There are two parts to constructing a winning team. First, get yourself a superstar or two. Next, get complementary and affordable role players to go around them that fit the system.
The Houston Rockets have the second part of this down, it’s the first part that has Daryl Morey stuck. But he’s trying, according to the Houston Chronicle.Morey has spent the last 18 months attempting to acquire an impact player of his own. One day, he’s meeting with Chris Bosh, telling him how the Rockets will build around him. He was positioned to make the deal work. He’d gotten the players the Toronto Raptors would have taken in a sign-and-trade. Problem is, Bosh decided to join LeBron James and Dwyane Wade in Miami.
Lately, Morey has telephoned the New Orleans Hornets about Chris Paul and the Denver Nuggets about Carmelo Anthony. Both teams have told him they’re not interested.
Atlanta’s Josh Smith is on Morey’s radar screen, as are others in all probability. Morey likely will have the New York Knicks’ No. 1 pick in 2011 and is hopeful there could be help coming down that road.
Morey took over a Rockets team that was supposed to have its two superstars — Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming. He’s done a very good job of putting quality role players around them (Shane Battier, Aaron Brooks, Kevin Martin, Luis Scola, and so on and so on). Only to be let down by his stars, those stars let down by their bodies.
The problem is, there are only so many building bock stars, and they don’t come easy or cheap. You need to win the NBA lottery, convince one to come to you as a free agent or find a willing trade partner. And there are 29 other teams trying to do just that. It takes a combination of skill and luck that some guys — Pat Riley, for one — have in spades.
For now, the Rockets are stuck in the NBA’s middle ground — not good enough to really go deep in the playoffs, not bad enough to get John Wall in the draft lottery. It’s a tough spot, all the smart moves the Rockets made while the Wizards made bad ones have left the Rockets with less of a long-term future, without the building block Washington was given.
There’s no doubt Morey is smart. The lucky part, we will wait to see.