What should have been - The 07' - 08' Houston Rockets

[Jordigriffin]

a few notes before i start this off:
1. I know i have a current bulls series, for the people following i will be posting on that soon, i was just rushing into it and got burned out with playing with that team.
2. there might be some historical incorrect things, but for most things i will try to give a reasonable explanation because as you might expect, putting a historical team into the regular nba, might cause confusion.
3. i hope you enjoy, and like i said if there are any confusions or you got any tips for me, just let me know! i am very open to criticism as long as it isnt just pure hatred. Thanks

The 07' - 08' Houston Rockets
A team that couldve been amazing, if it wasnt for injuries. Lead by 7'6'' Giant Yao Ming from China, and Incredible Shooting Guard Tracy McGrady, the rockets were set up to succeed.

Historical Changes
Now obviously by putting in an entire different rockets team into the NBA, one might ask, Where did all the current rockets players go? heres an explanation.
James Harden You probably guessed it, he stayed with the Thunder, didnt break out quite when he did though, he will keep his remaining 2K stats, as this year is the breakout season for him, signing a 3 year deal worth $85,26Million with the thunder. He takes place for Kyle Singler, who gets deleted from NBA History.
Lou Williams Stayed in LA, cuz kobe asked him to ISO way too much in honor of himself. RIP metta world peace, as he takes an early retirement (except hes 37 so is it really early?)
Clint Capela Got drafted by the Phoenix Suns, as the rockets drafted Alec Brown, who never made it to the NBA anyway, and so gets deleted in NBA history. He takes the place of Ronnie Price, who decided to retire early (Yea i forced him)
Patrick Beverley Stays in the team, same history as in real life
Eric Gordon Resigned with Pelicans, as Boogie was an off-season signing for them, sees real potential in NO now. takes place of Axel Toupane.
Nene Takes place off Jason Smith in washington, unfortunately he had to retire because i said so.
Trevor Ariza Also decides to sign with the Pels back again, believing in the whole Cousins-Davis combo. takes place of Quinn Cook.
Ryan Anderson, Sam Dekker, Montrezl Harrell all stay on the team, same storyline as usual.
Bobby brown, Isaiah Taylor, Troy Williams Will be deleted
Chinanu Onuaku i like this kids freethrow, so hes dropped into free agency

Anderson, Dekker, Harrell, Beverley take spots off John Davis (Created by 2k) John Jones (Created by 2k) Steve Novak (Still on current NBA as FA) Aaron Brooks (Still on current NBA as Pacer) Current Luis Scola will be made a 55 Overall with a changed name (So he wont be picked up) and Carl Landry will be replaced by 23 year old Leandro Barbosa from the 04'-05' phoenix suns, as the team desperately needs a backup SG. backstory for him later.

ALL THE CURRENT ROSTER BACKSTORIES AND REALLIFE STORYLINES WILL BE EXPLAINED IN NEXT POST.

Im excited.
all Jokes aside though, ill try to remain as realistic as possible.

[Jordigriffin]

How every player got into this team!
Keep in mind im not going into specifics for every single player, i just want to get the big picture out there

The Team
to be clear, we have sucked, no playoffs since Hakeem and Yao as their only hope for a better future, it looked grim.

Point Guards
Patrick Beverly(28yrs, 78ovr) Still Got Drafted R:2 P:12 (2009)
Bobby Jackson (36yrs, 75ovr) Undrafted, got taken from overseas 10 years ago by the kings, signed with houston this year on a 2 year minimum deal.
Steve Francis (31yrs, 73ovr) Always been a rockets legend, "The Franchise" got drafted R:1 P:3 in the 2006 NBA Draft

Shooting Guards
Tracy McGrady (30yrs, 90ovr) Always been playing for the raptors with his Nephew DeMar DeRozan, Tracy decided it was time to team up with Yao Ming to lead his own team. Joining the Rockets last year, unfortunately we couldnt see if it would work, as they both struggled with major injuries.
Leandro Barbosa (23yrs, 71ovr) (yes, his current NBA version doesnt exist anymore) got drafted R:1 P:26 in the 2015 NBA Draft

Small Forwards
Shane Battier (30yrs, 79ovr) Drafted by Grizzlies, Signed by Rockets two years ago. two years left on 16 million dollar deal
Sam Dekker (23yrs, 73ovr) Same history as current NBA, drafted by rockets R:1 P:18 in 2015 NBA Draft

Power Forwards
Ryan Anderson (29yrs, 77ovr) Same History as Current NBA
Montrezl Harrell (23yrs, 75ovr) Same history as Current NBA
Luis Scola (29yrs, 75ovr) Picked up by houston this year (Undrafted) Rockets paid buyout to Saski Baskonia and signed him to three years $9.15M deal.
Chuck Hayes (26yrs, 70ovr) Undrafted in '13, been a defensive benchwarmer for rockets ever since.

