Watch out for the Rockets this year!
In their ongoing quest to finally reach the second round of the playoffs, Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming will no longer be lacking assistance. They'll have more help than ever this season.
Daryl Morey's first summer of exclusive authority in the Rockets' front office has resulted in multiple handy pickups to strengthen the supporting cast around T-Mac and Yao for new coach Rick Adelman, quickly hushing concerns that Morey's limited experience and untraditional background made him a risky hire.
The Rockets have three new options at point guard, which is good timing given all the off-court trouble Rafer Alston has encountered lately: First-round pick Aaron Brooks and the reacquired duo of Mike James and Steve Francis.
The Rockets have welcomed back a resurrected Bonzi Wells to possibly (finally) emerge as their new No. 3 scoring option. Wells is eager to stick around after thriving under Adelman in Sacramento and, like Francis, will be playing at a bargain-basement price, taking all the risk out of the second chance he'll get now in Houston after never meshing with Jeff Van Gundy.
The Rockets have also addressed a real need at power forward with the surprise acquisition of Argentina's Luis Scola, capitalizing on the unusual circumstances that made Scola available and believing that the toughness, smoothness and energy he offered in Las Vegas during the recent Olympic qualifying tournament can trump concerns that he's too undersized to succeed inside in the NBA.
It remains to be seen if Yao, even with his passing ability, can transition to Adelman's up-tempo style as easily as Houston projects. But that might be the worst non-Alston-related thing you can say about the Rockets' summer, which is why they top this list.
Daryl Morey's first summer of exclusive authority in the Rockets' front office has resulted in multiple handy pickups to strengthen the supporting cast around T-Mac and Yao for new coach Rick Adelman, quickly hushing concerns that Morey's limited experience and untraditional background made him a risky hire.
The Rockets have three new options at point guard, which is good timing given all the off-court trouble Rafer Alston has encountered lately: First-round pick Aaron Brooks and the reacquired duo of Mike James and Steve Francis.
The Rockets have welcomed back a resurrected Bonzi Wells to possibly (finally) emerge as their new No. 3 scoring option. Wells is eager to stick around after thriving under Adelman in Sacramento and, like Francis, will be playing at a bargain-basement price, taking all the risk out of the second chance he'll get now in Houston after never meshing with Jeff Van Gundy.
The Rockets have also addressed a real need at power forward with the surprise acquisition of Argentina's Luis Scola, capitalizing on the unusual circumstances that made Scola available and believing that the toughness, smoothness and energy he offered in Las Vegas during the recent Olympic qualifying tournament can trump concerns that he's too undersized to succeed inside in the NBA.
It remains to be seen if Yao, even with his passing ability, can transition to Adelman's up-tempo style as easily as Houston projects. But that might be the worst non-Alston-related thing you can say about the Rockets' summer, which is why they top this list.
