He also got Ariza, Jet and resigned Bev and Brewer. Not as sexy as the other FAs out there but look at the price we got them for. Dallas is paying Parsons 15M and the Rockets signed a better player at half the price.
Morey's definitely weakest at signing FAs out of all those three skills, but that's not to say he's terrible- he just swings big. He's a great drafter (from the McGrady trade onward, almost every deal save maybe the TWill trade and trading Brooks for Hamilton was a good deal), and he drafts decently.
Oh please He is far from a great drafter. He is a mediocre drafter and a good trader. He has drafted busts like Royce White. Joey Dorsey ahead of DJ, Mook Busty Morris ahead of Kawhi Leonard and several other messes In general he has a below average record drafting in the first round and an above average record in the 2nd round so overall I'd say Morey is a decent drafter but not close to great as you put it.
The Rockets draft better than any other team in the NBA. The quality of the star players we received for them over the years in trades for our drafted players proves it.
I actually meant to write trader. I think yes about an average to slightly above average drafter. But trading is definitely his best skill.
Depends on how you see it. You can say that Morey is good at fleecing other GMs into believing the potentials of the draftees. For example, Jeremy Lamb is pretty much a bust in lieu of his draft position. But Morey unloaded him quickly to get the Harden deal. To say that the Rockets "draft better than any other team in the NBA," you have to list out all the players we drafted and see how they stack up (noo matter which teams they are playing for now) according to their draft positions, which is a very tedious work. Being able to get star players with your draftees does not necessarily mean that the draftees are good. It could just mean that you are good at leveraging your assets. Morey is no doubt one of the best, if not the best, at managing assets.
that is b/c the NBA desn't allow a process to trade before the pick is made - technically the ROX drafted Batum but the pick was for Portland
Most would say our 1st round picks are average. Where Morey strikes a difference is his second round picks.
That's a symptom rather than a cause, mostly of not having a lot of draft success due to trading the picks away or bad drafting or both. Being able to land good players through the draft is easily teh best situation as it allows you to get them for cheaper, and you give up NOTHING for it. The pick is just given to you, and counts for very little over the cap. That's why everybody wants to tank if they can (though over-tanking devalues tanking...)
Nobody drafts perfectly and the way Morey has been drafting he either goes with the risky pick with potential or he goes the proven route in undersized PF. You're correct he missed out on DJ, Kawhi and Batum to name a few but IMHO his makes outnumber his misses so pointing out the 5 picks he got wrong and ignoring the 10 picks he got right is just silly. He got Landry, Brooks, Budinger, Chuck Hayes, Chandler Parsons, Tjones, Beverly, DMo, Capela, etc etc he is above average at least.
