Why Rockets GM Daryl Morey claims he has let James Harden down

Could’ve drafted kawhi

 

the only year you give him is the year we had a 65 win powerhouse that only fell to a 4 HOFer team due to injuries? that seems like a high bar.

over the last 8 years, here are the methods gm's have used to build their champions:

1) have lebron on your team. this can be accomplished by:
- having your best player befriend lebron when lebron is like 22 or 23 (takes foresight)
- have lebron grow up in the city where your team is located (takes even more foresight)

2) be the warriors. this usually requires:
- have your biggest rival be injured when you play them so you can overcome a series deficit and win but sometimes just requires
- have a huge salary cap spike so you can sign kevin durant

the only exceptions to this are:

1) have the warriors be injured against you instead of vice versa (seems like complete luck but the good gm's understand)
2) hire the greatest coach ever and tank and get a #1 pick for the greatest power forward ever
- caveat to this approach: you have to actually also be the greatest coach ever and hire yourself (good gm's know how to become the best coach ever)

as you can see, building a couple of title teams is not very difficult.

 

this is all on management if we stop trading picks we would have talent

 

You forgot Kobe and Gasol, if you take JH as a reserved but more efficient and quiet version of Kobe, you needed a mobile and elite Euro PF who can also drain midrange shots in spades and defend.

So basically Dmo's upside on roids.

Might not need a Duncan first pick.

 

If Morey hadn't screwed up the DMo deal, the Rockets would have won the last 3 NBA Championships. It's good that Morey acknowledges that.

 

This article seems pretty sincere. There is no hyperbole in any of the statements he is making as he tends to do sometimes. My man has come out and evaluated himself and feels he is missing the opportunity with James.

For some odd reason many players do not want to come to Houston be it playing with James, the franchise as a whole, the city, whatever. This always means Daryl has to get creative no salary, contracts, and often times over paying to get players.

Over the past 3 years it is starting to bite back and we are beginning to fall behind> Rockets first "clean" first round pick is not until 2022.

Apologies all, going down the rabbit hole. I guess my point is good article and I will pose the question, if you are going to dump Morey as your GM, who do you have lined up to replace him?

I don' think Presti comes back, he wants to build the new OKC team with all these assets he has accumulated.
Gerson is unproven as a GM so far.
Can you pry Dennis Lindsey or Masia Ujiri away from Utah or Toronto?

 

Bron has had Big 3s and 1 of the best rosters in the league since his 1st year in Miami. Now he has yet another team that is a legitimate title contender thanks to the addition of AD who would be a perfect complement for Harden.

Dude, what? I said I would take Giannis’s team over every Harden squad aside from 17-18, and that’s only because I know for sure that the 17-18 team was a legit title contender. That means I would take it over the 18-19 Rockets team, and I would do so without hesitation. Idk how you’re assuming otherwise from what I posted. U seem to have this false belief that the 18-19 team was some great squad. That team was mediocre, but got propped up by Harden going MJ mode. Don’t fool yourself.

AD has had talent, he’s just not a great #1 and is always injured. He’s not on Harden’s level. Let’s please not act like KD didn’t have 1 of the best rosters in the league each year he was at OKC. They were about to add Horford before he left for GS which would’ve made them arguably the best team in the league. He decided to join stacked GS instead, so like I said, he’s been blessed for most of his career.

Lol, Toronto just couldn’t beat Lebron. They were a definite 50+ win, 2nd round team before Kawhi. The Rockets without Harden could never, period. They went 17-5 without Kawhi. They are on pace for almost 60 wins without Kawhi. They have an amazing bench, 2 All-Stars in Lowry and Siakam who was coming off a MIP award the year before. They have 2 stretch bigs that can defend in Ibaka and Gasol. Gasol is a former All-Star and DPOY. Stop it...

Idc why Kawhi now has yet another stacked team. Fact of the matter is that he does as he continues to be blessed. He doesn’t even need to play all that much since his team can handle things without him. U mean the same CP3 who’s level of play fell off dramatically after just 1 season and who was always missing 20 games? That CP3?

if u don’t see that then Idk what to tell u...there’s superstars who are always on stacked teams, and Harden who pretty much never is

the Rockets are 23-22 when Harden doesn’t score at least 40 this season...it was the same thing last year as well

 

I agree. But that was ancient history now.

In the modern history, the Ryan Anderson contract together with the Ferttita ownership (not Morey's fault) set us back several years.

 

Agreed. It's easy to look at what GMs didn't do and lambast them for that, but I'd rather criticize what the GM actually did...which is give Anderson that contract. That was rough.

 

Don't forget Carmelo!
..in all seriousness though, I think Morey is a good GM but one of his weaknesses is chasing star players a couple of years too late. Dwight was good but wasn't as good as he was a couple of years prior. CP3 was great but also not quite as good and had a hard time staying healthy. Westbrook... well, I wasn't a fan of the trade now and still am not. Plus I think he is on the wrong side of his prime with his game based on athleticism.

Out of all of Harden's teammates while he has been in Houston, how many All Star games have they made?
1. Westbrook this year.

For comparison, how many of LeBron's teammates made the All Star game the same year that played with LeBron? I may have missed some..
1x Zydrunas Ilgauskas (2005)
1x Mo Williams (2009)
4x Chris Bosh (2010-2014)
4x Dwyane Wade (2010-2014)
3x Kyrie Irving (2014-2017)
2x Kevin Love (2014, 2017)
1x Anthony Davis (2020)

 

Took him long enough to admit this.

