Daryl Morey Talks Draft And Other Off-season Plans

[HMMMHMM]

Video: http://www.nba.com/rockets/video/dar...a-availability

Transcript:

Daryl Morey Talks Draft And Other Off-season Plans Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey discusses the state of the team prior to the NBA Draft Thursday afternoon, Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey briefly met with the media to discuss where his team stands with exactly one week remaining until the NBA Draft. What follows is a transcipt of that discussion: What are your initial thoughts on the team's place in this year’s draft? DM: We’re excited. We really like the draft. We like the players we’ll get in this range. We were looking at it and, the past couple of years, we were picking 14 and one year we liked eight guys and another year we liked ten guys, so we were sweating it quite a bit. This year we feel comfortable that there’s at least 16 guys we think are solid picks. We feel like we’re going to leave the draft with two very good players assuming we don’t move around, trade, things like that. You have a lot of pieces to play with heading into this offseason, right? DM: Yeah, I think so. Obviously our history is we’ll be aggressive. Mr. Alexander really doesn’t accept status quo and is a very competitive guy so we’re going to continue to be aggressive. But the nice thing is we can be aggressive not out of desperation, but out of having two very good picks that teams will want. We have another player, Donatas Motiejunas, coming over that we’re excited about, so we have a bunch of really high upside guys that we’re going to add to the roster and hopefully show on the court next year what they can do. What's the latest update on Motiejunas? DM: As soon as we’re allowed to sign him, which looks like it will be very early July, we plan to sign him and then he’ll play for our summer league team and become part of the program here. Does what you do in the draft determine how aggressive you’ll be in the free agent market? DM: They’re pretty unrelated. I think in general we’re in the mode of trying to add players who are either right now All-Star caliber guys sort of like the trade that we did that didn’t end up happening, or add guys we think are high upside guys who could become All-Star types. You’ve wanted to move up in the last few drafts as well. Do you feel like you have a better chance of doing that this year? DM: I think it’s always hard. I think teams fall in love with who they might get so it’s very hard, unless you’re already top-10, to move within the top-10. I think if there is a move up option it will be for a couple spots versus a big leap. We would like to move quite a bit up but I think that’s unrealistic. The nice thing is that after maybe the first three-to-five guys, it’s pretty flat. We could easily get someone who we might rank six or seven at 14, just because it’s very unpredictable after the first three-to-five picks in this draft. Do you feel pressure that this is a huge offseason for you after having not made the playoffs the last three years? DM: I think you have to continue to stay the course, stay with the plan. Obviously we’re all frustrated that we haven’t been a playoff team; that’s not something that’s acceptable. But I think worse would be to be impatient and to make moves that are very short term based when the reality is we need to add players. If that trade we had made had gone through, then you’re making more short term moves similar to how we added Ron Artest when we had Yao and Tracy. I think you need to keep the big picture in mind otherwise you can make mistakes in terms of losing your cap flexibility or losing your trade ability or hurting your draft status. Did the deal that just happened between Washington and New Orleans bring any clarity to the big picture? DM: It impacted free agency because now instead of Washington having room to be in free agency it’s New Orleans. I think that was probably the biggest impact. From a trade standpoint there are some big names out there right now. Does their potential availability impact deals you may or may not make on draft day because you might want to bide your time to see what ends up happening with these other players? DM: We don’t bide our time. As soon as there’s a deal out there that we think helps our team, we’ll do it. Do you think you have more pieces than ever to help put together the puzzle? DM: Yeah, I think this is the second year without Yao. Obviously people see it as bigger but it’s really the second year without his contract commitments. So now this is our first year where we’re going to have cap room and I think cap room is a really good tool to create upgrades. From a trade perspective, yeah, I think we’ve got more to work with than we’re ever had to work with, and from a draft perspective as well. Now all that adds up to is not enough on the floor yet to be a playoff team, but it does give us our best hand that we’ve had to work with. Whereas in the past where we might have had the 3-7 off-suited, now we’ve got maybe a pocket pair of 8s or something (laughs). So we’re going to continue to try to upgrade our ability to pull off the move or draft someone who’s got upside or have one of our players who we very much believe in who we think could take a step forward as well. Goran Dragic expressed significant interest in returning to Houston recently. How do you feel about where that situation stands? DM: We agree. I mean he’s wearing Rockets jerseys already so I feel like it’s already done (laughs). We plan to bring Goran Dragic back. Obviously there’s some days between the desire and making that happen, but I think he wants to be here, we want him here and that’s the best start you can have. We can’t really talk specifics until we get to that period but the fact that there’s mutual interest, and not just a little but a lot, gives it a good chance to happen. How do you make it work from a timing standpoint where you want to get a deal done but a free agent might want to see how things develop first? DM: I think the reality is it’s always (a situation) where we’ll want to get something done early. I agree, they may want to wait but our business as a franchise is to add good players and if they can’t commit early then it obviously creates some risk for him to end up in the situation I think he wants to end up in. But my sense is we will get it done early. That’s our hope.

