The difference makers
Tracy McGrady. Yao Ming. The core is strong. With the addition of Derek Anderson, Stromile Swift and Rafer Alston, the Rockets believe they have the supporting cast to carry them to a title
They come with hopes that the lost seasons and varied struggles that brought them to this point could not diminish. The years could not take that away.
Derek Anderson waded through the mess in Portland without getting stained, as if those trials were needed to bring him to his best chance at something greater.
Stromile Swift teased with talent enough to jump through the league's roofs but never to break through the ceiling that seemed to block him for five unsatisfying NBA seasons.
Rafer Alston fell from coveted free agent to the Raptors' petulant pariah, then escaped as if it was all to give him a new, mature perspective on this chance.
They come to the Rockets from vastly different beginnings, from Anderson's NCAA-championship pedigree to Swift's two LSU seasons to Alston's tumultuous Fresno State and street-ball years.
They play different positions, bring different talents in careers at different stages. But they join a solid, proven, veteran team anchored by reliable stars to together become the Rockets' X factors, as if the struggles that made them available brought them to Houston not just with hope still alive, but renewed.
"I think us three can make the difference," Anderson said. "We still need Jon (Barry). We still need Dikembe (Mutombo). We need everybody else here. But us three have to do more than whoever was here last year. We have to go above what they did to go beyond where they did last year. It's up to us as a team, but it's also up to us three. We have to be better.
"I think everybody has a destiny, whether it's in your career or life. Right now, I just think I'm trying to follow my destiny. I think this is our destiny."
Anderson got what he wanted. Playing for the Spurs in the 2000 playoffs, he had been hurt badly enough with a dislocated shoulder to become a free agent searching for security. The Trail Blazers gave him a long contract and a place on a richly talented team.
Then the Blazers collapsed under the weight of their crimes and misdeeds. When they began rebuilding around a new crop of prodigies, the security Anderson sought became a trap. But the NBA's new collective-bargaining agreement offered teams a one-time chance to cut players to avoid paying luxury taxes on their salaries. Anderson happily became a tax-amnesty free agent.