Houston Rockets: How to Move from NBA Mediocrity into the Elite

Success for an NBA team is contingent upon its alpha dog, maybe more than any other professional sport.

For the Houston Rockets, that guy hasn't been established since Tracy McGrady was shipped to the New York Knicks, cast out as another washed up superstar.

The Rockets badly need "the guy," and he's currently nowhere to be find.

Those who push the NBA to the side like distasteful veggies usually cite several reasons for dismay with the NBA.

The NBA has no parody, it's "fixed", and it's an individual sport, according to those NBA skeptics.

Sure, tops seeds usually win it all, and the league does generate story-lines fresh out of soap operas, but the NBA is by far not an individual sport.

Though some players do play selfishly, jacking up 25 shots a game and notching maybe three assists tops, championships are won by teams. The Dallas Mavericks best exemplify this.

But even champions who win put it together through the "we" effort, over one player pushing the "me" effort, have a leader, a head of the wolf pack.

The alpha dog.

This person leads by example, pushes teammates to give it their all, and usually demands the ball in the closing moments of the game. Ask Dallas how Dirk worked out.

The problem for Houston, there is no go-to guy, and the franchise needs a centerpiece to build around if the Rockets even want to sniff the postseason anytime soon.

Right now, the closest thing the Rockets have to "the guy" is Kevin Martin. The versatile scorer, around since 2010, can get to the hoop and put up about to 24 point a game, but never quite moved into the upper tier of players.

Essentially, he's one-dimensional, and his defensive skills are like Santa Claus: they don't exist.

Martin, 28, will enter his eighth career season next year, and has seemingly peeked.

He's never finished with more than 4.5 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and 24.6 points per game in a season, and has played 80 or more games twice in his career. In fact, in his last three seasons before 2010-2011, he played in 61, 51 and 46 games, respectively.

Even if he's not a great number one option, Martin is a nice player, and surely, many teams would gladly utilize his services. He very well could be the subject of trade talks this offseason, and he could be packaged with a number of players in Houston's young talent pool to land a top-tier player.

Another movable, and pretty attractive, piece Houston can move is Luis Scola.

Scola, too, is an offensive threat, a very reliable second or third option, and is good for 18 points and eight boards a game. But like Martin, he doesn't defend the basket very well.

With Marcus Morris coming to town via the draft, Scola's days could be numbered in town. Rockets scouts were big on Morris, too. Team him with Patrick Patterson and Jordan Hill, the 4 is very busy in the Rockets' rotation.

Houston has a nice mix of youth, talent and veterans, all coveted pieces of good teams. What the team should do is package some of those together and trade for a franchise changer.

Reports say the Rockets are interested in Atlanta Hawks PF Josh Smith, an athlete who performs on both ends of the court.

The team needs some financial space, and Smith's contract is the logical one to move. Not to mention Smith put Houston on his shortlist of desired destinations.

Now, Smith is a solid player, and can go for 16 points and eight rebounds a game. He plays exceptional defense and gets his blocks, but is he enough? What will Houston get out of trading for a seasoned version of Morris?

Someone the Rockets could look into is Andre Iguodala, another all-star stature player on the block. But Iguodala will be just another Martin, but with very tight defense.

Both Iguodala and Smith are solid players, and they each play well on both ends, they aren't enough.

Even if Houston somehow nabbed both, the team would be better, easily a sixth or seventh seed in the Western Conference.

Is that really where the Rockets want to be?

What Houston should do is play into the even bigger fish, say Chris Paul or Dwight Howard. It would take a lot, and cap space may not permit it in the new CBA, but a player of Howard and Paul's stature is what the team needs.

Would either one be willing to play for a non-contender? Maybe not, but it's an idea the Rockets need to explore.

Besides, Houston already has the supporting cast, the team just needs its leader.

Yao Ming is another intriguing piece to move, if GM Daryl Morey could put on his best salesman smile to attract buyers.

By piecing together a tandem of Martin, Scola, Yao and the newly acquired Jonny Flynn, the Rockets have attractive bait on their fishing lines. Which big fish will bite?