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NLL Insider - Team by Team: Houston Rockets

by greenmig, updated on Monday, September 16 2013, 10:03 am EST

2012-2013 Finish:  30-52

Season Highlights- 8th June 2013.  Commissioner vtstern makes the following announcement to the NLL world :

and….the winner of the first pick for the 2013 NLL Draft is the Houston Rockets”

After another lackluster season in which the Houston Rockets missed the playoffs again, finally lady luck smiled upon gm dare and his team as he beat the Lotto odds and was handed the right to make the number one selection in the 2013 NLL draft.

As will be discussed in more detail later, gm dare was quick to make full use of this unexpected boon and with it perhaps usher in a new era of relevance in Houston as he dealt the 1st pick to Boston in exchange for arguably the greatest player in NLL history – Kobe Bryant.

Season Lowlights – Going 6-19 to finish the season between weeks 15 – 20 could be considered a lowlight for the Rockets.  Then again perhaps gm dare had thrown in the towel by then and was tanking ‘on the quiet’ to maximize his chances come draft time.

Whilst many may consider it a highlight I would propose that perhaps the biggest season lowlight was the fact that the Houston Rockets where led in scoring by Charlie Villanueva.  Anytime your stud is Charlie V things must be pretty bad!  Next season with ball hog Kobe in town I am sure Charlie’s days of being the stud in Houston are over.


Best TradeThe Boston Celtics send Kobe Bryant to the Houston Rockets.
The Houston Rockets send a 1st-Rounder (Hou) and 2nd-Rounder (SA) to the Boston Celtics

With what many have described as the weakest draft since the inception of the NLL, gm dare looks to have made the right move in sending away 2013’s pick 1 in exchange for Kobe Bryant.  Sure, Kobe is 35yrs old and is currently working his way back from an achilles injury, but we are not talking about a regular guy here in Kobe Bryant.  Kobe claims he still has a few years left in him, that his recovery is ahead of schedule and that he will be ready for game 1 of the new season.  Only time will tell how his surgically repaired achilles tendon holds out.

Not since the days of Yao Ming have Houston been a real force but this writer believes that with the addition of Kobe Bean Bryant, the Houston Rockets will once again become relevant in the NLL.  At the least for gm dare it adds a new excitement and energy to him and his team being a self-confessed Kobe fan.


Worst Trade -
The Boston Celtics send Kobe Bryant to the Houston Rockets.
The Houston Rockets send a 1st-Rounder (Hou) and 2nd-Rounder (SA) to the Boston Celtics

Gm dare didn’t really make any other bad trades this season so I thought I would go again with the Kobe deal.  As always there are two sides to the story.  Here is the negative side.

Whilst this deal makes Houston relevant again, is gm dare being too short sighted and essentially sentencing his team to being a middle of the road team for another 2-3 years – or however long Kobe is around?  There is a theory in the NLL that you either want to be very good and contend or be very bad and gain rights to draft the best talent in the country.  Considering this, the Rockets now are saddled with Kobe’s $30M deal meaning they don’t have sufficient cap flexibility to add any free agents of note this season, and assuming Kobe is ‘Kobe’ they will likely now not be bad enough to end up in the 2014 lottery and a chance at arguably the best draft class in a decade.

I guess only time will tell whether this deal should be considered the ‘Best’ or ‘Worst’ Trade.

Other Notable TradesThe Brooklyn Nets send Charlie Villanueva to the Houston Rockets.
The Brooklyn Nets send a 2nd-Rounder (NJ) to the Houston Rockets.

If it wasn’t for the big Kobe deal this little deal would have to be considered the best deal Houston made purely based upon the performances of Villanueva who took advantage of the opportunity to shine in a weak Houston squad.

The Houston Rockets send Channing Frye and Meyers Leonard to the Milwaukee Bucks. The Milwaukee Bucks send Jose Calderon and Hasheem Thabeet to the Houston Rockets.
The Milwaukee Bucks send a 1st-Rounder (Tor) to the Houston Rockets.

