Why are you fighting against something that was super common knowledge at the time Les was owner so hard? It comes across really weird, you can't gaslight everybody in existence, we all witnessed it. It's not made up.
Here’s the thing. There are those who are saying Les controlled all the moves and did not allow this team to rebuild through the draft although they did rebuild with Francis, Kenny Thomas, and Eddie Griffin. Then they drafted Yao to go with Francis for couple years and blew it up. So not sure what this narrative is about. And if there was some order or mandate then how can we ever fault Morey if all his moves and actions were governed and influenced by Les?
No. I ask for evidence. What was written. What was reported. Often times writers sneak in their opinions or create narratives. None of these pieces substantiate the belief that Les controlled everything or did not want this team to “tank” or rebuild through the draft. So the question is this all perception or actual facts that he or Morey said these things to the public. 2 very different things. Or were there other league sources? What is known is Morey said his philosophy is to acquire players to build a core. And all his moves reflect this. If Les mandated anything then we should not hold Morey accountable if he was just following orders. What fans and writers think don’t seem to add up.
And all you have is your opinion. Against a mound of evidence to the contrary of your opinion. As someone already said….its just weird behavior what you are doing, but not surprising to me based on your posting pattern. Like I said, you are never wrong, so of course you are going to stick to your guns and quadruple down despite the overwhelming evidence. No one is saying Morey can’t be blamed for anything he did as a GM and that everything is on Les. There are just facts as to how things went during that time. Morey was tasked with building a contender without the ability to tank and with an owner who didn’t want to go into the luxury tax ever. Im sure Morey would say himself that’s no excuse for not winning a title but anyone with an ounce of objectivity can see that building a contender with those constraints is a tall task.
That’s fine and I find it odd you unnecessarily mocked and insulted me holding on to some old petty grudge when I simply expressed my views then went on a mission to counter my view sending me 3 responses. I made an assessment based on what actually transpired in that era and what Morey said. You have your opinions and beliefs and I question where this narrative came from without any substantiating information. Difference between fact and belief. No need to go further with this.
Do you think that if Morey went to Les and said that i want to do a full tear down and tank for 3 years, Les would have said ok? Morey (and all math people) have always said the worst way to build is through the middle. Why would he deliberately do that?
Why would they deliberately stay mediocre or not rebuild? In my assessment it’s a matter of timing and chance. They found some great opportunities and seized them. You can say they were aggressive and proactive in their approach but I don’t think they completely ruled out rebuilding. Because they did rebuild under Dawson. Unless there was a change of approach in the Morey years. As I mentioned they had the 22nd pick in 99. They saw an opportunity to get Francis and went for it. They drafted Kenny Thomas. The next couple years they added Collier and Eddie Griffin. This was their young core. Then came Yao. After the glorious Yao years they had holdovers like Scola, Lowry, Battier. They likely thought they could still compete. Added Martin and tried to add Gasol. Then they added Harden. So I think they were just an aggressive team that took opportunities given and risks and were in some awkward stages in their rebuild.
There's a lot of teams who refuse to tank. Jordan never let his teams tank, the kings for 20 years refused to tank, it's very common in the nba. Not every owner is willing to have their team be horrendous for several years, even if it's what's best for the long term. I don't remember the rockets trying to win 20 games during the Dawson era but that's so far back i don't really remember so you could be right.
The Rockets teams of that Dawson era are why we have a lottery in the league today, they intentionally tanked two straight years for the #1 pick in 83 and 84 with the lottery instituted in 1985 with the specific intent to prevent tanking. (it hasn't worked).
