I would give him a C. He has made more bad decisions than good but he is better than half of the other GM's in the other league. He is horrible at drafting players.
I like the trade for Tracy but last summer was a disaster that cannot be repeated. IMO, CD is really just a puppet of JVG like he was for Rudy. The Rockets are one of several NBA teams that, in practice, have the GM reporting to the coach.
The team hasn't consistenly been a bottom feeder nor a championship contender. He's middle of the pack.
That's probably true, but he was instrumental in getting Rudy hired as coach, and they were so close that as GM they probably shared a lot of the same opinions anyway, and when they disagreed well, we never heard about it. The only time I can ever remember Rudy making a point to say "I" regarding a personnel decision was to trade up to pick EG (sigh) but I think there was some disagreement there and Rudy wanted to make it clear it was on him. Rudy's departure and JVG's subesquent hiring I don't believe had anything to do with CD - that was Les. And JVG needed to greenlight any deal just so he could get his players on the team. Sura, Wesley, Barry and Deke were great short-term decisions, but CD still gets credit for getting them here. Overall I gave him a B, but I've often sighted my bias when it comes toward CD - he's just huge in Rocket's mythos. I've said this before too, but I believe CD is going to resign at the end of the year. I do think the same things that infuriate me about JVG just assault CD's sensibilities. The only way I see CD staying for another year is if Les just begs him to. Regardless, God bless the man.
Myself, I consider Carroll Dawson to be an average (C+) GM. He made some good moves as well as questionable moves over the years. I'd rather have him than half of the GMs out there but there are still many better GMs above him. For comparison here are examples of various grades of GM (all based on entire GM careers): Grade A: Jerry West Grade B: Joe Dumars Grade C: Carroll Dawson, Kevin McHale Grade D: Kiki Vandeweghe Grade F: Garry St. Jean
Kevin McHale is a grade F GM, Joe Dumars is an A, and while Kiki Vandeweghe may have made a few questionable descisions (namely the ridiculous contract given to Kenyon Martin), he has still undeniably turned that Franchise around. They're one of the better teams in the Western Conference. I've seen some argue that after the Spurs, Mavs and Suns, the Nuggets are the best in the west. Kiki has done a hell of a job for a small market club.
You know... I've been thinking about this for a while... Everyone keeps talking about how we are just unlucky b/c of the injuries but who did we bring in? A BUNCH of way too old players in Barry, Wesley, D.A., and Sura. What did you expect to happen. Someone before the season started said the Rockets could be like the Timberwolves the year after they got Cassell and Spreewell, and thats exactly what we are this season. A team that was WAY TOO old last season and the problem wasn't fixed. Alas this season. Furthermore, CD traded Cassell and Horry (winners) for Charles Barkley (loser), thus he traded away our future for a plethora of years with players that could only play at best (2/3) of a season. Lets not even go into draft picks where he skipped on Rashard Lewis and Richard Jefferson only to pick up Eddie Griffin and whats his face. He has however brought in some good players as well in Francis (remember the players we traded for him), and McGrady. And last year the trade of Jim Jackson for Wesley and Barry for Lue was genius. Bogans this year for Baxter was also a brillant move. Lets not forget him picking up Luther Head and Mobley at very low picks (heck even Kenny Thomas). Its difficult to assess CD b/c he makes soo many good decisions and then soo many bad ones. My opinion C.
If so, then CD is either a D or F grade GM himself. Kevin McHale is not that much worse than CD as a GM IMHO. Perhaps I was being generous and he is a grade D GM but he doesn't deserve to be compared to the Garry St. Jean, perhaps the worst GM of all time. But it looks like most people agree that CD is an average to slightly above GM but not a great one. Personally, I think that more important than the coach or any particular player, the GM is what is going to determine the future of the Rockets. If the Rockets are going to become a championship team, they will need to upgrade and hope they can get a grade A GM once CD is through in Houston.
Anyone who followed the Rockets 10 years ago knows exactly why Cd traded away Cassell and Horry. It was meant to bring a championship, as the team we had would not cut it after the rule changes. If you look at the other teams in the NBA over the last 10 years, name one who has bought IN more allstars than they sent OUT. He tries, make moves that others are afraid of, and takes the heat for them too. When did the rockets screw up? That trade of 3 1st's for EG. That's what killed the depth on this team. And that one was Rudy's call. Not CD. Those 3 players under rookie contracts + Yao = domination + cap space. Dumb move, but its over and done with. For his tenure with the Rocks, CD has done one heck of a job. Maybe not an a, but definitely a good B.
He’s a puppet. You can tell just by comparing the roster moves he’s made during the tenure’s of Rudy and Van Gundy. While Rudy was here, CD brought in a lot of young players with potential that didn’t work out (EGriffin, SAnderson, Francis, Cato, Taylor, Nachbar, Collier). Since Van Gundy has been here, it’s been mainly old players with not much potential (Mutombo, JJackson, Howard, Wesley, DAnderson, Sura, Barry). Eventually, CD’s just got to stop being such a puppet and have the balls to tell the coach “you know what, this roster is too young and undisciplined” or “this roster is too old and unathletic”. There’s got to be some sort of happy medium there that CD has yet to find.
It is obvious that CD doesn't work independent of the coach. The players he got for Rudy and the players he got for JVG are totally different types. You can clearly see the shift of priority and emphasis due to the different approaches of the two coaches. So, I think the coaches are more responsible for personnel choices. CD's job is to pull off deals. For that, I think he is above average. Sure, he did some bad contracts. But he is good at making deals happen and swinging them to our advantage.
The coaches have made some really poor personnel decisions; CD has put together some horrible contracts: Moochie, Taylor, Cato, Ward, etc. How many times can you patch a tire; the Rockets need a new set of tires if they really want to "roll" before the Ming/TMac years are gone. These make-shift supporting casts are not going to cut it. Bring in some quality players to stay awhile.
For most franchises there is no happy medium. Either the GM is a puppet like CD or the GM is the coach's boss. CD's role with the Rockets will never change. The only way things will change is if both CD & JVG leave, Les hires a new GM who then brings in his "own" coach. When JVG was hired, I'm pretty sure it was agreed upon that CD would have the subservient role between the two. You can clearly tell by who makes the decision to hire the coach: The owner or the GM. Up to now, Les hasn't been the type of owner who lets the GM decide anything. The is the #2 guy in his Rockets organization. Steve Patterson was the last Rockets GM with real authority.
Any GM in the league who has been able to assemble a team nucleus of Yao and Tmac deserves major props.