..and

The Houston Rockets send Carlos Delfino, Rodrigue Beaubois and Jan Vesely to the Washington Wizards. The Washington Wizards send JJ Redick, Lance Stephenson and Etwaun Moore to the Houston Rockets.
The Houston Rockets send a 1st-Rounder (Tor) to the Washington Wizards. The Washington Wizards send a 2nd-Rounder (SA) and 2nd-Rounder (Was) to the Houston Rockets.

..and

The Houston Rockets send JJ Redick to the Orlando Magic. The Orlando Magic send Trevor Ariza to the Houston Rockets. The Houston Rockets receive 3 GM points. The Orlando Magic trade -3 GM points.

If you consider these three deals together, gm dare looks to have done a good job in turning a bunch of washed up veterans and busts, (apart from Meyers Leonard) into some solid veterans and young players with good upside, (apart from Thabeet);

HOU LOST

HOU ADDED

Carlos Delfino

Jose Calderon

Rodrigue Beaubois

Lance Stephenson

Channing Frye

Etwaun Moore

Jan Vesely

Trevor Ariza

Meyers Leonard

Hasheem Thabeet

Good job gm dare!


Best FA Signing – Andrei Kirilenko: Although he only played 56 games for the Rockets Kirilenko was reasonably productive scoring 9.8 points and 6.8 rebounds to go along with 1 steal and 1.2 blocks per game.  He also had a NET 48 of +5.4 which especially on a losing team shows how much of a two way player he is and how his presence on the floor makes a positive impact to his team.  It’s a pity that he has opted out and will likely test free agency.


Worst FA Signing- The Rockets didn’t really have any ‘bad’ free agent signees as most of the other players signed where signed on the cheap to minimum deals and so expectations were not that high.  Perhaps Kris Humphries could be considered the worst as although he was signed at a discount price of $7.68M he didn’t really deliver a great performance for a starting PF.  Also next season he is commanding a $12M salary.  I would suggest that gm dare cut him loose.


Star- Charlie Villanueva: As stated above, the biggest star for these Rockets was Charlie V who averaged 18.2 points and 6.6 rebounds per game – is this really something worth celebrating though?


Surprise  Trading the 1st rnd pick for Kobe’: I would say that this caught most of the NLL by surprise sending ripples of excitement through the league and opening up a furious debate on the pro’s and con’s of the move.


GoatRashard Lewis: Sporting a career earnings of +$120M at age 34 this former big time scorer is now lingering like a bad smell putting up embarrassing numbers whilst riding the pine on most nights.  He really should do us all a favor and just retire!


Draft Report Card – Draft Grade B

The Rockets only had one pick.  They drafted 7’2 centre Jeff Withey, a senior out of Kansas with the 2nd rnd pick 38.  All reports suggest Whitey will be a solid big man in the NLL so this seems to be a good pick by gm dare.  Given the lack of big man talent on the roster Whitey may even end up the starting C for the Rockets.


Looking to the Future – As discussed in some length above, gm dare has invested a lot of the team’s short term future on the health and performances of Kobe Bryant.  But has he also in doing so sacrificed his chances of a more prosperous long term future?  Whilst Kobe may provide some legitimacy to this Rockets team for now the drop off in talent after Kobe is like a proverbial cliff.  With Calderon, Kirilenko and Devin Harris likely bolting for greener pastures and Humphries’ $12M likely to be set loose, the next best talent in Houston could well be Charlie V or perhaps Lance Stephenson – this is not good!  So I guess one thing is for sure; Kobe will win the scoring title next season.  Another bright note may be that with Kobe the Rockest could snare a better record and perhaps even eek into the playoffs possibly assisting them in attracting a big name free agent to Houston in 2014 as Kobe’s huge salary comes off the books.  But is missing out on a potential rookie franchise building block like Andrew Wiggins or Jabari Parker worth gambling on a season of Kobe highlights assuming his surgically repaired achilles tendon holds out?  I guess gm dare thinks it is.

Upcoming Free Agents

As stated already Calderon, Kirilenko and Harris will likely test free agency unless gm dare throws A LOT gm points at one of them – which could be unwise.

Kris Humphries may well also leave of his own accord; otherwise it is quite likely that he will be pushed.

Tim Ohlbrecht and Royal Ivey are likely to disappear into the basketball wilderness.

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