Centers
Yao Ming (28yrs, 88ovr) Multiple All-Stars on his name, Yao has never seen a second of a playoffs matchup, being the lone wolf after being drafted R:1 P:1 by the rockets in 2010 (Wall, Turner, Favors, Johnson, Cousins all move down one spot). Yao definitely wants more, and it seems now he got it with Tracy, and also the only reason he resigned to a 24M a year contract over 4 years.
[i]Dikembe Mutombo (43yrs, 74ovr)/I] Played his last 4 years on the rockets, not his former self ofcourse, being 43 years old, still a valid defensive option off the bench.

Is there anything wrong that i missed? tell me!

[Jordigriffin]

MyLeague Settings
Season Length : 14 Games (With limited time till 2k18, i think 14 games will allow me to play everything and still pass through multiple seasons)
Quarter Length : 10 Minutes
Simulated Quarter Length : 12 Minutes
Normalize played to Sim Minutes/Stats : Yes/No
Conference Quarterfinals : Best of 1
Conference Semifinals : Best of 1
Conference Finals : Best of 1
NBA Finals : Best of 1
Previously Traded Draft Picks : On
Trade Deadline : On
Recently Signed/Traded/Rookie Signing Restriction : On/On/On
Trade Override : Off
Progressive Fatigue : On
Team Chemistry : On
Gameplay Difficulty : Superstar (With a few sliders favoring more to CPU, as i could handle HoF but i just think its unbalanced and cheesy)
MyLeague Sliders : Everything 50
Draft Classes : EmbraceThePace 17,18,19 rest Auto-Generated no Storylines.

[Jordigriffin]

Lillard, Blazers, Too much too handle for Rockets, as they go down 100-107

Season opener had everyone hyped, Tracy and Yao not injured at the same time? that had to become something special. Unfortunately even though that duo was amazing, they had little help as they lost to the blazers 100-107.

Blazers ran away with the lead in the first quarter as the whole team hit from basicly everywhere and rockets failed to compete on the offensive end, in the second and third it was basicly the same, teams were even until the end of the third quarter and begin fourth quarter were Tracy started mounting a huge comeback worth 14 points vs Blazers 2. It wasnt enough though, as they lose their season opener.

Box Score Leaders
Damian Lillard 25pts, 6reb, 10ast, 2stl
C.J.McCollum 25pts, 1reb, 9ast
Jusuf Nurkic 13pts, 7reb, 1ast, 3blk

Tracy McGrady 32pts, 2reb, 5ast, 3stl
Yao Ming 20pts, 10reb, 4ast
Bobby Jackson 16pts, 2ast, 3stl


MOTM : Damian Lillard



Sources say Rockets eyeing third star.

[Jordigriffin]

ROCKETS TRADE FOR CP3, FORMING BIG 3 WITH YAO, TRACY AND PAUL

Paul (30) who has been reportedly frustrated with the situation in LA, told the clippers if they wanted value out of him they better trade him now, as he wasnt going to resign.

Clippers acquire Beverley, Anderson and Harrell, as they wanted to "Re-Tool" instead of rebuild. They also receive some picks. Full Trade down below



Clippers trade: Chris Paul, Diamond Stone, Alan Anderson
Rockets trade: Patrick Beverley, Ryan Anderson, Montrezl Harrell, '18 1st Round (Top 10 Protected), '18 2nd Round

Why this is good/bad for the Rockets
Obviously they are the winners in this trade, they get their third star whos hungry for his first title, Paul fits perfectly into the rockets system though, they run a ton of screens and paul is a perfect pick and roll point guard to pair up with yao. He also gives tracy some room as they cant double team him as easily anymore plus he can let tracy play offball more, which is great too. You are also getting a great playmaker and defender. In the trade they also got Diamond stone, whos a rookie this year and can definitely grow into something. Alan Anderson is a 34 year old veteran that can shoot some three's for you, but was just really there to make sure the clips wouldnt have too many players. Its bad because you gave up depth, Ryan Anderson was there stretch 4 and Scola (Who will now probably be starting at 4) wont be that, also you lose a great Rebounder and big talent in Harrell, and to top it off, a great defender in beverley, but Houston did clearly win this trade, as paul wanted to leave, his value dropped.

Why this is good/bad for the Clippers
The obvious losers in this trade, or are they? lets look at it this way, Paul wanted to leave, and you only had until the trade deadline to get something for him unless you were going to let him walk away for free. Now you get Anderson, whos a great floor spacer (Something desperately needed in LA), Beverley who is basicly the perfect 3 and D guy, fitting into basicly every system. Harrell who looks very very promising into the future, and Two Picks , even though the 1st Round 2018 pick is top 10 Protected, this rockets team isnt looking to lose, so you still have some good value in those picks. Also now finally blake gets to Control the offense, something hes wanted for a long time.

