Drexler thinks Rockets ready to take flight

MANILA, Philippines – Former Houston Rocket Clyde Drexler is excited for the franchise after successfully landing Dwight Howard.

Drexler together with Hakeem Olajuwon aggressively helped in the Rockets' recruitment pitch to get Howard from the free agent market.

"The Rockets lineup right now, especially when they’re healthy, I really like the team because they’re big, they’re young and athletic which means they can run, score a lot of points and they got big guys on defense," Drexler told Philstar.com.

And the Rockets proved Drexler's point scoring 115 in their first preseason game together with Howard though they lost to the New Orleans Pelicans by the slimmest of margin.

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Houston last won an NBA title with a team that featured Drexler and Olajuwon in 1995.

The Rockets are hoping that a Harden-Howard combination can do a Drexler-Olajuwon.

The NBA legend thinks it’s achievable and that this season's Rockets are deep enough to make a run to bring the Larry O’ Brien trophy back to Houston.

"They have a perfect complement with Jeremy Lin and Patrick Beverly at the point. These guys are primed for championship," said Drexler, who will be in attendance for the first ever NBA preseason game to be held in the Philippines featuring the Rockets and the Indiana Pacers on Thursday at the Mall of Asia Arena.