http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/dary...r-season-plans

[daywalker02]

Thanks....
Morey is stating the obvious
but the whole "it is the second year after Yao" statement is horse crap,
that is making excuses once a season starts all over again

[BimaThug]

Re: Dragic's free agent situation: How do you make it work from a timing standpoint where you want to get a deal done but a free agent might want to see how things develop first? DM: I think the reality is it’s always (a situation) where we’ll want to get something done early. I agree, they may want to wait but our business as a franchise is to add good players and if they can’t commit early then it obviously creates some risk for him to end up in the situation I think he wants to end up in. But my sense is we will get it done early. That’s our hope.

Interesting. If the Rockets were truly going to use their cap room this summer, they'd want to "wait" (i.e., no more than a private, wink-wink deal, perhaps) with Dragic in order to keep his cap hold at $4.0 million. The second there is a real AGREEMENT to the terms of a new contract, I believe that Dragic's cap hold will increase to first year salary of his new deal.

But, I suppose "getting their guy" is more important than playing games around the salary cap.

[Big MAK]

I bet we end up trading our picks for cash and 2nd round picks, or late first round picks. I give it a 10% chance of us actually trading up in the draft.. It's going to be another disappointing draft for the Rockets, leading to another lackluster season.

[HMMMHMM]

Yeah, lots of it is just talk. Not sure I buy that the Rockets think there are at least 16 players that will be solid picks with the Rockets having both the #14 and #16 pick.

The nice thing is that after maybe the first three-to-five guys, it’s pretty flat.

This I found to be interesting, not because it's something we've never heard before but because the Rockets apparently aren't totally sold on one of Robinson, Beal or MKG.
Drummond and Barnes I could/would have guessed, but I didn't expect him to say this draft might be 3-deep at the top.

[coachbadlee]

Originally Posted by Big MAK I bet we end up trading our picks for cash and 2nd round picks, or late first round picks. I give it a 10% chance of us actually trading up in the draft.. It's going to be another disappointing draft for the Rockets, leading to another lackluster season.

I'm starting to feel that way too.

[J.R.]

Were you saying something up there?

[BimaThug]

Originally Posted by HMMMHMM Yeah, lots of it is just talk. Not sure I buy that the Rockets think there are at least 16 players that will be solid picks with the Rockets having both the #14 and #16 pick.

I think that wasn't meant to intimate that there's a substantial drop-off after the "top-16". He said AT LEAST 16 guys. The entire point of his statement was that he wasn't worried about "the last guy they really liked" (like almost happened with Patterson or Morris) going off the board before they can make both their picks.

I happen to agree with the statement, too. There are several players in that range who could fall to 18 or 19 who would be very solid picks.

[BigMaloe]

thx for the read...

[Clutch]

Every year Daryl talks confidently about the ability to move up -- in fact, in his first few years, he even told media he had deals he could exercise to move up. He didn't do that this time, so may look tough to get way up this time.

I'm going to guess 14 and 16 alone gets you to 9 or 10, tops.

It is interesting he said there are 16 guys they like this year... maybe he's bluffing, but it reflects how I feel about this draft... there are players that I prefer, but I don't worry about getting someone good in those spots. I think it goes 20 deep easily and I wouldn't even mind flipping a pick for Boston's two picks at 21 and 22, though I know there is no way we're adding three guaranteed first round contracts.

[heypartner]

Originally Posted by HMMMHMM Yeah, lots of it is just talk. Not sure I buy that the Rockets think there are at least 16 players that will be solid picks with the Rockets having both the #14 and #16 pick.

That is HIS top 16. That doesn't mean (and never means) that Morey's top 16 will go in the first 16 picks.

He said last year there was 8, the year before 10. I'm pretty sure he also got one of them in PPat that he had as top 10, right?

