On Nov. 15, the Rockets returned to their home court to play the Wizards back-to-back, and the Rockets took a break from Big Dream and Maddy. The aging Jordan scored 8 points on 4-of-15 shooting from www.biquge.info Pistons, and Stackhouse, who was traded from the Pistons, scored a game-high 26 points, and was once considered a trade target by Dawson Larry Hughes with 22 points. Brown had just two points and five rebounds. As for the Rockets, Yao Ming got 18+8 (real data) for the first start in his career, and Xiao Ma, who was well-rested the day before, also cut 16+10, and the two centers completely dominated the interior and led the team to a 7-point victory over the Wizards.

"Old man, although there are many transactions to choose from at present, they always have to be completed one by one." Yuan Fei said to Dawson: "I asked the boss, he meant to talk about the deal of the Suns first. ”

"Okay, it's not too difficult, I'll do it."

Joe. Johnson, the No. 2 player of the Suns, is 201cm tall and plays as a shooting guard. In his rookie season, he averaged 24.9 minutes per game and contributed 7.5+3.3+2.3, which is not optimistic from the perspective of efficiency. The Suns are a team of two super-guards, Marbury and Hardaway, and Johnson plays as their backup in this team, often on the same court as the other, with less possession and not much room to play.

Judging from the strength shown so far, Johnson is much worse than Magloyer, who averaged 27 minutes per game and contributed 12+9 this season. Although the two have similar salaries, it is obviously unrealistic for the Suns to want to exchange one for one, and they must be given up. And this is where the main divergence arises. Suns management believes that '03 is a draft year, first-round picks are very important, and their '03 second-round pick was given to the Bulls in a trade last season, so the Suns manager insisted on keeping the '03 first-round pick. And Wang Yuanfei knows that the Suns signed Nash in the summer of 04 and have since embarked on the road of revival, so the value of the Suns' first-round pick after 05 is not high.

After many negotiations with Dawson, the two sides finally reached an agreement, and the Rockets sent Magloyle (with an annual salary of 1.12 million) in exchange for Joe Brown of the Suns. Johnson (annual salary of 1.73 million) plus a first-round pick from the Suns in '04 (top-10 pick protected).

(Quick fact: For a team like the Rockets with a salary below the luxury line, when the salary of a player is less than $9.8 million, the upper limit of the player's salary is 1.5 times + 100,000, and the team above the luxury tax is 1.25 times + 100,000.) The player salary cap for the Mageloyl trade is about $1.78 million, and Johnson meets that criteria. So it's a trade that's in line with the rules of the league. ）

Magloyer was not surprised when he learned that he was traded, after all, Yao Ming has shown great potential, and Olajuwon's status as the No. 1 superstar in team history is unshakable, and the starting position of Big Dream must be guaranteed, plus Oku, who can play center, it is a matter of time before Xiao Ma leaves. At least he went to solar energy to play the main force, which is not bad for Xiao Ma personally.

In Dawson's busy days, the pace of rocket combat has not stopped at all. They first played against the Clippers away from home, Clippers player Wang Zhizhi came off the bench but failed to score, and Yao Ming also played poorly and only scored 4+7. This is also the first time that Yao Wang has competed together in the NBA. Clippers core Brand showed his might and got 26+15, and new signing Andrew . Miller also got 15+5+8. For the Rockets, Maddy broke out, scoring 49 points on 18-of-28 shooting to lead the Rockets to a five-point victory.

Next away game against the Trail Blazers, the Mageloyre trade has just taken effect, and the medical procedures for new signing Johnson have not yet been completed, and the Rockets can only respond with a small number of players. In this game, the Rockets had no feeling at all, and the outside line frequently hit iron, and only Yao Mai scored double-doubles. The final match ended with Rashid. Wallace ended with 2-of-2 free throws. 78:82 The Rockets lost away.

The next day, the Rockets came to the Oakland Arena (note: it is the current Oracle Arena, which was renamed after '06) to fight the Warriors back-to-back. Big Dream took turns to rest again, and Yao Ming made his debut. But in the face of the Warriors, who are good at fast attack, Tang Shuai only let Yao Ming play for 16 minutes (scored 14+3). Oku played 32 minutes and finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds, setting two new personal highs in scoring and rebounding. Maddie also hit a quasi-triple-double of 26+10+7, and the Rockets won 107:94. After the game, Warriors coach Musselman praised the Rockets' bench depth. With Magroyle traded away and Big Dream sidelined, Yao Ming and Oku, two young centers, fully propped up the Rockets' interior line.

On November 29, the Rockets came to Seattle against the SuperSonics, who made their first defeat of the season, and naturally the enemies were very angry. This battle Rockets new signing Joe. Johnson came off the bench and got a 4+2 on 1-of-2 shooting. The protagonist of the game is of course not Johnson, but the real superstar of the Rockets - Maddy, who contributed 51+6+5 on 19-of-31 shooting. Even Payton's 14 assists couldn't prevent the Rockets from taking away a victory. 101:86Rocket Revenge Success.

