Drexler To Rockets Blazers Deal Disgruntled Star, Murray For Thorpe, Pick

After 11 1/2 seasons as a standout guard with the Portland Trail Blazers, Clyde Drexler is coming home.

Getting the trade he had requested, Drexler was sent to the Houston Rockets on Tuesday with guard Tracy Murray for power forward Otis Thorpe and center Marcelo Nicola, a 1993 Rockets draft pick now playing in Europe.

The Trail Blazers also stand to receive Houston’s first-round draft pick this year if the Rockets reach the Western Conference finals.

At age 32, Drexler returns to his hometown and the city where he first made a name with the University of Houston’s “Phi Slamma Jamma” team led by Hakeem Olajuwon.

Now he will team with Olajuwon again to help the Rockets defend their NBA title.

“I can’t wait for the first game, I really can’t,” Drexler said after arriving in Houston on Tuesday night. “He’s the best player in the league, and it’s been a dream of ours ever since we left the University of Houston to play together again.

“We were just in the locker room together, and we were laughing like little kids. We couldn’t believe it.”

The Rockets have just the sixth-best record in the Western Conference.

“Obviously, we felt something needed to be done,” Houston coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. “This was presented to us, and we’re getting a great player. I would like to alter the chemistry. Sometimes it seems like we’ve been running against the wind.”

Portland’s all-time leader in scoring, steals and rebounds, Drexler asked for a trade before the season and made his request public in January, saying he was unhappy with the direction of the franchise.

“It’s something that Clyde wanted and he got what he wanted,” Portland point guard Rod Strickland said from Dallas, where the Blazers played the Mavericks. “What more could he ask for? He wasn’t happy with what was going on here and he’s going back home. He gives them somebody who’s one of the top go-to players in the league. He’s a clutch player who’s really help Houston.”

In third place in the Midwest Division, the Rockets were looking for backcourt scoring. Their current shooting guard, Vernon Maxwell, was suspended for 10 games last week for punching a heckler.

After two injury-plagued seasons, Drexler has been healthy and having an strong year, averaging 22 points, 5.7 rebounds and 5.1 assists.

“I think we’re going to score points a little easier,” Tomjanovich said. “He creates situations much like Hakeem. He’s a great passer out of the double team. I think he can make the other players better.”