Let me preface this by saying I am a HUGE Morey fan. He is one of the best GM in all of sports. What he did to bring in James Harden and Dwight Howard should go down in the sports history books as one of the GREATEST moves of all time if you factor in all the patience, foresight, and complicated maneuverings it took. HOWEVER, with that being said, he is not the god the BBS proclaim him to be. Letting Chandler Parsons become a RFA with one year left on the best valued contract in the league will go down as Morey's biggest failure as a GM. This offseason has shown that Morey does need to take some lessons from the traditional, conservative way of team building. He's got to know when to take the chips off the table. All I'm saying is Morey is fantastic, a phenomenal GM, much better than Carroll Dawson IMO. But, the man does have his flaws: Treating Players like Assets I get it. What makes Morey one of the best GM's in the league is he doesn't get emotionally attached to any player. He understands the relationship between Value/Performance. With that said, PLAYERS DON'T FORGET. Dwight Howard will not forget that Morey is practically admitting that 2015 is a holdover season until the next offseason--that he is admitting that the team with Harden-Howard-Parsons is not enough to win a championship. You think a superstar player like Howard and Harden with all their pride and the hard work they're putting in to get better will appreciate that statement? NBA players are very temperamental and they have big egos. At the end of the day, it is mainly about the MONEY, but there is also an element of emotion that does play a factor in team chemistry, performance, and contractual negotiations, even if it is marginal. Coaching is a coin flip This is where I completely disagree with Morey. I really hope he brings in a defensive minded assistant this offseason. The NBA is not a computer simulation. Coaching does INDEED Matter. Even Mark Cuban, who is as big of an analytics guy there is, says Coaching is the BIGGEST determinant in team success. I believe in the perfect marriage of coaching and analytics. But, for Morey to say that "coaching is a coin flip" is extremely disingenuous. I am sorry, but if you have a team with two of the top 10 players in the league, best at their respective position, you don't lose in the first round PERIOD. With all that said, I still stand by Morey. He's still one of the best. I just really hope that he has a Plan B. Knowing him, I'm sure he's drummed up hundreds of contingency plans. I still have hope. I'm just not as drunk in love with Morey as I was. GO ROCKETS!
Coaching is not a coin flip. McHale is terrible. He should have treated Chandler like an asset. The day the robot used his heart he failed.
Only thing I have really ever questioned or doubted Morey on is McHale and unfortunately unless he fires him I don't think we will ever see eye-to-eye there
He's made some good moves, no doubt, but this offseason was horrific and at some point his teams need to produce results. Future flexibility doesn't mean anything.
This . . .. . . I thought the letting him become a RFA was the most NON ASSET related move in a while Rocket River
It's not black and white. As I wrote, it is about the MONEY at the end of the day. I don't believe that if you treat a player really nicely that he's going to give you a huge hometown discount. However, the treatment of players like assets with the constant roster turnover DOES affect performance and team chemistry and yes even contract negotiations, even if it's ever so marginal. Players are human beings. They're not stocks. Humans do put a value on stability...it's psychologically proven.
Morey is good with analytics and building assets. But he doesn't know too much about building a great franchise, or building team chemistry. His team is either #14 seed in the lottery, or first round exits in the playoff.
I'm not referencing Parsons specifically with my Player vs Asset comment. I am acknowledging that constant roster turnover can be perceived by players that they're just assets and it can affect their performance and chemistry in the locker room, even if it's marginal. I think we can agree that players do want to have a specific level of comfort, no? And if they do indeed feel stable with their position on the team and in the team's future plans, then they will play better. Howard's got two more years on his contract and the main reason he came to Houston was to WIN. I don't think he will be very happy that Morey is admitting that 2015 is a holdover til next free agency. With that said, I am confident that Morey has something up his sleeve...at least I hope.
Like I have said before, I am not a fan of Morey because the things you have stated. But I will wait and see what else he has up his sleeve this year, not next year. Forget that future flexibilty junk. The time is now.
One, as a scientist you can't say anything is proven. It either supports a hypothesis or refutes one. Nothing in science is proven. There are mathematical proofs, but those are based on lemas and that is an entirely different rabbit hole I'd not like to go down. Two, it's a business. The NBA has no consistency to it, and while players may or may not have job security in their contracts, the field at large is in flux. Players may not get traded but their roles change and so do their minutes quite frequently. To imply that trades are the only factor that can cause a lack of stability is comical, injuries and even the NBA schedule itself causes it as well. Your argument, while carefully constructed dramatically oversimplifies the NBA experience and the job and duty of a GM. The best way to operate is to keep it as a business. The Spurs, while a great team are hard to mirror. Look at the Celts and Pierce. Letting go of Pierce has put them in a great position for the future. Pierce is a player that 5 years ago the thought of him not wearing green would make the most fervent Celtic's fan cry. Now, they like what they got in that deal. The Spurs model isn't sustainable. Ours is.
