On This Day Feb. 14, 1995: Drexler Traded to Rockets
On this day, Feb. 14, 1995, the Houston Rockets acquired guard Clyde “The Glide” Drexler from the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Rockets were gearing up for a playoff run while the Blazers were reeling. Portland was struggling, sitting at 25-21 as of the day they traded Drexler.
They honored Drexler’s request for a trade by sending him to a contender. Drexler, 32, wanted out of Portland. The seasons before, the shooting guard was injured to hell and back. Portland believed they could get a good sum for Drexler.
Portland’s return? Not much. They got Otis Thorpe, the draft rights to Marcelo Nicola (who never played in the NBA), and a ’95 first-round draft pick. They traded that pick for pieces that never amounted to much.
The Glide made two NBA finals appearances in 1990 and 1992 with Portland. His Blazers came up just short of their goal twice, falling to “Bad Boys” Pistons in 1990, and Jordan’s Bulls in ’92.
With his departure, Drexler left a legacy behind in Portland. After being selected 14th overall in the 1983 NBA draft, Drexler lived up to the hype and then some. His 12 seasons with the Blazers helped him earn the right to be named to the NBA’s Top 75 players of all time in 2021.
Houston’s 1994-95 Season
The Rockets finished the season as the 6-seed in the Western Conference. Hakeem Olajuwon and Drexler were a force to be reckoned with once the playoffs started, but no one thought they would do what they did next.
It took five games for Houston to dispatch John Stockton and Karl Malone’s Utah Jazz. Utah was predicted by many to make a deep playoff run after 60 regular season wins but was stunned by the 47-35 Rockets.
Houston never looked back. Their next series was against the No. 1-seeded Suns, where they won in seven games.
To finish out the western conference, they defeated the San Antonio Spurs in six games, a team who had a stellar 62-win season. With that, the Rockets defeated each of the team’s top 3 records in the Western Conference that season.
It was time for Drexler to get his.
No one was stopping the Rockets in those ’95 finals. Young Shaq’s Orlando Magic squad was no match for the 32-year-old combo of Drexler and Olajuwon. The Rockets swept the Magic.
They are still the lowest seed to win the NBA finals of all time.
Drexler led the team in assists per game in those finals. The Finals MVP was Olajuwon, who had a monster series, averaging 32.8 ppg.
The Clyde Drexler trade helped the Rockets secure their second straight finals victory. Drexler was an all-time Portland Trail Blazer but had maybe his most memorable season with Houston.
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