this was mediocrity
http://www.basketball-reference.com/teams/HOU/2011.html
they got rid of that entire roster in 3 years. THREE. That's a pretty good turnaround and upgrade if you ask me.
So as Yao's career ended they blew up the entire cast that would have been around him, as they had no chance without him. Took them three years and you can say they landed ass backwards into Dwight after he turned them down a year ago, but they stuck with it and kept trying and did just enough (Harden) to convince him that was a better option than the Lakers.