[HMMMHMM]

Originally Posted by BimaThug I think that wasn't meant to intimate that there's a substantial drop-off after the "top-16". He said AT LEAST 16 guys. The entire point of his statement was that he wasn't worried about "the last guy they really liked" (like almost happened with Patterson or Morris) going off the board before they can make both their picks. I happen to agree with the statement, too. There are several players in that range who could fall to 18 or 19 who would be very solid picks.

Fair enough. I just found it to be curious that it's 16 players, not 15 or 17. Obviously could be a coincidence I guess.

[Carl Herrera]

Originally Posted by BimaThug Interesting. If the Rockets were truly going to use their cap room this summer, they'd want to "wait" (i.e., no more than a private, wink-wink deal, perhaps) with Dragic in order to keep his cap hold at $4.0 million. The second there is a real AGREEMENT to the terms of a new contract, I believe that Dragic's cap hold will increase to first year salary of his new deal. But, I suppose "getting their guy" is more important than playing games around the salary cap.

Noticed the same thing. I think "getting it done early" may not be something that really prevents them from pursuing an outside free agent-- makes managing the mechanics of things somewhat harder, but you can get around it.

Specifically, during the 10-day moratorium period, the Rockets can settle on a deal with Dragic and pursue other possibilities (be it a FA signining or a salary-eating trade) that require holding Dragic at the $4 million cap hold during the 10 day period. They can then arrange it so that the Dragic signing is done moments after the other deal is done.

My guess that if there is a big $ FA to be signed, this will get settled during the moratorium. In the case of a restricted FA, they just need to wait 3 additional days to formally sign Dragic. The kind of deals that don't get done until later in the summer are probably going to involve more minor players and it's not really worth delaying signing Dragic to pursue such players (the one exception perhaps being a Dwight Howard trade, but Orlando might well settle it as early as draft night).


Also, they also have other ways to open up cap room-- Courtney Lee is a restricted FA, he can always be let go or renounced (should an important enough deal presents itself), Kevin Martin and Luis Scola can be traded or even amnestied.

[ArtV]

Originally Posted by BimaThug Interesting. If the Rockets were truly going to use their cap room this summer, they'd want to "wait" (i.e., no more than a private, wink-wink deal, perhaps) with Dragic in order to keep his cap hold at $4.0 million. The second there is a real AGREEMENT to the terms of a new contract, I believe that Dragic's cap hold will increase to first year salary of his new deal. But, I suppose "getting their guy" is more important than playing games around the salary cap.

Yea you don't want to leave him open to where some team swoops in and changes his mind. You can get away with that with a player like Hill because the risk is low but there is too much interest in Dragic to gamble even for the possibility of a good FA signing.

[DaDakota]

Is Marcus Morris still in his top 15?



DD

[heypartner]

A likely wink-wink deal and wait to sign Dragic could be a scenario where Dragic wants to sign but demands that we trade Lowry, and Morey says, "well, give me one month to do that; you and I need to get value for him...so let me do my job and we'll get this done. Give me one month, OK." Dragic, "sure, ok. send me some more Rockets shorts though, my other one is dirty."

[ArtV]

Originally Posted by HMMMHMM Yeah, lots of it is just talk. Not sure I buy that the Rockets think there are at least 16 players that will be solid picks with the Rockets having both the #14 and #16 pick.

it depends on if the Vipers have any openings. Seriously though I am all for rebuilding but I am not sure adding a 14 and a 16 and DMo is what this team needs unless they plan on unloading some current players for future picks or making some 3 for 1 trades. Otherwise they truly are just going to sit and rot.

[Clutch]

Originally Posted by heypartner A likely wink-wink deal and wait to sign Dragic could be a scenario where Dragic wants to sign but demands that we trade Lowry, and Morey says, "well, give me one month to do that; you and I need to get value for him...so let me do my job and we'll get this done. Give me one month, OK." Dragic, "sure, ok. send me some more Rockets shorts though, my other one is dirty."

Wink-wink deals are great until someone opens their mouth.

Signed,
Alonzo Mourning

[DaDakota]

Originally Posted by Clutch Wink-wink deals are great until someone opens their mouth. Signed, Alonzo Mourning

Thank god no one in the Rockets organization would EVER do that, right Kevin McHale?

DD

[heypartner]

everyone...shhhhhhh

Maybe Clutch should delete all posts talking about wink wink deals.