A blockbuster trade brought ex-UH star Clyde Drexler to the Rockets in 1995.
This Page 1 story, part of a package of stories that also ran in the sports section, ran in the Houston Post on Feb. 15, 1995. The words and the headlines are reprinted below.
Get ready for Phi Slama Jama, Part II. One of Houston’s favorite sons is coming home.
After 11½ years in Portland, the ever-popular Clyde Drexler is joining forces again with former University of Houston teammate Hakeem Olajuwon. In a blockbuster trade designed to put the Rockets on course for a repeat title, Houston acquired Drexler and Tracy Murray on Tuesday in exchange for power forward Otis Thorpe.
“This is a dream come true,” Drexler said. “When I told my mother, she was so ecstatic she started to cry.
“I’m just going to come in and blend my talents with the talent that’s already here. The Dream is the best in the game. All he needs is a little help and we can win another championship.”
Olajuwon was almost giddy after hearing that he is being reunited with Drexler.
“It’s too good to be true,” Olajuwon said. “I can’t believe it. Now, our team is going to be different. We’ll have more speed. Clyde is a natural athlete who creates so many opportunities.”
The Blazers will get a conditional draft pick from Houston, which will be determined prior to the 1995 draft. The Blazers also get the rights to 1993 second-round draft pick Marcelo Nicola.
“This is an exciting day for the Rockets and for the city of Houston,” Rockets owner Leslie Alexander said. “We are dedicated in our quest to win another NBA championship and believe this will give us the opportunity. Clyde is a great competitor, one of the greatest players of all time and a future Hall of Famer.”
The Rockets wanted to give their 1993-94 title team every opportunity to repeat. But it had become obvious to the Rockets’ coaches after a slip-and-slide first half that something would have to be done if the Rockets were going to make another charge toward a title.
The key was that the Rockets managed to reel in Drexler without giving up Robert Horry, the man
most coveted by the Blazers. The Rockets lose a big body and a consistent scorer and rebounder in Thorpe. But Houston was 9-2 this year when Carl Herrera started in Thorpe’s place at power forward.
With Drexler, the Rockets have the legitimate No. 2 scoring weapon they have coveted for so long. They tried to trade Horry for Sean Elliott last year, but the deal was aborted. Now, the Rockets have a 20-point weapon other than Olajuwon and still retain Horry, who has major upside potential.
Tuesday’s trade is pending the three players’ passing their physicals, which all are expected to do today.
“Whenever you make a trade, it’s going to be tough,” Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. “I wanted to keep this team together and give them a chance to do it again.
“It’s tough when you build a family. Otis was a big part of our championship. Sometimes, it isn’t fair. But I have to give my strongest loyalty to the good of the Rockets. We felt this was a deal that could make us better.”
While improvement on the court was the major consideration, Drexler’s huge popularity in Houston will be an added bonus that could propel interest in Rockets basketball to new heights.
Many longtime Houston basketball fans never forgave the Rockets for bypassing Drexler with the No. 3 pick in the 1983 draft. Drexler wound up being only the No. 14 pick, but worked on his jumper and ultimately became runner-up to Michael Jordan for MVP honors in 1992.
After an injury-plagued last two years, Drexler, 33, had come back strong this year. He was averaging 22.0 points and 5.1 assists when he got the news he was headed home.
In Murray, the Rockets are getting an outstanding perimeter shooter. He could be especially effective as a spot-up threat in Houston’s inside-outside attack.
Houston had considered taking Murray in the 1992 draft, but couldn’t pass up Horry with the No. 11 selection.
Tomjanovich’s lineup possibilities are certainly intriging now, with the addition of Drexler and Murray. When everybody is healthy and available, Tomjanovich will have to determine how to fit two of the better off-guards in the league — Drexler and Vernon Maxwell — into his rotation.
If Drexler starts, will Maxwell balk at coming off the bench? Tomjanovich indicated there could be a possibility of Maxwell spending considerable time at point guard.
“Those are good problems to have,” Tomjanovich said. “I could see situations where Clyde and Max are together in the backcourt or Clyde is at small forward with Vernon at big guard. We’ve got a lot of possibilities now.”
Drexler will make about $8.75 million next season and it is expected the Blazers will pick up most of that tab. Drexler becomes an unrestricted free agent after the 1995-96 season.
Thorpe attended Tuesday’s shoot-around, but got the news of the trade via telephone well before reporting for the Rockets-Clippers game.
“Otis was classy and professional,” Tomjanovich said. “I would have rather done it faceto-face, but it was a situation where the only way was to call him at home.” Thorpe was averaging 13.3 points and 8.9 rebounds this season. The 11-year veteran had been plagued by nagging injuries which caused him to miss 11 games this season.
Now, it’s the Hakeem and Clyde show. The Rockets figure it’s going to be a starstudded production.
UPDATE
The Rockets didn’t exactly take off after the trade for Clyde Drexler in 1995.
As the team adjusted to a new makeup, it went 17-18 the rest of the season and finished as the No. 6 seed in the West.
But the postseason was a different story. In the opening series against the Utah Jazz, Drexler averaged 25.2 points per game, including 41 and 31 in the final two games of the series as the Rockets came back from a 2-1 deficit to win the best-of-five.
Against the Suns in the next round, it was Mario Elie’s “Kiss of Death” threepointer that most remember, but Drexler had 29 in that deciding Game 7 to reach the Western Conference finals.
After Hakeem Olajuwon took care of the Spurs in that round, the Rockets were back in the NBA Finals.
In Game 1 against the Magic, the Rockets had rallied from a 20-point deficit and forced overtime on a Kenny Smith 3-pointer. As time wound down, Drexler went for the winning shot on one of his trademark finger rolls. He missed but his old UH friend Olajuwon was there to tip it in for the win.
The Rockets went on to sweep the Magic and Drexler and Olajuwon hugged on the floor of the Summit. Champions, together at last.