On December 1, Dawson completed another deal. Rockets will Kenny. Thomas sent to the 76ers in exchange for fringe player Art. Long and 37-year-old veteran Mark Brown. Bryant added the 76ers' second-round pick in '04 (a change from the all-time real trade, which was originally a three-way trade that took place on 12/18/02, including the Nuggets). Big Dream welcomes his old teammate Mark (Mark. Bryant played for the Rockets in the '95-'96 season).

After getting the news, Thomas gave an interview to reporters and expressed his gratitude to the rocket. It was the Rockets who made the mediocre first-round 22 rookies grow into the team's main rotation and even starters. Now that the Rockets have enough talent, Thomas himself knows that the team is gradually losing his place, and trading him away before losing his starting position is already the best outcome.

In the game against the Kings that day, of course, Thomas was no longer available. In his place was Gerald. Wallace, as a result, he performed bravely in the 33 minutes he played, scoring 21+8+4 on 10-of-11 shooting, setting a new personal record for playing time, points, and assists in a single game. The 13-5 Kings and the 12-3 Rockets battled hard until the final minute, and finally relied on Webb's key goal to defeat the Rockets with a score of 100-105.

The media spoke highly of the Rockets' difficult 5-game winning streak of 3 wins and 2 losses. Despite the loss of Margloyle and then Thomas, there are people who continue to come forward. Yao Ming, Maddy, Oku, and Wallace have exploded one after another, and there is always someone who can make the Rockets show their potential. Even the arrogant ESPN also posted an article admitting that he looked away before the season, and Tang Shuai is still turning stones into gold, transforming ordinary players into potential stars one after another, all of which General Manager Dawson has contributed to. They even said that they were looking forward to Joe. Johnson cashed in on his potential and became the next young man to be "favored by the Rockets to become a star."

And Yuanfei's work did not end, he knew that only offense was not enough, defense could win the championship. So he instructed Dawson to actively engage with the Grizzlies in an attempt to exchange for defensive master Battier. And Grizzly General Manager Jerry. West (legendary and known as the godfather of the Lakers) is very tight-guarded, and although he has expressed a strong interest in Reed, he is reluctant to make a one-for-one trade involving Battier.

"We've got Jefferson and Turkoglou in the number three position, and Wallace can make a cameo as well, do we really need Battier?" Even Dawson expressed doubts about Yuanfei.

"Richard's ball-handling and Heaton's passing skills are certainly better than Battier's, but they're only middling defenders in the league, and Sean Battle. Battier is a true defensive stalwart and is a perfect fit for Maddie Yaoming. And after Kenny is gone, Gerrard will inevitably play the No. 4 position often, and the time spent in the No. 3 position is negligible. If something happens to us at the number three position, we're going to have to put Joe or Tracy in that position. Yuan Fei analyzed: "And the Grizzlies' power forward, and point guard have satisfactory candidates, and the center often allows Gasol to partner with Swift or Gooden away, their biggest hole is the No. 2 position, West is competitive outside and inside, he is dissatisfied with the bad team for many years and wants to strengthen the spirit is enough." We need to seize this opportunity. ”

Soon Dawson brought in further information, and West made a concession and was willing to trade Battier for some top-ups and draft picks in exchange for Jefferson and Reed, so that the Grizzlies could fill the void with Jefferson for losing Battier. But Yuanfei feels that this trade is too much for the Rockets, after all, they have just traded Thomas and Little Pony for draft picks, and if they further hoard draft picks, their combat effectiveness may plummet this season. Yuan Fei thought very clearly, it is necessary to exchange some players who have played too little playing time for draft picks to increase future combat effectiveness, but excessive blood sales will lead to the continuous replacement of new and old players in the team will also affect the championship plan, which is unacceptable to him.

In the process of this tug-of-war deal, the Rockets also continue to win against their opponents: on December 3, the Rockets defeated the Spurs by 14 points at home, Duncan slashed 25+12, and the limelight was stolen by Yao Ming at 27+18; On December 6, he narrowly defeated the Hornets by 2 points away, Yao Ming cut another 16+13, and on the 7th, back-to-back games against the 76ers, Thomas, who transferred to Philadelphia, contributed 14+7+6 comprehensive data, and Yao Ming played 18+12 to completely blow up the 76ers' star center Coleman. After the game, Thomas and his old teammates hugged and greeted each other.

In the end, the Rockets finished the 2002 schedule with a record of 23 wins and 7 losses, completely exceeding the expectations of fans. At this time of New Year's Eve, the Rockets were second only to the Mavericks' 26-5 record, overpowering the 19-13 Spurs and the 23-8 Kings. For a time, the industry was full of praise for the rocket. John. Hollinger even turned over the old accounts of the year, once again emphasizing that the Rockets were bad last season. But at this time, who will pay attention to the past?

Only one thing happened that made Yuanfei very unpleasant.

On January 3, the Grizzlies announced a deal with the Magic, and the No. 4 rookie in 2002, Drew Brown, was the No. 4 rookie in 2002. Gooden and guard Gordon. Girisek travels to Orlando; The Magic will play point guard Mike. Miller and a draft pick were traded to the Grizzlies (basically a real trade in history, which happened on Feb. 19, and the Magic paid two draft picks. In the article, because the Magic failed to get Maddie, Miller's stats have improved and his value has increased). The biggest hole in the Grizzlies roster has been closed.

The deal sealed the door for the Rockets to get Battier.