Hey, just a quick question for you propeller-heads, since I can't seem to find a clear and certifiably accurate listing of all of the Free Agents (or Restricted Free Agents) the Rockets have signed since Morey has been the GM. Is there such a list? If so, it would be good to look at it. Not talking about trades, just players outright signed as guys who had the full choice themselves, if that makes sense. Muchos gracias
GM: http://www.prosportstransactions.co...entChkBx=yes&BeginDate=2007-5-6&submit=Search Assistant GM: http://www.prosportstransactions.co...entChkBx=yes&BeginDate=2006-4-3&submit=Search Other Executives: http://www.prosportstransactions.com/basketball/GMs/Exec.htm
Awesome, thanks, that's a great site. And looking through it, it answered my puzzlement as to why I could not remember off the top of my head any notable FA's we have signed since Morey has been here. There's Ariza, and of less note Brent Barry and Deke. (with apologies to: Steve Francis Mike Harris Alexander Johnson and 10-day guys like Loren Woods Bobby Jones Justin Williams Von Wafer Marcus Campbell James White Pops Garrett Temple Will Conroy Romel Beck..) Morey has wheeled-and-dealed to get tons of great assets and great players, but almost none of them were Free Agents. I know we all think of Morey as a Wizard, and he is, no doubt, but it seems his wizardry is more in the realm of 'deal-making' than in just straight-up signing guys who have their pick of places to play. Don't know if this means anything or not, but something tells me it does not bode particularly well as regards us grabbing any of these top-shelf players, but on the other hand, I think it does mean that, once again, DM is going to pull a rabbit out of a hat while everybody is paying attention to the Lebron/Bosh/JJ circus, and we somehow wind up with a Marc Gasol or someone like that, something totally unexpected in some kind of convoluted deal.
Nero, you summed up the relevant acquisitions, but I did this anyway. Also, I wouldn't point to the lack of major free agent acquisitions as a red flag. It is rare for star free agents to switch teams, in general. Here's a listing of Morey's player maneuvers (not including extremely minor things like signing players to 10-day contracts, unless they're kept for the entire season). I then bolded the ones that I think are significant (or potentially significant). Spoiler
It's important to remember that no matter how powerful a wizard Morey is, he does not have the power to invent salary cap room.
This. Have we ever been under the cap since Morey took over? If you're over the cap then you're pretty much limited to the mid-level exception, bi-annual exception, veteran's minimum exception (Mutombo), and trade exception to sign free agents outright. So that means that most of the time, the best players you can afford are ones that are worth about $5.5 M. All free agents we acquire in the offseason will most likely be in a sign and trade, with the MLE, or for the minimum.
This is when the master plan all comes about. Our C has been developing over in Europe for the past 11 years. 2010 is the year of the Wies.
Exactly. Morey inherited a very bad cap situation. He's done wonders with it and we're in much better shape than before but we're still over the cap. As was pointed out, if you don't have significant cap space then you aren't going to sign anyone for more than $6M and that means it won't be a big name. You'll also notice the Lakers, Mavs, Celtics, Suns and Spurs also haven't signed any big name free agents for the same reasons.
Just to quote it again to make the point AGAIN. If you don't have significant cap room, you don't sign big name FAs. This is a fail of a post since it's intended to mock Morey's ability to sign a big name FA - when in reality he has been making moves to improve the size of the 'names' on the squad since he got here.
Can someone please explain the Ron Artest Trade? We gave up Bobby Jackson, Donte Greene, 2009 protected first round pick (top 14 in 2009-10, top 10 in 2011-12, top 5 in 2013, top 3 in 2014, unprotected in 2015) (2009 #23-Omri Casspi), $1M cash What the hell are these picks?
Those are the conditions for the 2009 pick. If we land in the lottery in 2009, then the following season it's only top 10 protected and so on... Essentially we traded Bobby Jackson, Donte Greene, Omri Casspi, and $1M for Artest.
No. The conditions were fulfilled when Rockets sent Sacramen the #23 pick in 2009 (a pick that wasn't in the top 14), which the Kings used on Casspi. Since the Rockets gave them that pick, all other conditions are moot. The Rockets don't owe the Kings anything else.
Dude! Where have YOU been? You aren't supposed to be looking at this - why that's being too negative. You're supposed to be wired up on the red koolaid, off in a corner chanting "In Morey We Trust!" over and over again while clutching tightly to your Chris Bosh blankie...
Dude why don't YOU read the trade before hating on the guy and his staff who got us Jordan Hill, a swap, a pick, Kevin Martin and Jeffries' expiring contract for Tmac and Landry? Not to mention Rick Adelman, Scola, Aaron Brooks, Battier...Bosh is irrelevant, DM and his staff have done one hell of an overhaul job already We gave up Omri Cassipi, not every single pick the OP listed. Don't tell me you're losing sleep over him