My point wasn't to bash Morey. I come down very strongly on the pro-Morey === the Rockets are lucky to have Morey === side of the debate. I also believe Morey is probably as sympathetic to players' interests as any GM out there, and tries, to the extent he can without hurting the Rockets' interests, to take care of players. I just think Morey is really really good at spotting talent; and this strength of his could sometimes make it harder for him to see the value of stability. That's all.
While my tone might be harsh and I apologize for that, I still disagree that NBA teams in general value stability. If any team is flawed, including the Spurs, then they'll make changes to upgrade if the opportunity arises. The Spurs in fact are one of the less stable teams in the NBA simply by their prudence in not giving players big contracts. In fact, the few times they have tried to get that "4th guy" such as Richard Jefferson or that stiff center a while back, it generally backfires. They are generally very prudent in giving short term, tradeable/cuttable contracts. I think the whole stability thing is just an illusion. There may theoretically be a point where your roster is basically perfect and you feel no need to make changes, but in reality when has that ever been the case for any team? Even the Heat kept trying out new retreads year after year to surround their big 3.
No team can maintain complete stability. But sometimes I wonder if it even has any material weight for the Rockets. This might just be my frustration speaking after seeing so much turnover over the past few years: Parsons being the only starter left after the 2012 off season. After this current one, Harden being the only starter of the 2012-2013 season, left I understand all the reasons ... but still.
Stability is absolutely an illusion. Everybody is praising the Mavs this year but of their starters (felton, monta, parsons, Dirk, Chandler) Only one has been with the team for more than 2 years. and they lost their 6th man Vince. So, because they like the moves the Mavs made nobody mentions their instability?
Giving people chances can be explained by him seeing players as assets, and in no way proves your assertion that Morey sees players as humans. NBADL - simply assets who might be wrongly valued by the market. International players - lack of analysis of these markets might lead to assets trading under their value. Morey goes there to perform his own analysis and gain an idea of true values. Underappreciated talent - Again, wrong valuation by the market that contradict's Morey's intrinsic valuation. Never gives up on players he values - Again, he thinks he knows their true value, so he keeps going for them. All this simply boils down to one simple fact. Morey is looking for mispriced assets. Trading Players to Good Situation. PPat, Aldrich and TD were traded to the Kings. That year, ESPN rated them the worst team in the NBA. Trading Asik to a team in our own division etc. can simply be explained by saying that Morey expected the trades to be more favorable to him than to the opposite team. Otherwise he wouldn't have traded in the first place. Again, this doesn't prove he treats players like humans. What this boils down to is that all of these can be explained by Morey treating players like assets, so your assertion that he treats them as humans because of your list of reasons doesn't work.
Like I said elsewhere, the "when we get enough talent..." thing is wearing thin to me. I am beginning the believe that it will never be enough talent for Morey. After we got two top players, he is now singing the tune that we need yet another star to contend. So he needs to continue to create more asset value while maintaining flexibility. And flexibility is the twin brother of high roster turnover. My questions are: 1. When are we supposed to get that third star? 2. If we are lucky enough to get that BEFORE Howard's contract is up, what then? In other words, in the foreseeable future, we Rockets fans are going to have to invest more excitement to the offseason than the real season. There is a thread "You have to love Patrick Beverley." TBH, I have learned not to "love" any player too much because the probability of him not being around soon is quite high. Maybe I am too romantic. Some people just cheer for the "team" and see the players as just "pieces" to help the team win. To me, I cheer for the players as well as the team. That's why player character is important for me, and player stability is important for me as a fan.
If what you want is for the team to roll out the same group of guys every year regardless of results, you're going to be disappointed, because no NBA team is going to do that. If Morey does what you want him to do, he will eventually be fired.
That's not what I am saying. I don't know why people keep making these black and white statements. Not wanting high roster turnover does NOT equal to wanting the same roster regardless of the result. Complaining about some aspects of Morey's M.O. does NOT equal to disapproving Morey's job performance. It's this kind of black and white thinking that make a forum divisive. Either you are a Lin fan or a Lin hater. Either you are a Morey apologist or a Morey hater. Morey is either an infallible genius or a heartless snob. There are a lot of shades of gray.
There is no grey. Not wanting high roster turnover is not wanting to do what is necessary to win. Certainly as a fan, you can prioritize other things besides winning. You have to acknowledge that is what you are doing, though. If you put more value on player stability and character for their own sake, you necessarily have to put less value on winning.
Sure I acknowledge that. I was more proud of the 2009 squad than last season's squad. That team was definitely more talented than the Yao-led team in '09. I did not have as much pride for the '14 team not just because of their failure in the Portland series but because of their lack of character and because the longest time any guy had been on the team was about 2 years. Would I have been prouder if they went deeper into the playoffs? I don't know. But back to the point. I do not think the high turnover is "necessary" for winning. If you believe that Morey's turnover rate is just the same as other GM, then it is not based on fact. And Morey has not won anything yet. So you are just basing your assertion on projection, not on facts. Again, I am not saying that Morey is not doing a good job helping the team win. I am just saying that there are other GMs with lower turnover rate who have won. It is a matter of balancing acquiring talent and maintaining team stability--a matter of degree. Since you acknowledge that you just see black and white (i.e you either have high turnover rate or you don't win), I guess I won't be able to convince you otherwise.
I'm not really sure what you mean by character. Is it Artest's brawling and wife beating, or Tracy's quitting on the team? Back to the point. The Rockets have turned over their entire team since 11-12. That team had no All-stars, and no reasonable expectation of significant improvement. The two PG off that team have since become possible all stars. For comparison, let's look at the rest of last year's top 10 teams. 1. Spurs- are the Spur. Their situation is unique, and comparisons to them are ridiculous. 2. Thunder- they have 6 players remaining from a Finals team, including 2 all-stars and an all defense player. 3. Clippers- they have 3 players, including 2 all-stars. 4. Indiana-they have 4, including 1 all-star and 1 former all-star, and 1 future(after 11-12) all star. 5. Heat- 5 players off a championship team, including 2 all-stars. Their situation is skewed by Lebron's departure, though. 6. Rockets 7. Portland- 3 players, including 1 all-star. 8. Golden State- 3 players, including 1 all star and 1 future all star. 9. Memphis- 5 players, including 2 all-stars, 1 all defense player, and a future all defense player. 10. Dallas- 2 players, including 1 all-star Every one of these teams had at least one all-star already on the roster. They didn't have to make the number of moves the Rockets did in order to improve. Despite that, they've all turned over 60-87% of their roster. The teams who were outside of the top 10 in 11-12 who have moved up have turned over at least 80% of their roster. Two potential top ten teams next year: Cleveland- 3 players left, including a future all-star(#1pick) Chicago- 4 players, including an all-star and a future allstar. The 10 team I broke down have a total of 15 players returning from the 11-12 season who have not been either all-stars or all-defense. They had 23 players who were or are all-stars or all defense. The 11-12 Rockets had no players who were or are all-star or all-defense, with the exception for Goran Dragic, who made 3rd team all-nba despite not being an all-star. High roster turnover was essential for the Rockets. Stability is for teams who are already contenders. Even then, there is still a lot of turnover.
