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Houston Rockets: 25 Best Players To Play For The Rockets

By Phil Watson

Apr 21, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; General view inside Toyota Center before game three of the first round of the NBA Playoffs between the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 21, 2016; Houston, TX, USA; General view inside Toyota Center before game three of the first round of the NBA Playoffs between the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /
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Basketball: Houston Rockets Otis Thorpe #33 in action vs Portland Trail Blazers Chris Dudley #24. (Photo by Sam Forencich/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images)
Basketball: Houston Rockets Otis Thorpe #33 in action vs Portland Trail Blazers Chris Dudley #24. (Photo by Sam Forencich/The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images) /

Otis Thorpe. 11. player. 169. <strong>How acquired:</strong> Trade, Sacramento Kings, Oct. 11, 1988.. SF. 1988-95

The Houston Rockets were looking for frontcourt help in October 1988 when they acquired Otis Thorpe from the Sacramento Kings in exchange for Rodney McCray and Jim Petersen.

They got an efficient big man who was an All-Star in 1992 and part of the Rockets’ first championship club in 1994.

HOU_11_THORPE
HOU_11_THORPE /

He was second in the NBA in field-goal percentage in 1991-92, third in 1993-94 and fifth in 1992-93.

Thorpe was a force on the glass in the 1994 NBA Finals, averaging 9.3 points, 11.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists in 39.6 minutes per game, shooting .519/—/.500 in a seven-game victory over the New York Knicks.

He missed out on the repeat, however, when he was traded in February 1995 with the rights to 1993 second-round pick Marcelo Nicola and a first-round pick in 1995 to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for Clyde Drexler and Tracy Murray.

In parts of seven seasons in Houston, Thorpe averaged 15.8 points, 9.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 36 minutes per game, shooting .559/.091/.670.

After averaging a double-double (17.1 points and 10.3 rebounds) per game as a senior at Providence, Thorpe was the ninth overall pick out of Providence by the Kansas City Kings in the 1984 NBA Draft and moved with the team to Sacramento in 1985.

He was third in the NBA in field-goal percentage in the Kings’ final season in Kansas City, 1984-85. He was fourth in that category with Houston and Portland in 1994-95.

In September 1995, he was traded to the Detroit Pistons.

Thorpe was moved to the Vancouver Grizzlies in August 1997 and went back to the Kings in February 1998. In May 1998, he was traded to the Washington Wizards.

With the Wizards, he was second in field-goal percentage in 1998-99.

He signed with the Miami Heat as a free agent in August 1999 and was traded to the Charlotte Hornets in August 2000, retiring in 2001.

Thorpe is 29th in NBA history with 1,257 games, 33rd with 39,822 minutes played, 35th with 10,370 rebounds and 19th with a field-goal percentage of .546.

Next: Rudy T. A Rocket Through And Through

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