Daryl Morey on the Rockets 2009 Lottery "Bust" Pickups

Yep, that is why I really don't want to make the playoffs....and would rather develop the young guys....you know....sorta...uh.....tank.

DD

 

At this point, all our "assets" have minimum trade cos the ones that have been seeing considerable playing time suck-C-Bud and the ones who are playing really well are onesided or old- scola n martin. While the other assets have 0 trade value cos they have been riding the pine for long.

I agree its painful either way, but this is the perfect season for that, its a shorter season than most- so the pain wont be as long compared to trying this another season.

Rockets have terrible player development. It seems like the only way a rookie can make it on the Rox is if he's a high draft pick e.g. Yao and starts getting pt right away, or if he just lucks out and all his shots are falling in practice and the first couple of games- C-Bud. If you are not in either category, tough luck, they send you to the d-league, kill all your enthusiasm for a few games, bring u back and stick u on the bench- how do you think those players feel about the organization afterwards.

 

Doesn't that remind you a little bit of The Wizard of Oz? The lion, the tinman (no pun intended), and the scarecrow. Was there another one?

 

I don't disagree that Morey wants to win, but his actions and results have been an average team since he joined this team. I wouldn't be surprised either if he has a clause in his contract that says he has to get a team that will at least get a "winning record" to get a bonus. Now at 42-40, you have a winning record, but thats average and ur stuck with the 8th or 9th spot, a very low draft pick and quick ride back home during the playoffs. Thats all the rockets have managed to attain during morey's tenure. same story every season

 

Red,

I agree with your general sentiment, however this is the first year without Yao or Tmac on the books, and I think we have to give Morey a shot to do something without those albatross contracts hanging over his head.

If we are still having this conversation in 2 or 3 more years, then I think there will be a lot more folks talking about Morey in a less than genius manner.

DD

 

T-Will and thabeet are worth keeping. Flynn can still be traded. Jordan Hill maxed out his potential 2 seasons ago. The reason the 09ers did not pan out is cos we never took the time to develop them- half the time they were riding on the bench, the other half complaining about the coach not playing them on twitter. Now if Thabeet had been on the Lakers like Andrew Bynum, they would have given all those starter minutes even when he was sucking so he can learn during actual games, also have him training with kareem, also stand behind him no matter what. what has the rockets done for their 09ers instead of b**** about how they suck

 

It is funny you take this stance considering most of your posts as of late have been very negative towards Morey.

Morey has done a fine job all things considered and deserves at least another 3 years to see if he can build a contender.

 

This is what happens on the board, people make assumptions without understanding context.

I think Morey has done a decent job, not great, not bad, but pretty good, I give him a solid "B".......however, I also think Les is holding him back from what he could do.....so he gets a bit of a pass from me.


DD

 

i doubt any of those players in the locker room have any respect for morey. I remember a video with kevin martin right after morey called them "assets"- not good.
So he calls them out, and they still remain on the bench. How the hell do they respond with no playing time, kinda mind boggling. But that was a b**** move cop out by Morey. He traded for them, now he wants to pass the blame onto them. Thought u were a genius Morey, you didn't see this coming? what about batum and rudy gay? didnt see that coming either?

 

another 3 years. What has he done exactly? Tell me? Rudy Gay and Batum got traded on his watch? He traded for T-Will and Thabeet who Adelman had no intention of playing at all- now i bet both players are mad at the Rox. And his other draft picks are average at best, which is weird cos he has all these stats and statistics, yet better players get picked after Morey's selection in the draft- year after year

 

I have no problem with anything Morey said in the interview. As CH said, he wasn't even saying anything negative about Flynn or Terrence. If anything, those were compliments towards Dragic and Parsons. The Thabeet comment was just the harsh truth of the situation. The Hill comment is the only comment that could even remotely negatively affect any of those guys' trade value. Even then, though, he didn't say anything that every GM in the league didn't already know.

While Thabeet and Flynn have always been locks not to get extended (due to their option salaries being the largest), I am still not sure what Morey will do on Hill or Williams. The decision will not only be based on how much the Rockets value those two guys relative to their option salaries but also how the rest of the league values them.

Morey made sure to note that Williams and Hill have given them some good minutes (although not consistently with Hill). Williams has the cheapest option salary at $3.1M. Hill's is around $3.63M. Not a huge price tag in either case.