[Jordigriffin]

[Jordigriffin]

SAN ANTONIO SPURS (1-0) @ HOUSTON ROCKETS (0-1)

12 Nov, 2016. A night to remember, as the San Antonio Spurs travel to houston, to go up against the Rockets with CP3. A fun matchup, as both teams focus on Defense first. First Quarter started well for the rockets, Yao in the post, CP3 Dishing, and Tracy playing very well offball. End of the Quarter it was 21-27. Second Quarter the other way around. Spurs found their groove as a team, getting a good amount of three pointers and Runs to the basket, ending the quarter 52-51. Third and Fourth were basicly the exact same thing, Kawhi started isoing a little more, Pau and Lamarcus took great post shots as Yao posted up even more, Chris started scoring more and McGrady scored two late 4th quarter three pointers, but they couldnt get away due to Rockets bench struggling against Overpowering Spurs bench. With 14 seconds to go the rockets are 2 down, Paul gets the inbound, gives it to Yao in the post, Shakes off Gasol as he makes a layup underneath him, Tying the score at 101-101 with 2.3 to go, Tony Parker gets inbound, misses three. Game is going to overtime.

In OT the rockets were definitely dominant going on a 8-2 run, thats until with 3 minutes left the guy who locked up Kawhi all game, Shane Battier, Finally fouls out on a Questionable Blocking Call. Kawhi scores 10 in a row to eventually tie up the game, again the ball with 11 seconds to go in Tracy's Hands, Gets a screen from Both Chinese Frontcourt players, doesnt work. 6 seconds, gets screen from Paul. Paul gets open, receives pass, Pulls up.... Misses. Games goes to Second Overtime.

Second overtime starts highlighted by Tracy's 5th Foul, is sent to the bench, gets back in at a 8 point deficit and 2 minutes to go. Tracy gets an isoswitch, has Tony parker on him, gets inside and Finishes, 129-123. Kawhi passes inside, Danny Green tries layup, blocked by Yao. Rockets run the floor, Paul to Yao, Easy layup. 129-125. Kawhi with the iso, Pulls up, Misses. On the other end Yao in the post, Fadeaway, Its good. 129-127, Timeout for spurs with 13 to go, Gasol cant find anyone, Finds Dewayne Dedmon (Subbed in for earlyer fouled out Aldridge), Tracy takes one for the team as he intentionally fouls him, 6th foul, he will not be taking the final shot. Dedmon steps up to the line, misses first.... misses second! Rockets call timeout spurs lead 129-127, 6 seconds on the clock. Yi inbounds, CP3 comes off Yao ming screen and gets it. Immediatly gets another screen from yao, gets around tony parker, Pulls up and...... HE GOT IT!!!! This Time he doesnt miss! Rockets beat Spurs 129-130 on Chris Paul Game winner, what a dream debut. As Yao lifts him in the air and the team carries him to the locker room. Rockets leave with a 1-1 record.

After the game Tracy McGrady had a private interview

Q Thanks for Speaking with us Tracy, What were ur thoughts when you had to foul out to save the game?
A It was definitely difficult you know... we talked about it and i said i wanted to be in the game to not leave kawhi open, lock him up if you will, someone else was suppose to foul him, but when their only bad freethrow shooter gets the ball my instinct took over man.. like i had to foul him, and im glad it worked out.

Q So how did you feel about Chris Paul taking the shot? after he had missed a potential game winner in the first overtime
A I got confidence in every single man on this roster, he missed the first time i dont care about that, he took it on him... you know it couldve gone damn wrong too, he showed confidence, and coach gave him the sticks. he showed that he wants to win no matter what, i would lie if i said i didnt wanna take it myself, but i wasnt there. so im happy we won

Q So whos team is this? Yours? Chris'? Yao's?
A To be honoust we all thought it was goin'be yao's team man, but the big guy made it clear, its everyones damn team. hes probably the best teammate ive ever had in my career, so loyal and selfless, he would score 0 points if it meant we would win the game.

Q Thanks Tracy
A No Worries Man.

The rockets play the kings in two weeks away.

[Jordigriffin]

Yao celebrating with teammate Paul

YAO MING CARRIES ROCKETS (2-1) PAST KINGS (2-1) IN BATTLE OF THE CENTERS

Yao ming had a monster performance today, and damn was it needed. Cauley stein was increadible, shooting 15/16 from the field leading his team in scoring, but it wasnt to be as the Chinese giant kept scoring on him in the 4th Quarter, Post moves, Shakes, Hooks, Fadeways and even a three pointer, the big man was unstoppable. Takes rockets to 2-1 record, beating kings 118-109 away from home.

In the next game the Rockets will Host the Utah Jazz in Houston, Texas.