Football
Associated Press 17y

Rockets aren't expecting immediate help from draft

HOUSTON -- New coaching staff? Check. New point guard?
Check.

Next on Houston's wish list is a power forward with scoring
punch, but Daryl Morey doesn't expect to plug that hole Thursday in
his first draft as Rockets general manager.

The Rockets have only one pick, the 26th, and Morey expects the
choice to be a project instead of someone who will contribute
significantly next season.

"It's completely 'best player available," Morey said. "We
don't really see any player, even if they're more ready to play,
helping us next year, at (No.) 26. They're not someone who we're
planning to have on the floor in any significant way next year."

Morey said the Rockets aren't likely to make a trade and move up
in the draft order either. He said the Rockets plan to make their
pick, then scan the free-agent market for immediate help.

NBA teams can begin contacting free agents July 1.

"It's hard to know how quick or slow it will move," Morey
said. "We haven't 100 percent finished our planning there. It's
very hard right now to anticipate how it will go."

Last year, the Rockets drafted Rudy Gay with the eighth pick,
then traded him and Stromile Swift to Memphis for Shane Battier.
Battier was a key addition who helped Houston go 52-30, an 18-win
improvement from the previous season.

But the younger, deeper Utah Jazz exposed Houston's other
deficiencies in the playoffs. The Jazz won the first-round series
in seven games, outrebounding the Rockets in the final two games
and forcing an average of 15 turnovers.

The Rockets fired coach Jeff Van Gundy, hired Rick Adelman and
traded Juwan Howard to Minnesota for point guard Mike James. The
acquisition of James clouds the future of Rafer Alston, the
Rockets' starting point guard the past two seasons. Alston was an
inconsistent perimeter shooter last season and was outplayed by
Utah's Deron Williams in the postseason.

Morey and Adelman have been vague about how the addition of
James affects Alston.

"The whole key to building a team that's going to compete in
the upper echelons is to keep adding pieces that are going to make
you better," Adelman said. "If guys understand that the more
pieces you have, you spread it around and that's what wins. If the
guys buy into that, it's a plus for everybody."

Chuck Hayes played power forward last season, but at 6-foot-6,
he was often overmatched by taller players. Howard was Hayes'
backup.

One intriguing possibility to bolster the frontcourt next year
is 6-9, 265-pound Lior Eliyahu, an Israeli player acquired in a
trade with Orlando in last year's draft. Morey said Eliyahu arrived
Tuesday and will play with the Rockets' summer league team.

"He has the potential to be on the roster," Morey said.

The Rockets solidified their backcourt Monday when versatile but
temperamental Bonzi Wells exercised his option to return next
season.

The 6-5 Wells hardly played last season because of injuries and
a rift with Van Gundy. His decision to return was no doubt
influenced by the coaching change -- Wells had one of his most
productive seasons under Adelman in Sacramento the year before he
signed with Houston as a free agent.

Morey and Adelman said they have talked to Wells about what's
expected next season.

"He's really focused to show Rockets fans what he can do,"
Morey said. "He doesn't feel like he did that last year. He knows
he played a big role in why that didn't happen. I think he's got a
very good attitude, and he was excited to opt in. We think he'll
help us next year."

All the moves, of course, are aimed at building around All-Stars
Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, both still lacking a playoff series
victory. Morey said he feels an urgency to make the team better
while Yao and McGrady are in their primes.

"I feel like our window is long," Morey said. "That said,
before you know it, the window's over, too. Every year, we're
trying to improve the club and get closer to winning a title."

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