As bad of a trade the Lawson deal was, the fact that they made him waive the last year of his deal is what gave us the cap space to sign Ego AND lock up Harden extra year. How many times have we ever seen team ask a player to waive guaranteed money as a condition to trade for them? Every one focuses on the big moves: Trading for Harden (giving credit) or not drafting Kawhi (giving blame), but it's the small moves Morey makes, as a throw in ask, that lead to a lot of values over time. How many people still remember some of the other key small moves: We actually got a first round pick along with Dragic when we traded Aaron Brooks We got a first round pick for Budinger We got a first round pick for Omer Asik
He's scoring a venerable 6 points in 20 minutes on 50% shooting. http://www.euroleaguebasketball.net/competition/players/showplayer?pcode=001255&seasoncode=E2016
Yep, he has some hits, also gave up a first for Terrance Williams, and a first for Lawson. And tried to pay Bazemore insane money, and tried for Pau and Nene which would have been a disaster...... So, win some, lose some, I rate him a good GM overall. DD
I can't believe Morey was on the hot seat. Even after last year. Yeah it was bad, but all things considered Morey has done a really good job.
Ummm requiring the player option waive for DUI Lawson was a no brainer IMHO. Not even unprecedented since Morey did the same thing with Corey Brewer before trading Troy Daniels to get sewer.
Why do some fans count the moves that weren't completed, which in hindsight, probably would have been bad for the Rockets, as a strike against Morey's record? For every fan who trumpets, "He landed Harden!", there is always a fan who laments, "well, he initially wanted Nene and Gasol." For every fan who trumpets, "Eric Gordon! What a steal!", there is always a fan who laments, "well, he offered Bazemore a huge contract first."
It's called being objective. Just because we make fun of some of these things doesn't mean we think Morey is a bad GM. The fact that we have so many examples of these moves that never happened, is a sign that Morey/Les are being aggressive in their approach to land talent here in Houston. As a fan, I love that about Morey and despite his analytical background, he tends to approach FA more like a riverboat gambler approaches a poker table. He swung and missed on Gasol/Melo/Bosh, and looking back on things that was probably in the best interest of the team. He swung and hit one deep on the Gordon and Anderson this year, two injury prone players who thankfully have not only stayed healthy but have been key additions to the team. I will always give Morey his props for being aggressive and trying to improve the team. He's a "fans" GM by every stretch. Many fans of opposing teams wish they had him, too. But, criticism is still fair and every GM has to live with that.
Because they like to act like insiders and armchair quarterbacks. No one has a clue how good Baze would look with D'Antoni/Harden as opposed to Atl.
If we had made that move then we don't end up with Harden. If you think Gasol and Nene would have been enough to win us a ship on their own then you would have a point.
Morey is a top 5 GM in this league, maybe top 3. It's exactly by looking at his bad decisions that you realize how good this guy is. Those are really nothing, totally acceptable rate of risks taken gone bad. He's not allowed to tank so no high picks, we're almost always capped out, it's not the best FA destination. We have a fantastic D-League set up. We're always ready to trade for a big piece or we are contending. With the new CBA and how much you're allowed to pay your own players, being able to extract maximum value out of every cap dollar and every draft pick and every trade is going to be even more important for contenders. He is always ahead of the game strategically of course. Other than last season, I can't remember the last time we underperformed vs our roster talent. I'm just dreading the day a team like the Knicks throw an unrejectable contract at him.
Do you think Eric Gordon suddenly having arguably his best season in his career was a coincidence, or do you think him joining Harden and the Rockets had much to do with it? It's not exactly fair to look at a player and say "hey he turned us down and he is sucking now, we got lucky!". Some systems make a player better, some make them worse. I would say Kent Bazemore would be having a career season if he was playing with D'Antoni and Harden right now, and Eric Gordon will still be considered a mediocre injury prone player if he remained a Pelican. Morey specializes in finding underutilized players and maximizing their strengths in Houston. It's what he is known for and how he has been able to find value in 2nd round draft choices. I am surprised people at this point would still try to use some hindsight evaluation to conclude on Morey's failures based on something that could have happened but didn't. It would be like saying you got lucky you didn't buy a new audi because someone stole an audi parked on the street the other day next to your house, when in truth you likely would have parked your audi in the garage and taken better care of it.
Nonsense. Lawson's got off the court issues and an attitude problem. Ennis is no good, but he at least isn't causing locker room issues like Lawson might. Lawson definitely was kept away from the team last year for more than bad play.
I don't know that Lawson was an issue off the court. He was terrible enough on the court and I think he is battling with alcoholism. I don't really mind a trouble maker. If you are capable of motivating them and give them room to be creative, they will stop causing off court issues. Unfortunately, we don't have those kinds of minutes to give Lawson so you're probably right. He would start sulking and the demotivation would not be a good place for him to be mentally.