I repeat, let's see a "team" on the floor actually get into the playoffs before we sing Morey's praises. You guys have been praising him profusely for years for doing essentially nothing but shuffling the deck.
Shuffling the deck is maybe not the right analogy. He has been slowly trading up his assets to get a franchise player. Even if you don't like Morey, which I do, you have to admit we have lacked a player of Hardens caliber since Yao went down. Lowry,Kmart and Gogi were our best players and are not as good or have the potential of Harden. Most superstars cost years of draft picks. This deal only cost us the 2013 draft. I think Morey has done his best work in stealing Lin and Asik and acquiring Harden. Also we have young guys like Jones,Dmo,Machado,Parsons. I honestly believe that this team will be more exciting than the teams of the last 2 years. Personally, I sing praises to GM's for good transactions and I sing praises to coaches for wins.
Cannot disagree more. Lets look at what happened: The Rockets lost both of their stars to essentially career ending injuries 3 years ago. Not only could McGrady and Yao no longer play, their contracts and cap hit remained on the books for 1 and 2 more years, respectively, limiting what the team could do. The fact that the Rockets managed to find a replacement star player in just 3 years means the last 3 seasons worth of work, i.e. asset accumulation, is a success. And James Harden is no doubt a star-- a player whom most teams in the league would gladly pay the maximum allowed salary. I mean, think about other 50+win teams that lost their stars and how long it took them to find the next max-worthy player. How many years and lotto picks has it been since Sacramento lost Webber's crew and what do they have to show for? Boogie Cousins, who has great talent but still deals with head case issues. How about Minnesota and Garnett? The fact that the Rockets tried to land a star during the last 3 seasons (Bosh, Melo, Pau, Dwight, even Eric Gordon) but did not don't mean that their strategy was a failure. Trying to land any star is inherently a low probability venture-- there are always many other teams pursuing the same guy, the player's own team wants a ton in a trade and often have their own circumstances affecting how they value packages offered to them. The fact that Rockets tried to get them but ended up "close but no cigar" until 3 years after Yao/McGrady's careers essentially ended doesn't mean that it was a mistake for them to have tried. It was smart for them to get involved since a non-trade doesn't really cost them anything other than you people being butt-hurt. Getting Harden (not to mention Asik and others) after only 3 years of trying put them well ahead of the typical rebuild job in recent NBA history. The alternative that people advocate, tanking for high picks, also has many pitfalls and a probability for failure (lotto ball may not bounce your way, you might end up with a high pick in a weak draft class when no elite talent is available, you may select the wrong player) and have had a history of not paying dividend until a team has had multiple high picks and suffered through years of unwatchable ball. And for some teams even years of being terrible never lands them someone at Harden's level. Moreover, even before the Harden trade finally happened, Morey was consistently making smart moves, many of which led to the Rockets having the "assets" with which to trade for Harden. He traded Alston for Kyle Lowry, who was then traded for the "guaranteed lotto pick" from Toronto. He traded a 2008 2nd round pick (ended up 56th overall) plus cash for Carl Landry, then traded Landry for Kevin Martin. He ate Jared Jeffries' salary to get Jordan Hill and a draft pick, then traded Jordan Hill for Fisher and the Dallas 1st rounder. He traded Ariza for Courtney Lee, then used the Rockets Bird Rights on Lee to get that Charlotte 2nd rounder. He also signed Dalembert to a favorable contract, and then traded him to move up to the 12th draft spot and draft Jeremy Lamb. People liked me recognized the smart moves for what they are while many of you spend time b****ing about how Morey's efforts had not landed the Rockets a star player yet without considering the circumstances.
Can't believe this point has to still be brought up for people. Such a gigantic hindrance that people just brush off like it's nothing
So, you don't think Morey is all over helping you be a Rockets fan. Do you honestly believe Presti got the better of Morey, here? really r e a l l y
Wondering where Rocket River, Olajuwonfan and Dreamshake1 are now? Pre-draft and post-draft, they really dug into Morey ...
I think Morey has done what he could in a tough situation, trying to minimize the risks while exploiting opportunities. If this wasn't Houston but NY or LA, he'd have Melo or Dwight or whoever, with the snap of his fingers. But superstars aren't risk-free either -- just look at those teams.
One thing I do remember some of you guys with: the job is not finished. Even Moey himself said he is looking for another star level player. It is also still going to be a fight to get into the playoffs in a tough Western Conference. However, Morey did not only manage to acquire Harden, but also put the team in a good position to make that next acquisition an take that next step: the Rockets have $7.8M of cap room right now, and is projected to have as much as $13M or $16M in cap room in the upcoming summer free agency period (depending on what they do), they have the youngest roster in the league, and prospects with upside (Jones, White, Motiejunas are rookies, but even Lin, Asik, Morris, Parsons, Pat and Aldrich are still young). And if they don't make the playoffs, they'd have another lotto picks to trade at or after draft night. It is not like Morey depleted his prospects pool and took on a bunch of crap long term deals while acquiring Harden. Based on NBA history, you really can't ask for a much better recovery from the loss of two stars in 3 years.
If the Rockets had tanked, they very well could be the Washington Wizards or Charlotte Bobcats right now. Is that really more promising than what we have?
People are on their knees for DM a little too quick from this trade. You're acting like he got the best of OKC, like we traded Lamb for Durant straight up. We didn't... we got Harden. He's good, not great. We had to give up our best player for their 3rd best, as well as future picks and our first pick of the draft. At best it's an even trade, and I'd argue against that. DM has still yet to impress me, and if this is all, it's going to be a long season.
Gogi, who is 26, and has yet to put together a good full season. Don't get me wrong, he was good for us, but he's exactly the kind of guy we should not overpay for during a rebuilding phase.
Overpay? We paid basically the same amount to Lin, who also hasn't put together a whole year. The deal breaker was Gogi wanted a player option on his final year IIRC. I hope Lin steps up, but I'd preferred keeping Gogi.
Morey has always been in the middle of big trades, and this is certainly a big one, but Harden isn't a max player.
