SAN ANTONIO – In many ways, the trade that changed rockets forever seemed like much more than just a year ago.
Thursday’s first anniversary of the deal that sent James Harden to Brooklyn in a three-team swap couldn’t have been celebrated, as the rebuilding process is still in its difficult and sometimes crazy nascent stages, even if marked, as it were. A year ago, a surprise victory over Tottenham. But the deal a year ago provided a fine line between what missiles are and what they hope to become.
“It seemed like a long time, a long time ago. A long time ago,” said Rockets coach Stephen Silas. “That was the beginning when I first got here. There has been a lot since then. Most of the players on the roster (last season the NBA scored 30 players), all the injuries we had, the draft pick, and now our direction in terms of developing these guys is very different from the one we had this time last year.
“For a calendar year to go by and have two seasons and completely different directions, ways of doing things, I think, it’s like it’s been ages ago.”
One year after they traded at number 13 on the 13th, they completely adopted the path set that day. But while it may have seemed a long time ago that the Rockets were in the headlines, chasing a championship and making the most shaky deals in the NBA rather than starting their long way back, the trend-changing trade stays with them every day. day.
They still had to cash in on the proceeds in the deal, opting to pull three picks from the unprotected Nets and the right to swap draw locations with Brooklyn in four more drafts, along with another first-round pick (Bucks from the Cavaliers) as the primary payout for the franchise’s face. The Rockets experimented with ex-star Victor Oladipo before trading him a month later.
But the deal marked the beginning of a transformation, from being involved in the championship endeavors to rebuilding. The Rockets have never looked back, even when looking at the trade.
“We are organizationally committed to the road,” General Manager Raphael Stone said. “I think I’m talking not just about myself but about Tillman (Fertita, the franchisee who gave the green light for a change in direction): We’re smart people, and we knew this wasn’t going to be easy. Great things aren’t supposed to be easy.”
“If you want to accomplish something great, it won’t always be fun. We know that, but we definitely think we’re on the right track. We don’t think we’ve come to the end of that path in any way.”
A year later, they’re first, having recruited four teens – Galen Green, Alperin Senghun, Osman Garuba and Josh Christopher – into the first round and committed to developing Kevin Porter Jr. as a base guard.
The Rockets chose that direction long before the draft when they chose pickups rather than veterans, most notably redirecting former Nets center Jarrett Allen to Cleveland for an additional pick.
While other superstar deals have reformed the roster, the Rockets added players — and Oladipo’s expired contract — to make the deal’s finances work, as if they tore down a downtown building to make way for a new skyscraper in its place.
In general, trade evaluation for draft selection is impossible until the fifth anniversary, not the first anniversary. That’s especially true with this one, with the Rockets getting draft picks in 2022, 2024 and 2026, most recently they can use on players in middle school currently. Nor can Stone discuss the details of the deal looking back, because the players involved, including those who would have gotten him, are still in the NBA, and league rules prevent him from discussing players on other teams.
“I can tell you I’m very comfortable with where we are and where this group is,” Stone said. “We have a good group of young and very talented players, they work hard and love each other. All these things combined make me very happy.”
The Rockets’ overall plan is to rebuild as quickly as possible without trying to shorten the process. This could set them apart from the current ‘Operation ’76ers’ or Thunder rebuild in that they included more veterans on the roster and are unlikely to trade a first-round pick for other first-round picks at a later date.
The latter type of move isn’t attractive due to the withdrawal of the draft from the Harden trade, to offset the draft pick’s losses from the deal to acquire Russell Westbrook for Chris Paul, a deal the Rockets still owe to Oklahoma City in second place. -Round Choices and Possible Choice Swap.
Much of the rebuilding after the trade was halted by the injuries that followed, which led to record numbers for existing players and starting lineups last season. He was fired that day, but as excruciating as it was for the remainder of last season – as with a messy pre-trade divorce – the Rockets had to accept growing pains that Silas said “can be very difficult”.
“It doesn’t mean we don’t value winning games, we don’t value competing in games,” Stone said. “We don’t try to donate tomorrow by any means to get a month from now. I think the grind is always worth it. You always focus on the next minute, the next hour, and the next day. You never think, ‘Oh, everything will be alright in In two years.” That’s the only way you can be sure that it won’t be.
“It doesn’t mean that our focus is not on improvement. That is. We’re really, really happy with the group we’ve put together, and… we’re really optimistic about their potential for growth.”
The Rockets would probably have done better this season if the Harden deal was meant to get veterans. They choose instead to build a menu that will allow their young core to play time to develop and learn from mistakes. This can be frustrating, though Stone said it’s easier for him to focus on the long-term than for coaches who have to meet the immediate need for corrections.
This is the path the Rockets chose a year ago.
“In terms of our guidance and our post-James organization, we are moving in the right direction,” Silas said. “We have a group of young people that we like a lot. We are obviously resilient. Rafael has done a really good job of doing both things at the same time.
“For our group on the ground we are up and down. We have good games and we have not-so-good games. We feel distractions sometimes when we are on the ground. We learn. We grow. Guys on the team, but they don’t play as much as we do. These kids learn and learn fast. They’re getting better.
“I love our direction. I love where we are going and what we are going to be.”
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