Initial Claim This claim has been floated around on CF for a while now by some of the lower level thinkers in the GARM. This assertion is simply false and should be debunked. Draft Picks of the past 10 seasons In ten years, Morey has never drafted higher than 14th overall, save for one year in which he drafted Lamb at #12 and then promptly traded him for James Harden. Let's look at all the picks Morey has made since 2007 who have seriously contributed to teams (have been starters or key reserves) and at least become long term NBA vets. 2007- Aaron Brooks 2007- Carl Landry 2008- Joey Dorsey 2009- Chase Budinger 2010- Patrick Patterson 2011- Marcus Morris 2011- Chandler Parsons 2012- Jeremy Lamb 2012- Terrence Jones 2012- Donatas Motiejunas 2013- Isaiah Canaan 2014- Clint Capela 2015- Sam Dekker 2015- Montrezl Harrell A large majority of these players have been starters or first couple of guys off the bench for playoff teams. I challenge any naysayer to pull up any team's draft picks that are not top 10 picks and compare it to this list. It's not even close. Every GM has "misses" so bringing up Morris over Leonard, while valid, doesn't count as much as some portray it to. The number of "hits" Morey has had compared to his misses are very high. Undrafted Free Agents It's not just draft picks either. Morey has an excellent tracker record of picking out "undrafted FA" who are worthy of being on an NBA team somewhere. For example: Von Wafer Garret Temple Ish Smith Jeremy Lin Patrick Beverley Robert Covington Troy Daniels Tarik Black Now, we didn't keep all of these players after Morey signed them. Specifically, Temple was let go relatively soon and would go on to become a key cog for the Wizards. Similarly, we let Lin go only to sign him again a few years later. But all these guys have been key players for multiple NBA teams. It's actually really remarkable. Undrafted free agents aren't supposed to contribute as much as the guys above have. Morey was the first one to really give these guys a serious look at and really helped get these guys through the NBA door. Conclusion Not only is the initial claim of some of the CF loudmouths wrong, but the facts prove completely the opposite! Morey is not a bad drafter, he is a very good drafter. The contributions of the draft picks and undrafted free agents that Morey has acquired are seen across the NBA. It goes a little bit deeper than this though. Morey's footprint is on the entire NBA. The young players he has acquired (not just rookies, but years 1-3) are littered across the NBA on every single team. It's not just about the draft. That's a very narrow minded way to think about this topic. In the past 10 years there has never once been a time the Rockets were short on talented young players who eventually contributed to the Rockets and in the NBA. Keep in mind this has all been while not having a single losing season. Through the draft; undrafted free agent signings; trades for young players (1-3 years experience), as well as the excellent system in place at RGV, the Rockets have one of if not the best farm system in the NBA.
I always hated trading away Marcus Morris. I mean he wouldn't have been a huge game changer, but always thought his game went well with Hardens. I wouldn't want to replace any of our starters with him, but man we would be impressive if we had him and EG in our second unit.
This is a common thought? I was under the impression we all deeply respected Morey for his mid to late first round and second round draft picks. Aside from a few like Joey Dorsey and Royce White I've always loved his draft picks -- or rather what they turned into. I don't watch college basketball enough to know anything about who we draft anyways.
Good thread. I remember posting something similar to this about a year ago and everybody just kept talking about the Morris pick over Leonard, as if that was the only year that Morey was GM.
I would agree with you that Morley drafts better than his opportunities allow. Yes, he is being judged unfairly because we haven't drafted a Super Star. But looking at the bigger picture, what's the point in having the best farm system in the NBA if we can only keep them during their rookie contract? And all this hard work of maintaining winning seasons while drafting well still have not produced a single championship. Meanwhile, Lebron goes to Cleveland and uses his network to convince people to play with him and take less money and then wins a championship. One could argue drafting is overrated unless you have the #1 pick to get the next Lebron.
For starters, unless they have the potential to BECOME an all-star caliber player, Morey sees no point in retaining their services beyond their rookie contracts. If they do go into free agency as a RFA, and the player is a solid contributor, Morey has matched their offers more often than not. Your argument that the draft is overrated unless you land a LeBron is reaching considering Golden State drafted Steph at #7 and Draymond well after the 1st Round. The main point of the thread is to prove that Morey knows how to draft or evaluate talent based on where we've been picking.
While I appreciate your write up, there is no reason to waste energy on "lower level thinkers" who spam nonsense on this board. You're just feeding the trolls. It's like getting into it with a LOF'er. There is no upside.
It's definitely not overreaching considering the context of the situation. You cannot maintain a winning season and expect to win the championship through the draft. Golden State had to suck before they got better. Golden State drafted Curry with #7 in 2009. They were 26-56. The next year they had the #6 pick and went 36-46. In 2011, they picked Klay with the #11 overall pick and still went 23-43. Is the goal to draft better than you are expected to or to win the championship?
It's kind of a myth that anyone can beat the draft. Gotta be smart and gather up picks, like Morey has done. That said, passing on Kawhi was pretty terrible.
The key is not just whom was drafted but whom was drafted afterwards - like Kawhi Leonard...instead of Marcus Morris. Nice try though....omitting Royce...lol come on.... DD
A lot of knee jerks around mate, also we had some troubles past season so people would harp on any little and possible negative stuff they can come up with, just to get their salt off one way or another.
This should be the real subject of conversation: Does Morey missing out on a cornerstone/franchise player out way his remarkably successful history of picking in the middle of the draft? I don't think it does, but MANY think it is inexcusable.
@DudeWah you should compile a list of players Morey missed on that became great/good/better than to add to your argument.
Any time people bring Leonard i'm like WUT? The dude could barely shoot, sure he had good defensive repertoire, great hands, all the athleticism and etc, but let's not act like he would be same player in Houston as he is in Spurs, we don't know that, there are so many factors, i mean, its not like Morris was a scrub in college. Other teams did pass on Leonard as well and Pacers also traded him, so that's that.
But your original statement said: Based on what you wrote, I interpret it as "Unless you have the 1st pick in the draft to get a once in a generation talent" it's meaningless to have the ability to draft well and maintain a competitive team. If that's incorrect, my bad. Otherwise, you can't simply judge the success and failure of a season based solely on whether or not a team wins a championship. I agree with you 1000% that the goal is to win a championship but the path to a championship INCLUDES drafting well. You can't expect to fill 15 roster spots with nothing but free agents because the salary cap won't allow for that to happen. No, you need to be able to draft well relative to what spot you have because that rookie or young player will eventually get on the court and, at worst, need to not screw things up. So to answer your question, the answer is "Both"; you have to draft well/better than expected in order to have that one of many pieces needed to win a championship. Hell, our championship seasons wouldn't have happened if it weren't for Robert Horry and Sam Cassell, young / rookie players that complemented the veterans on the team.
I mean, people were comparing Parsons to Kawhi. Remember that!? Parsons WAS better than Kawhi at one point. Nobody was crying that Rockets should have picked Kawhi when Parsons was barrelling in for tip back dunks over Blake Griffin. Imagine Parsons in the Spurs system. He probably wouldn't have turned into the expert douche bag he is now. He sure as hell would have developed better shot mechanics.