 

I think the writing is on the wall and Morey is doing a great service to Harden here when he inevitably asks for a trade if we do not win it this year or next. Morey is a smart guy and knows what he is doing here. It’ll pay dividends after Morey leaves where players will remember this and campaign to get him.

Still I’m hoping the Rockets can do well in this tournament format and snag a title this year for sure. This tourney style is a great opportunity for both Harden, Morey, and Russ to make their mark.

 

the nba playoffs isn't tourney style. the playoff format as far as games played for each series is the same as it would be in a completely normal season minus the crowd

 

I meant basically just the compact format. I’ve been listening to too much talking heads that the new format is going to be too much of an advantage to the Rockets.

 

I would disagree there as far as too much of an adv. for the rockets. We do hear about guys like eg and harden losing weight etc but the guys from the other top teams in the league have been doing what they can too. Other than rest which every player in the league benefited from, the rockets were the only team in the midst of implementing an unconventional system. It was very much a work in progress before the season came to an unexpected stop. There were some good results as the full commitment was underway but the league adjusted as teams gave the rockets different looks that they struggled with. For this I wouldn’t call it much of an advantage as far as the team as a whole. I don’t think 8 games is enough to really figure it out, and then right into the playoffs when it’s go time. But it’s going to be interesting for sure when true hca is out of the picture and the other aspects that will now be a factor as a result (no travel, less nerves, %‘s increasing all around, etc)

 

Rockets were interested in Giannis, PG too. But what stone do you believe they left unturned to draft high enough to get these players?

Especially when Rockets draft picks were so low due to being in postseason every single season since acquiring Harden?

 

Dwight, CP3 and Russ all wanted to play with Harden.

 

Definitely. Morey also is partly responsible for this.

 

What new format? To me it is still the same format without clear HC advantage which actually helped them.

The play in tourney does not have an impact on the playoff teams other than possibly the West No 1 seed.

Does this reduce injury risk?
That would be a big advantage for aging teams......

 

Most to blame for Harden not winning a title?

Max: James Harden. It's hard to get all-star players. He got Harden, Chris Paul & Russell Westbrook. He did a great job surrounding him with shooters. ... In the regular season, his PER is MVP level (around 30 on average, maybe a tick under). In the playoffs, last 3 years, 23/24. (Graphic: 26.7 in regular season, 23.5 in playoffs) There's a big difference there. LeBron goes up. Kawhi goes up. Can Harden be the best player on a championship team? A 23/24 PER is an all-star but would never confuse him with a MVP but that's what you need to win a championship. They built the whole system around him. He usually has an all-star around him who can get his own shot. He has a team constructed around him of shooters and a coach that gives him the ball. He's been unable to get it done. It's not Daryl Morey's, Chris Paul's, Westbrook, Clint Capela or any shooters fault. It's James Harden's fault.

Dominique Foxworth: Agree it's not Daryl Morey's fault but absolutely not Harden's fault. The best part was when they put up the graphic to defend you and it took you down. The graphic suggests he's the same player in the postseason that he is in the regular season. Look at the graphic. Those numbers are pretty much the same.

Career with Rockets
Reg. | Playoffs
PPG: 29.6 | 28.2
FG: 44.2% | 41.2%
PER: 26.7 | 23.5
Usage: 33.3 | 33.3
4th Qtr PPG: 7.0 | 6.7

Max: Let's be accurate. This is career. I'm going last 3 years. Since he became a regular season MVP player.

Dom: If the question is who is to blame for Harden not winning a championship, you can go back to Sam Presti for trading him away from that super team, you can go on to Chris Paul's hamstring, you can go to being extremely unlucky - shooting 14% or 15% from 3 in that one game, the cap spike to allow Kevin Durant to go to Golden State. There's so many other reasons for Harden not winning a championship. He's done his part. He's put up big numbers in big situations.

Jay Williams: If we're looking at this reasonably, of course there's multiple factors that go into it. It's not just all James Harden's fault but I will say this: it'll go down in the record books at Harden's fault. No one will talk about Daryl Morey or front office people. You talked about the last 3 years. 2017 down 3-2 to the Spurs. He has 10 points, goes 2-11. That's a game I remember. Next year, up 3-2 with HCA. He then goes 22-53 from the field, 6-25 from 3, including Game 7 2-13 from the field(3). It will go down in the history books as Harden being that guy who couldn't take his team over. It may be different with Westbrook but those are defining games. That's forever going to be cemented to him.

Dom: I agree people will say that but I don't think it's accurate. Just because people will say it doesn't mean it's true. You brought up the partners he's had. Look at the teams he came up against. Those star players had much better stars around them and he has not necessarily been supported.

Max: Since the Rockets got D'Antoni and the ball was put in his hands in a different way, he ascended to MVP level, last 3 seasons, the good news is he's trending in the right direction in the playoffs, getting a little better every year. Here's the reality: he has a precipitous fall from clearly MVP level during the regular season to a good all-star. Still a nice player but not good enough to be the best player on a championship team. 3 year sample size, many games played and a clear pattern. Opposite pattern of LeBron & Kawhi, who win championships.

JW: I think he can be a player on a championship team. Unfortunately for Harden, he'll forever be stained by being up 3-2 with HCA and that horrific shooting slump in the last 2 games that couldn't get them over the hump. That'll forever be with him, let's be honest guys, until he wins a championship.