Houston Rockets: Super Star Contracts Handicap Front Office

The 2009 offseason has been more than frustrating for the Rockets' front office and their fans.

Promises of title contention were abandoned when news broke about Yao Ming's foot. I still shudder when I think of him possibly being done for the entire season.

Sitting back and watching the power house Western Conference teams get even better compounds the problem.

The San Antonio Spurs traded basically no one for Richard Jefferson, a small forward with great athleticism and scoring ability.

Dejaun Blair and Jack McClinton fell into their laps in the second round of this year's draft, giving them a future to look forward to as well as bench players to count on immediately.

They most recently signed journeyman Antonio McDyess, who I was hoping the Rockets would take a chance on. Depending on how the Lakers fare in the Lamar Odom sweepstakes, the Spurs look like the favorites to win the west.

The Lakers got rid of Trevor Ariza and replaced him with Ron Artest, immediately making them a favorite to repeat as world champs.

The Catch 22 is they have to convince Lamar Odom to stay for less money or else they will fall to second or third in the west.

The Blazers have made an offer to Paul Millsap, an up and coming potential all star. He is a restricted free agent, so the Jazz can match any offer; if the Blazers can steal him away somehow, you have to believe they are title contenders.

The Boston Celtics felt that simply getting Kevin Garnett back from injury was not enough. The 2007-2008 world champs decided to add another piece to the puzzle by signing Rasheed Wallace, giving the Celtics the best defensive front line in the game.

The Orlando Magic made the first big splash in the NBA before the draft by trading Courtney Lee and Rafer Alston to the Nets for Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson.

I guess they figured Vince Carter would make the alley-oop layup in game two of the finals.

Ryan Anderson is a young player who could develop nicely into a solid player for the future. Orlando will compete for the Eastern Conference title once again.

Signing Brandon Bass gives them a great hustle player who will provide a spark off the bench. I was very surprised when I saw the Mavericks let him slip through their fingers.

Penny Hardaway, Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, and now Lebron James; Shaq should give himself a new nickname—"The Big Mooch." 

While Shaq will most definitely go down as one of the greatest of all time, you have to wonder whether he would have had the same success without these great wing players.

The Mavericks are also making a splash in free agency: they resigned Jason Kidd, lured Marcin Gortat from the Magic, and in a sign and trade deal involving four teams they acquired the very versatile Shawn Marion.

They would have been better off retaining Brandon Bass, but with the moves they've made they will be in the mix come playoff time.

So with all these teams making moves to improve their title chances, as well as teams like Denver and Utah already being title contenders, you have to wonder what is going through the minds of the Rockets' brain trust.

Well, I'll tell you. We have nearly 40 million dollars invested in two players who are gonna ride the pine this season.

Daryl Morey claimed several teams have been calling him about Tracy McGrady.

I don't buy it.

If he got one call from anyone, he would have taken the deal. The Rockets' dire need to rid themselves of the cancer that is Tracy McGrady has been a priority for awhile now.

Somehow I can't believe too many teams are interested in an aging, broken down player who will not be back until possibly the All Star break.

As fans, all we can do is hope and pray someone wants to take on Tracy's expiring contract to clear cap space for the infamous 2010 summer.

With the economy in the dumps, it does not seem likely.