The On Deck Circle

This article has been submitted by emerging wine connoisseur Samuel Cassady.

Like in Clint Eastwood films, in the NBA Wild-West, there are the good, the bad, and the Sam Cassell (see here for clarification). The ‘good’ are the Lakers, Suns, Mavericks, Spurs, Hornets, Jazz, Nuggets, Trailblazers, and the Warriors. Some may be better than others, (Portland being on the cusp of ‘good’ because they’re an up-and-coming team) but for the most part, all of these teams are ‘good’ and have a viable chance of winning a title.Then, there are the bad: the Grizzlies, Sonics, TimberWolves, Clips and Kings round out this list. These teams are pretty brutal, and they don’t appear to be turning things around anytime soon. However, they’re not totally hopeless.

The ‘ugly’ is reserved for one team horribly out of place in the West: the Houston Rockets. While the Rockets are light-years better than the Sonics, for example, they have earned the ‘ugly’ status because they stand out so damn much (Think Sam Cassell in a Calvin Klein commercial).

While the ‘good’ Western teams are getting better by rounding out their roster with acquisitions like Jason Kidd (?), Pau Gasol, Damon Stoudamire, and Shaq (Better? Or just fatter…) and the ‘bad’ are busy securing their lottery status, the Rockets appear to be in limbo.

Glancing at their depth chart, obvious improvement could be made at the PG and PF spots, but what tradeable assets do the Rockets have? If the recent glut of trades are indicitive of the value of fading stars, you would think the Rockets could put together a package for a Jermaine O’Neal or Mike Miller, but other than draft picks, the Rockets don’t have much. They have their starters, and they have their bench, and that’s about it.

Using the Kidd trade as a blueprint, it takes picks, young talent, and expiring contracts to get a stale-star. The Rockets don’t have young talent: Chuck Hayes is merely an emerging role player, and Luther Head more resembles a young Juan Dixon than Devin Harris. The Rockets won’t have a high pick and also don’t have worthwhile expiring contracts. Sorry Rockets fans, but I don’t foresee Mike Bibby being stolen for the 23rd pick in the draft and Mike James.

So what do the Rockets do? They could, and probably will, hope to just make the playoffs and get beat out in the first round. Joy. (Don’t let their win-streak fool you.) They could, but likely won’t, let me be GM for a day, and trade Shane Battier and pieces for Shawn Marion. (Marion will just leave Miami in the off-season anyways.)

I really don’t care what exactly they do, they just need to do something. With a plethora of highly available big-names floating around the trade market, the Rockets need to make a change. Tracy McGrady is too cool to be ‘ugly.’

This article has been submitted by emerging wine connoisseur Samuel Cassady.