[ESPN.com] Rockets Blueprint

Sorry if this has been posted already, didn't see it.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/insider/columns/story?columnist=weltman_jeff&page=RocketsBlueprint07

Updated: April 18, 2007

Scouts Inc. Blueprint: Houston Rockets

After winning 45 and 51 games respectively in 2003-04 and 2004-05, Houston won only 34 last season. This slump can be traced largely to a season full of injuries, with Tracy McGrady out for 35 games and Yao Ming out for 25.

This season the Rockets have withstood another season without the services of its All-Star center for a significant stretch. They have one of the league's best records while playing in the ultra-competitive Southwest Division, and will finish with the fourth-best record in the West, setting up a first-round showdown with the Utah Jazz.


DECISION MAKERS

OWNER: LES ALEXANDER
FACT SHEET
Bought Rockets for $85 million in 1993
Current franchise value: $439 million
Owner's net worth: $80 million (as of 2005)

Sources: Forbes.com, USAToday.com SCORECARD
Seasons: 14
Playoffs: 9
Division titles: 1
West titles: 2
NBA titles: 2


GM SCORECARD
By John Hollinger
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CARROLL DAWSON
General Manager
Seasons: 11
Playoffs: 6
Division Titles: 0
Conference Titles: 0
NBA Titles: 0

BEST MOVE: Trading for Tracy McGrady
While drafting Yao Ming was a huge step, Houston's rebirth as a contender really came when the Rockets fleeced the Magic in the McGrady deal. The Rockets acquired one of the game's most dynamic offensive talents while unloading perennial headache Steve Francis and middling talents like Cuttino Mobley and Kelvin Cato. Orlando's GM stepped down within a year of cutting this deal.

WORST MOVE: Trading for Eddie Griffin
It's bad enough when you make a 3-for-1 deal and the one guy you trade for turns out to be an incorrigible head case. It's worse when two of the three players you trade turn into valuable pieces.

Dawson gave up Richard Jefferson and Jason Collins in this deal, helping New Jersey win the East in consecutive seasons while setting back Houston's own post-Olajuwon rebuilding program.

SEE ARTICLE FOR ROSTERS / SALARIES

TEAM STATUS REPORT

Houston has followed a model somewhat similar to that of the Lakers of the late 1990s and early 2000s: The Rockets are constructed around two stars -- one center and one wing -- and have assembled a veteran supporting cast hand-picked in relation to how they will play with McGrady and Yao.

Even their average age of nearly 28, one could reasonably assume, is largely influenced by their core: McGrady is in his prime chronologically, but with a recent history of back problems, the Rockets' future is now. This is not a team looking to stockpile future assets at the expense of making an immediate title run.

Accordingly, they traded the No. 8 pick in last year's draft to Memphis for Shane Battier, one of the league's premier role players. Battier has been an excellent fit in Houston: Along with his sound defense, he has provided the club toughness, consistency and a deep threat to help spread the floor. And he has benefited from being in Houston as much as it has reaped from his presence: As an indicator, his 3-point shooting has risen two percentage points this season while his 3-point attempts have more than doubled.

While Battier's hard work and approach to the game must be credited for much of this rise, we have to assume that his new scenery has something to do with it. As a tandem, Yao's and McGrady's ability to draw defensive attention along with their passing skills and willingness to hit the open man is unsurpassed in the NBA. Coach Jeff Van Gundy always has been a believer in the 3 and Battier has developed a new weapon in Houston.

To comb Houston's roster individually in looking for soft spots is somewhat missing the point: Remember, Kurt Rambis and Mark Iavaroni were starting 4s on championship clubs. Both were very good NBA players and excellent in performing the roles required by their teams, but they were not elite individual players at their position.

Houston's roster was picked specifically to play around McGrady and Yao, and each player is well-suited to perform his role. Juwan Howard's steadiness and professionalism are a solid complement to Rafer Alston and Luther Head's ability to be wild cards on any given night. All three can knock down shots created by Yao and McGrady.

Even Bonzi Wells was brought in with a specific purpose: Were he to have been integrated into the lineup as the club had hoped when it signed him, he would have given them another big-game player with the intelligence and versatility to play off the stars. As things presently stand, recent reports indicate that he will not figure into the club's immediate future.

Houston's payroll is a reflection of two opposing forces: (1) a veteran club, without many rookie-scale contracts, which usually signifies a high payroll, and (2) a team constructed around two stars and a supporting cast, which usually signifies a manageable number.

The Rockets are below the tax line right now and, because they are not loaded with rookie-scale deals, their number does not figure to balloon in the future. The flip side to that, of course, is that with a series of veteran contracts the Rockets do not shed much salary in coming seasons either.

Houston is not a young team: The Rockets are largely players in their prime and are built to compete immediately.

ROCKETS CAP/TAX SITUATION
Free agents (3): Chuck Hayes (r), Dikembe Mutombo, Jake Tsakalidis
Players under contract (9): Rafer Alston, Shane Battier, Luther Head, Juwan Howard, Tracy McGrady, Yao Ming, Steve Novak, Kirk Snyder, Vassilis Spanoulis

Total for players under contract: $56,206,251

First-round picks: Own

Team options: None

Player options: Bonzi Wells

Total for players with player options: $2,284,200

Limited salary protection: John Lucas, Bob Sura

Total for player with limited salary protection: $4,617,610

Estimated NBA salary cap: $55 million

Maximum cap room for Houston Rockets: None

Estimated luxury tax threshold:
$67 million (Rockets not expected to exceed threshold)

Compiled by ESPN.com staff


THE FUTURE

The two free agency issues the Rockets will face this summer are Dikembe Mutombo and Chuck Hayes.

Mutombo recentlysaid that he will play another season. A short-minutes player at this point in his career, Mutombo is still one the league's most proficient rebounders and he embodies the warrior mentality vital to all playoff teams.

Hayes, the solid role player the Rockets brought to camp in October 2005, waived, and then picked back up in January 2006, has been a key find for Houston and has played a valuable role in its success.

The Rockets' cap number stands at slightly more than $63 million (before adding their draft pick), but there is some wiggle room built in as the final year of Bob Sura's contract is not fully guaranteed.

Additionally, Wells holds a player option entering next season. Things clearly have not worked out for Wells in Houston, and one would presume he will look elsewhere over the summer. Were he to do so, it would further reduce the Rockets' committed payroll by more than $2 million.

With McGrady and Yao under contract through the 2009-10 season (and Yao one year beyond), Houston's finances are stable. They might not be major players in the free agent market anytime soon, but they are positioned to keep their stars surrounded with premier role players and solid veterans. Provided they stay healthy, the Rockets have a very high baseline of assets upon which to build and a team which could be dangerous in the playoffs.

MAJOR ISSUES FOR ROCKETS

• Bottom line: Need Yao and T-Mac healthy

• Now's the time: Rockets built to compete now

• Feelin' a draft: Key way for Houston to add talent

 

Oops...sorry about that. I just saw it. Please lock this up.