want to go there.

And the Pacers HAD a good front office. With Bird resigning we'll have to see what happens. But there is no reason that Houston cannot be on the same level as Indy or Portland (in my opinion we already are).

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Rockets just need to suck for a while and try and get lucky in the lottery. No big free agents want to play in Houston.

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Getting free agents and dudes who wanted to be traded to come to the rockets was never a problem when we were a great team.

We need to be terrible for a couple years and pray we draft well, then we can start to get other teams best players.

It is beginning to seem more and more like the Rockets will acquire Dwight Howard. Yes, he only wants to go to Brooklyn, but if that were the case, he shouldn't have opted into his deal. The Magic are going to trade him...it is an unfixable situation there. Of teams interested in him and willing to roll the dice that they can re-sign him, the Rockets probably have the most attractive pieces. Trading Lowry with K-Mart's expiring contract, plus take your pick of Patterson, Morris, Motiejunas, Parsons, Lamb, White and/or Jones. There is some talent in there, and we have no emotional attachment to any of it.

Once he is here, the worst case scenario is that he pouts for a year and goes to Brooklyn. Then we finally get to start rebuilding in earnest.

My understanding is that the Rockets would be able to offer him a lot, lot more money than Brooklyn could, and maybe that is enough to convince him to stay. Best case scenario you have the best center in the NBA for most of his prime years. Either way works for me.

Personally, I would be fine just trading Lowry, Martin and Scola for whatever you can get and letting the kids play. But, it doesn't sound like Les will allow that, so let's get Howard and see what happens.

I do agree that Les is a big part of the problem. Much like Drayton McClane, he bought a team with the nucleus of a contender, and doesn't understand that rebuilding is an essential and necessary part of sports. Teams that refuse to rebuild just delay the inevitable at the expense of their fans. If Drayton, had gone full speed ahead into rebuilding after Petitte and Clemens left, and traded Berkman and Oswalt at their peak value while making the draft the focus of the organization, the Astros would probably be a contender now. Instead, we had to suffer through the Pedro Feliz/Kaz Matsui era and won't contend until probably 2016 or so.

My guess is that we trade for Howard and probably give up most of our interesting kids to do so. He leaves for Brooklyn a year later and we're bad for a few years afterwards.

At least, the Texans are good.

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I do agree that Les is a big part of the problem. Much like Drayton McClane, he bought a team with the nucleus of a contender, and doesn't understand that rebuilding is an essential and necessary part of sports. Teams that refuse to rebuild just delay the inevitable at the expense of their fans. If Drayton, had gone full speed ahead into rebuilding after Petitte and Clemens left, and traded Berkman and Oswalt at their peak value while making the draft the focus of the organization, the Astros would probably be a contender now. Instead, we had to suffer through the Pedro Feliz/Kaz Matsui era and won't contend until probably 2016 or so.

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Exactly. I don't blame Morey. He has generally drafted well and come out ahead in most trades. But he's had his hands tied by an owner who refuses to rebuild.

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Exactly. I don't blame Morey. He has generally drafted well and come out ahead in most trades. But he's had his hands tied by an owner who refuses to rebuild.

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I agree completely. I think Les either needs to sell, or realize that it's time to stop the "win now" mentality and lets the kids play. I see a lot of similarities in Les and Drayton by trying to remain in contention past the window of opportunity. The only difference is that Morey has drafted well enough to keep the Rockets from the cellar that the Astros currently find themselves in.

At this point, I tend to agree that it looks more and more likely that Houston is where Howard is going to end up. It sounds like the Nets can't put together a package the Magic want and it also sounds like the Lakers don't want to deal Bynum if they aren't assured Howard will re-sign (can't say I blame them for that). So, the deal of K-Mart, Lowery and 2-3 young players might be the best move for them. If it does happen, Houston needs to do whatever they can to make sure and re-sign Dragic, which I expect them to do and then hope they can somehow get Eric Gordon. If not, let's hope Dragic continues to be a 19-9 guy like he was last year as a starter and that Parsons continues improving.

"Sports do not build character. They reveal it."
-John Wooden