My belief is there were a number of things that *added up* over time that turned him away. He COULD have left last season to go to Philly when they courted him. He didn't. And that is a tell. Morey getting run over by #Tilman on the Westbrook trade was a thing. The MDA contract negotiations last summer which was a debacle and embarrassing. #Tilman letting MDA go this off season. #Tilman getting in the way of the coach process and all of the work Morey was doing. Like to bring in JVG. And the over-aching theme of "being cheap" and taking away assets and tool Morey could do to build a team. That was deflating. All of that stuff. I think Morey stays if JVG is hired as the coach. There was a sharp fracture there and that was the last straw.
Probably free agency after our 2017-18 season, that’s when it became painfully clear that Tillman was a moron who was content destroying our championship hopes to save money.
All of the above. Morey mortgaged part of the Rockets' future in the CP trade, to win now, which didn't work. (Committing to the CP extension was a big part of that mortgage.) He then watched Fertitta mortgage a lot more of the team's future, for a player who (in Morey's view, I believe) wasn't going to give us a real shot at a championship. So now Morey is looking at (1) a team that won't win a championship in the next couple of years, (2) a destructively meddlesome owner, (3) the prospect of further limits on Morey's autonomy, which he probably treasures above all, and (4) a crippling shortage of future picks to work with. By leaving, he got rid of all the hassles and debts. It was an easy call. So my bet, in terms of timing, is that when Fertitta forced through the Westbrook trade, Morey thought to himself, "OK, it's your team. But it doesn't have to be mine."
He had talk with teams out east before this season or last. It's been on his mind for a while. Like I said no doubt Tilman and the Bubble was a major motivator to follow through. Anyone who follows Morey knows you don't override his moves. He has enough tampering with the NBA to worry about. He don't need some 2bit restaurant owner telling him how to do his job when he has been doing it at a high level way before Tilman even thought about buying a team. Going back east was never out of the question, it was just accelerated by the compounding events of the last two seasons.
Teams with good ownership in not-so-big cites often do fine. As for "the media hates us," it's a tiresome, paranoid whine, and Houston is just another city where some fans preach it and fall for it.
lol that's not how it works. Morey had rumblings of leaving in the past. It was never out of the question except that he signed a extension. Tilman overriding his moves was the last straw. So Morey had a job lined up and told Tilman to take the Westbrook trade turn that soma'b**** sideways and stick it straight up his candy ass. Tilman is a jabroni. Don't be a jabroni.
Flub the media. They've always hated us. We throw wrenches in their plans. We've always been competitive despite not being one of their darlings.
If there was not interest he wouldn't have met with them the first time. This coincides with what I said about him wanted to go back East. Tilman gave his blessings to negotiate despite being under contract no doubt?? Right? lol
As much as we would like to make this into a simple parting, it was probably anything but. Putting aside all the Hong Kong stuff, the main issues I have are the cost cutting moves and decision to override his GM on one of the biggest deals of the decade. The multiple decisions to dodge the tax and allowing the Dantoni contract to blow up publicly were all obviously motivated by money. Dodging the tax left us thin in both of the last 2 postseasons...you could argue they did us in both years when House tanked/declared ineligible. The Westbrook deal was obviously not a Morey deal...Fertitta even confirmed as much with the “cold feet” comment. Basically, at the most critical moments in our team building process, Tillman refused to spend and made a critical error that will handicap the franchise for the next 5 years. I’ve seen critical employees leave organizations for less when ownership screwed up.
Exactly Morey has been doing this longer than Tilman has been a NBA owner. There was a reason he is highly regarded despite narratives. You don't need analytics to see Westbrook didn't fit. All the fears people projected onto the Paul deal were realized with the Westbrook deal. I argue the Capela deal hurt us more than the Westbrook deal. Westbrook could have used Capela.
You sound like your fishing for a reaction. If I was Morey I would be gone too. He don't like Communist Texas. Don't be rudypooh candy ass jabroni.
Look, no one really knows what went down - it's all speculative. People should just move on. It didn't work w/ fat elvis.
The same day JVG gets another interview, Morey quits. No way that is not a factor in his separation. He likely wanted to resign after HK. No one wants to be the guy that saw NBA will be losing billions without support from China.