Which was the more impressive rebuilding?

  rahat huq | September 30, 2013 at 7:00 pm

I noted yesterday that, with training camp already having begun, it wasn’t too difficult to forget that at this time last year, Jeremy Lin was the best player on the Houston roster.  Indeed, the Rockets acquired two top-10 players within the span of nine months.  I wondered aloud if there were comparable instances in history of such total and thoroughly impressive rebuilding.  The example which immediately came to mind was the Boston Celtics’ draft night acquisition of both Kevin McHale and Robert Parish.  But, just rookies, neither of those players was at the level of either unit of the Rockets’ duo.

Several of you immediately cited the Boston acquisitions of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen and the Miami Heat’s heisting of Lebron James and Chris Bosh.  But Allen wasn’t a top-10 player and in my opinion, neither was Bosh.  Then again, as several of you noted, neither was Harden at the point of acquisition.

Setting that aside, which was the most impressive overhaul?  The Heat’s heist took over a year of preparation (not to mention possible tampering) while the Celts’ required some delicate cajoling of Garnett.  But in both those cases, the difference was that those teams already had a resident superstar.  As we know, and learned this summer, that makes things infinitely easier.  While the Heat’s moves had the greatest magnitude (Lebron James wins any list), the Rockets’ respective trade and signings of Harden and Howard stands, in my opinion, as the most impressive.  They literally had to build it from scratch.

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• Jeby says 2 months ago
  
  

  I would still go with the Heat. I think you could make a solid argument that--at the time--Bosh was a top-10 player. He was coming off his best season, with a 25.11 PER, 59.2 TS% and 17.6% rebound rate (all career highs). He averaged a 24 and 10 with the ability to play solid help defense. Duncan and KG were declining, Love and Aldridge hadn't quite arrived, and Gasol was probably Bosh's only challenger to the title of "Best Power Forward." Bosh's value has never been higher than at the point of his acquisition. Riley's ability to get Bosh to buy in to the idea of sacrificing for that team, convincing LeBron to risk diminishing his legacy by joining Wade, and creating the cap situation to make it possible, stands as a more impressive achievement to me than what Morey accomplished. By a hair.

• thejohnnygold says 2 months ago

  I would describe the Miami Heat/Riley tampering situation like this. Nobody can prove they did it, but the evidence is plain to see. It is the same way one would know that I had been speeding if I I embark on a 5 hour car ride and arrive in 3 1/2 hours. Nobody caught me breaking the law, but everyone knows I had to to achieve what I did.

• Cooper says 2 months ago Some people accused Riley of being in conversations with wade lebron and bosh. I think the rockets was most impressive because they started with the least to work with. Miami was bad but they still had wade and it wasn't difficult for them to unload the few long term salaries they had. The celtics had pierce to Draw KGs attention and they had a high enough pick to trade for Allen.
• timetodienow1234567 says 2 months ago

  New post: Which was the more impressive rebuilding?
  By: rahat huq
  

  I noted yesterday that, with training camp already having begun, it wasn't too difficult to forget that at this time last year, Jeremy Lin was the best player on the Houston roster. Indeed, the Rockets acquired two top-10 players within the span of nine months. I wondered aloud if there were comparable instances in history of such total and thoroughly impressive rebuilding. The example which immediately came to mind was the Boston Celtics' draft night acquisition of both Kevin McHale and Robert Parish. But, just rookies, neither of those players was at the level of either unit of the Rockets' duo.

  Several of you immediately cited the Boston acquisitions of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen and the Miami Heat's heisting of Lebron James and Chris Bosh. But Allen wasn't a top-10 player and in my opinion, neither was Bosh. Then again, as several of you noted, neither was Harden at the point of acquisition.

  Setting that aside, which was the most impressive overhaul? The Heat's heist took over a year of preparation (not to mention possible tampering) while the Celts' required some delicate cajoling of Garnett. But in both those cases, the difference was that those teams already had a resident superstar. As we know, and learned this summer, that makes things infinitely easier. While the Heat's moves had the greatest magnitude (Lebron James wins any list), the Rockets' respective trade and signings of Harden and Howard stands, in my opinion, as the most impressive. They literally had to build it from scratch.

  Possible tampering? What? Players colluding isn't tampering, or do you have knowledge that none of us has? Other than that, I agree with everything else you said.