Portfolio Review: The Houston Rockets have perhaps the best point guard in the NBA that isn't quite a franchise point guard in Kyle Lowry. He is entering the prime of his career just as their second best player, Luis Scola, is exiting his. Scola, coincidentally, is just about as good as you can get at power forward without being an All-Star.
And that, in a nutshell, is the Houston Rockets. A group whose individual talents promise falls just short of stardom, and whose collective talents falls somewhere between the 7th seed and just out of the playoffs in the Western Conference.
The Rockets are a team perfectly built around a superstar that no longer exists on their roster. Over the summer they were able to replace that superstar with Pau Gasol, only to have David Stern veto the trade.
Prime Assets: Kyle Lowry has been deemed untouchable in most trade scenarios, though I would strongly take a look at a Lowry for Rajon Rondo-type deal should it present itself. Lowry is the better all-around player, but like the rest of the Rockets roster, lacks a single elite skill. Rondo has a deficient jump shot that skews his team's spacing, something the Rockets would have no trouble accommodating.
With Lowry off the table, the combination of Luis Scola and Kevin Martin were once worth Pau Gasol with a third team. Perhaps they can be again.
Worthless Stock: The only redeeming value for Hasheem Thabeet right now is a team's ability to write they acquired a former no. 2 overall pick in the press releases. He and Jonny Flynn are not toxic assets, but they're certainly not helpful either.
The Rest: The Rockets do not really do bad contracts or bad players. They just don't have very many really good ones. The question is do the Rockets consolidate some of their depth to improve slightly in talent?