The Houston Rockets did whatever they could to bring their next superstar to the 713 this offseason. From clearing payroll, to trading away valuable assets and drafting en masse for new blood, the sacrifices have been made to make this team better. General manager Daryl Morey realizes that his advanced analysis of acquiring talent can only go so far, and that to get over the hump they need to infuse some juice into the squad.
Jonathan Feigen's piece in the Houston Chronicle highlights the fact that the changes in philosophy for this Houston Rockets squad will begin in the summer league with team's three new rookies.
"We have four ways to get a foundational, franchise player. One is through our players on our roster who have that ability to reach that level reaching it. One is trade. One is free agency. And one is through the draft. We think every roster spot and rotation spot is precious and every one of them, or nearly every one of them, needs to either have a chance to develop into a star or leave us flexible to acquire a star with cap room or through other means." - Daryl Morey
The Rockets are banking on six players to build their future around. 2011 draft selections of Marcus Morris, Donatas Motiejunas and Chandler Parsons. along with last month's selections of Jeremy Lamb, Royce White and Terrence Jones, will be Morey's new chess pieces. Will those chess pieces evolve into a king, a knight or a rook, or will they be traded off as pawns once again?
Read more on the Rockets at The Dream Shake and SB Nation Houston. Check out SB Nation's NBA hub for more off season news.