If Morey is confident that he could easily move either guy at those salaries for a future second round pick, then perhaps he exercises their options even without there being room in the Rockets' rotation for them next year.

Actually, those two are fairly valuable . . . as moderately-sized expiring contracts to be used as salary filler in any major trades this season. Like with Jared Jeffries last season, there's no way Morey just cuts them until AFTER the trade deadline. Even then, there's less need to buy out either player at that point, since the Rockets are well below the luxury tax threshold and don't need to avoid/minimize any luxury tax. Plus, a guy like Flynn is already as capable as most 3rd string PGs. I would, however, strongly consider buying out/waiving Thabeet and signing Greg Smith . . . but only after the trade deadline passes.

And if we miss the playoffs, we will STILL owe New Jersey a first round pick in 2013 (or 2014 or 2015 or 2016) . . . only at that time, we probably won't have another mid-first rounder from another team to offset the loss of our own pick.

I know YOU know this, DD. but the way people characterize the T-Will pick obligation, it seems like people view it as a one-shot deal. It's not.

Face it. This Rockets team will be no worse than one of the best teams to miss the playoffs and will likely get no better than a late lottery pick.

Frankly, I will be just fine with making the playoffs and giving New Jersey, say, the #18 pick while at the same time still being able to pick at around, say, #19 (from New York) and #37 (from Minnesota). And those are fairly conservative estimates on those other picks.

Then, the Rockets will have ALL of their own future first round picks available to trade WITHOUT RESTRICTION. Trading "an unprotected future first round pick" brings back more value in trades, even if it is likely that the pick will be no better than a mid-first rounder.

 

I hear ya Bima, I would rather we try to trade with NJ now to clear it up some, a big deal for DWill or a small deal.

Hell, I would even take a shot at Lopez, if they want to move him with his foot fracture.

DD

 

By this standard, every GM is an idiot. No one is immune from acquiring a player who doesn't pan out. And, anyway, only Williams was the primary target in the acquisition that acquired him.

And he isn't really blaming anyone in the quote either. He's saying they had hopes at least one of them would break out this year, but that hasn't happened. Maybe that's the player's fault, maybe its the coach's fault, or maybe its his fault. Obviously, you think its his fault. We get it.

 

True, but I think Red is probably right about the players not respecting Morey all that much.

DD

 

Who says making the playoffs with our young squad wouldn't be developing the young guys? Personally I think even a drop of playoff experience is a heckuva a lot more developmental than losing and squabbling with the coach. Think about it: young guys getting 15 minutes per game and making the playoffs vs playing 35 minutes per game and going 20-40.

 

Playing Scola and Martin significant minutes is not developing the young guys, I would rather be playing CLee and PPat those minutes and developing TWill and Thabeet behind them.

DD

 

That would just be speculation, and I have no idea if its true. But in the end it doesn't much matter in my opinion. Players aren't playing for their GM. They aren't interacting regularly with their GM.

I think its important for the coaching staff to respect the GM and vice versa. Also the players need to respect the coaching staff and vice versa.

 

Rolling with the obvious assumption here.

If you don't like the GM/organization you are not going to be talking to your friends in the NBA and pitching the idea of playing in Houston, now are you?

If players feel they are not being respected, and are being treated completely as nameless/faceless assets, it will not help with the other players in the league.

Kmart told Morey he did not like being treated like an asset, and Morey backtracked like Alfred E Newman and "What me worry?" was born.

Players are not stupid, this is one of the reasons I think Morey needs to fade more into the background, and be less up front with the media.

Morey has gotten the GM job, but he has not proven anything yet, he has done some trades that worked, some that didn't, and some that flat out failed.

Whether a "Non" basketball guy can be a good GM is still way up in the air, IMO.

DD

 

Good points, DD.

But, I don't think a player like Kevin Martin would actually hurt his own team's chances for acquiring talent just because he has some personal issue with the GM. Player agents, though, may push their clients to sign elsewhere if they don't think Houston management will treat them right.

 

for the first time ever, i completely agree with everything DD said.

Also if players know that their gm calls them assets and treats them like stocks/bonds, what makes u think they will give any effort on the court or build a bond with a city they might be leaving soon. Its true players do not player for the GM, but a gm manages the team and decides their fate, so they keep an eye on the gm. And when the gm is not being subtle with public jabs like this, it affects morale and team chemistry. Its like Morey is out there running his mouth creating more trouble for mchale