ok. Because in the Philly forums in realgm people are saying they got a good haul for KJ with the NYK 2nd rounder. I have no idea who's right.
Truth. Unless the Rockets know Howard is done for the season they screwed up by not going all in. When you're truly "all in" you go get Dragic even if you know he is planning to bolt at season's end. The Brewer and Smith moves were nice but they don't mean jack if Morey is afraid to take a risk to truly put this team over top when it is so clear what the team needs.
You have proven yourself to have poor judge over player value over and over. Again, you went on a little posting crusade in favor of trading James Harden for Kevin Love barely five months ago. This is the Kevin Love who was not locked up in a long term contract, either. Dropping *two first round picks + DMo* for Dragic would be a bad move even if there was a chance of retaining him.
Love had some struggles early in the season and his numbers are no where near where it was because of adapting to a reduced role, but he and the Cavs have been turning things around and dominating the league. Obviously not at an MVP level, but the guy is extremely good even if his traditional numbers are not where it was-- much like what happened with KG in the Celtics and Bosh in Miami. More talent to share the ball, less stats for one guy. Harden took a step forward on D that I did not find likely to happen. Frankly, it did not look objectively like this was likely to happen. He was a 5 year veteran who got much worse on D during a season in which he was to team up with an elite big man and compete, and failed to perform even when the stakes were extremely high in tight playoff series. It was good that he took all the ridicule to heart and turned thing around, though. Any one's projection of the future can be wrong. Nobody bats 1.000-- even the Spurs spend $40M on Richard Jefferson, for example. But the fact that one of my past projection on Harden was wrong or right and the fact that any of us has been right or wrong in the past doesn't change what's really relevant to the conversation: What data and evidence is out there that says DMo will ever become an All NBA level player, let along doing so within Howard/Harden's window of contention as Dragic has by actually making the All NBA team last season? DMo has shown some good skills-- smart defender, nice post moves-- but also quite a bit of limitations and warning signs. His rebound rates on both ends of the floor are low, his arms are too short to block many shots, he isn't very explosive (only 2.7% of his shots are dunks), he doesn't draw fouls often and turns the ball over frequently despite not being relied on to be a "go to" guy facing heavy defensive attention. The available info points to DMo having a Luis Scola-type impact-- good role player, with clever moves, but not a star that dominates as a primary option. Is there something that says otherwise?
The Rockets traded the second round pick from Denver in the KJ McDaniels deal. They still have the NYK pick.
This is very generous to Dmo. Scola was successful scoring the ball against top post defenders and could easily pass out of double teams. He was also a plus rebounder and one tough mofo. Dmo is great if he gets a one on one situation against an average defender but anything beyond that and it's either a turnover or forced shot. He isn't ready for prime time.
You wrote all this and decided to say nothing about the fact that Kevin Love, had we traded Harden for him, would've left the Rockets for the Lakers 100% after this offseason. I don't care if he'd put up 40/20/10 with us and become the MMMMVP of the NBA. He would've left the Rockets and signed with the Lakers. You were terrible with your assessment of the Rockets and Harden at the time, and now you still won't admit that no matter how many caveats you put on Love's performance, it still doesn't change the fact that he would've left us out to dry.
And now he wanted to do the same with Dragic. His camp made it known he wouldnt resign with us, and they got a lot for him. If Morey had made the trade and Dragic left in the offseason CH would be the first person in line to trash Morey.
Good post. I thought trading harden for love was peculiar at the time you suggested it but in all honesty I could see why you would suggest such a trade. DMO has a ceiling as you said but a skilled big with superior post moves don't grow on trees. For how good Dragic is, if he would have left after this off season and we gave up Dragic it would be fairly big step back. We don't have many good offensive players right now and losing arguably your 2nd best one in DMO for nothing is not easy to recover from.
Perfect. Thank you BimaThug. I wish I could rep you. You guys should start thinking of draft day trades and targets. All the assets Morrey has right now point at this direction.
Many people including myself expected and told you Harden would take a step forward. I specifically remember telling you it was stupid to write off a 25 year old with that much talent who had done what he did already. You underestimated how painful the Portland series for him and the team which launched a new commitment to defense from the entire organization. You underestimated his pride with everybody making fun of him and his defense. No 1st Team All NBA player has ever been clowned the way Harden was clowned. He came out and called himself the best player in the league. Do you really think he would say that, then show up and not play defense? You also underestimated the impact of being the team leader on Team USA and his growth as a leader in general. And another point that I've made to you as well: Harden played good defense in OKC. It wasn't a matter of ability. It was effort, which dropped because he was carrying the offense and resting on defense. Plenty of us expected Harden to get better because that is what 25 year olds with his talent do. You were just to stubborn to accept it as a possibility. Enjoy everybody calling you out until the end of time!
I'd agree that while D-Mo has yet to show he has the FIBA beast mode gene that Luis had, as an NBA player I think he's got the ability to be far more valuable than Luis Scola the NBA player. -Being 7 tall feet helps -Far superior defensive potential (love Luis but he was horrid) -Potential range out to the 3 point line Right now, definitely there are some comparisons to their overall game, but I doubt this is D-Mo's ceiling. Also just because you are a "tough mofo" doesn't necessarily mean you are a good defender. I watched Luis for years and years and I just couldn't stand any longer watching the layup line to the rim. He played position defense very well as a smart veteran player, but he just never had the size to guard NBA bigs, and didn't have the foot speed/athleticism to compensate. D-Mo at least has a large 7 foot frame to work with which he did earlier in the season. He's backslid quite a bit but early on he was defending the paint like a top 10 defensive center. Scola could never have sniffed out that defensive potential even if he wanted to. I get what Carl is saying that more than likely D-Mo is going to end up being "just a good NBA player" so you trade him for a superstar all day every day but I'd argue that what he brings to the table is much harder to find than simply a complementary ball-handler next to Harden... which even a former star player would most likely be reduced to in order to keep the ball in James' hands primarily. The issue is Morey didn't want to pony up for a major upgrade at that complementary ball handler/scorer spot. He went the value route with Prigioni while everyone wanted him to shoot for the moon (and severely mortgage the future) with Dragic. There is merit to having an argument of what brings more value to Harden and the Rockets success.... a really good 7 foot post player, or an even better secondary ball-handler. Especially with Dwight being out, there needs to be serious discussion in the front office about robbing Peter to pay Paul. Especially when Peter is here for the foreseeable future, and can improve even more while Paul doesn't even want to be here, is leaving this Summer, and plays a position that defers to your best player naturally. I know that people here still like to think of D-Mo as a prospect (which he still kind of is), but he's still producing at a rate where a veteran big man at his size in that role would probably be costing a franchise 10 to 15 mil per year. A guard who would be in a complementary role next to Harden as a secondary ball handler probably could be had at a mid-level range, and give you similar production when limited in that role.
Morey on 790 this morning, on the win over the Cavs <iframe width="670" height="377" scrolling="no" src="https://media.iheart.com/player/embed.html?autoStart=false&useFullScreen=true&mid=25852942&siteid=589&startButtonColor=0xA33335&share=http://www.sports790.com/media/podcast-sportstalk790-spotlight-790interviews/sportstalk790-spotlight-rockets-gm-daryl-morey-25852942/" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" ></iframe>
