A potential conversation b/w owner Alexander and Morey (re: letting Lin go)

Sports writers and fans can discuss all they want how much Daryl Morey is to blame for letting Jeremy Lin go, but there's really only one opinion that matters -- Rockets owner Leslie Alexander's. One can imagine he is just as upset as Warriors owner Joe Lacob, who has gone on record that it makes him sick that they let Lin go. You've got to think Alexander feels the same way, and wants to hold Morey accountable since he is a demanding owner (as he should be).

One can imagine a conversation similar to the proposed one below has occurred between Leslie Alexander and Morey regarding the waiving of NBA sensation Jeremy Lin:

Alexander: "Daryl, I get sick after every game that Jeremy Lin does well, realizing he could have been on our team, and WAS on our team. Maybe he wouldn't be our starting point guard right now, but a backup who would be emerging that would continue to get minutes as he impressed everyone like he is doing in New York. It wouldn't have been overnight with us, but gradual, because everyone can see the skills are there, but you missed it, even with him being in our facility for a couple of weeks.

"I mean, the guy has scored more points and had more assists than every great NBA player, like Shaq, LeBron, John Stockton, Magic, you name it. It might have been the same situation that happened with Kyle Lowry, who started playing so well for us, he made Aaron Brooks expendable. I'm not saying that Lin would have been starting anytime soon for us and Kyle would be on the bench, but Lin would have proved over time how good he was, and as you have said many times, no one on this team is expendable if we want to get better."

Morey: "Yes sir, Mr. Alexander. I agree."

Alexander: "I look at how good Lin is, how good he has made the Knicks, and all the media attention Lin is bringing to his team. That could have been us. As you know, Toyota Center ranks #19 in league-wide attendance, which is pretty embarrassing for the 5th largest city in the U.S. Sure, we have a decent record and are in playoff contention. But part of your job as a GM is to not only make us a winner, but to bring some excitement to the team and fans when opportunities present themselves. As the owner, I'm not only a Rockets fan, but I am also a businessman who wants to continue to increase the value of my business, just like any owner or businessman. As you know, since Yao left, no one really cares about us from a national or global perspective. Hell, we even have a problem in Houston getting people to care."

Morey: "Yes sir, Mr. Alexander. I understand."

Alexander: "I know you have been trying over the years to sign big name free agents like Chris Bosh and Marc Gasol, or even trading for an aging Pau Gasol who is on the downside of his career. You and other NBA General Managers continually point out that teams who want to win championships need a big-name star, or two or three, to win it all. But when I hired you a few years ago, I didn't necessarily hire you for your ability to sign big name free agents. If I did, I would have hired someone who had better contacts throughout the league, or who could better schmooze free agent stars with an amazing personality that make them want to come here. Let's face it, though. Don't take this personally, but you are more of a brainiac and intellectual -- and a relatively unknown among NBA circles -- than someone with an inspiring persona like Pat Reilly who can woo players with their track record or charm."

Morey: "I think that's a fair assessment. I thank you for giving me a chance to come here. I know it surprised many people when you hired me since I was a relatively unknown."

Alexander: "Daryl, let me cut to the chase. I know you Tweeted that anyone who thought Jeremy Lin was going to be this good would be "misleading." First, I'm not a big fan of using that kind of language, insinuating people would be dishonest, especially after you made a pretty big mistake. Just take your lumps rather than trying to group everyone else with you. I pay you to be exceptional, not to be like everyone else.

"Look, I give you credit for bringing Lin into camp back in December so he could be evaluated, and then later saying that the Rockets made a mistake letting Lin go. But when I hired you a few years ago, I was impressed with your background in using numbers and analytics to make better basketball decisions. I liked the idea of trying to find "diamonds in the rough" that no one else saw, and having those undervalued players become very good players that can help us contend for a championship, with maybe one or two of those players becoming a star. Well, you finally had a big star in Lin, and you let him go by taking the conventional route.

"And for some reason, you have focused so much of your time on trying to acquire stars, I think whatever quantitative analysis you were supposed to be dedicating to making decisions on players who are already "under our nose" has been directed too much to looking at what's outside of our doors. It's like the "grass is always greener on the other side" syndrome."

Morey: "Well, I have to admit that it seems like most champions are made through acquisitions, trades, or tanking a season to get a high draft pick, not by finding undervalued players and nurturing them."

Alexander: "Well, I don't want you to think that staying busy by trying to make trades is a sign of me thinking you are doing a good job. It's like that John Wooden saying, "Be quick, but don't hurry."

"As you know, I have told you that I don't want to tank a season in order to get a high draft pick who is a lock to be a star, and I appreciate you trying to keep the team competitive. I want to continue winning while also doing things around the edges that can help us continually get better. You've done a good job in drafting guys like Brooks, Chase, Patterson, Parsons, and others. But the fact that you had Lin, who any basketball expert will tell you is better than anyone you've ever drafted, and waived him, is very concerning to me."

Morey: "Yes sir, but we had just signed Dalembert, and we had 3 point guards already in Lowry, Dragic and Flynn, and Flynn is guaranteed $3 million this year. We just didn't have room for another point guard on the roster."

Alexander: "Signing Dalembert was a good move. But you had Jeff Adrien, who only had a partially guaranteed contract, and you just waived him last week to sign Craig Smith. Who would you rather have now on our roster: Jeff Adrien, Craig Smith or Jeremy Lin? The obvious answer is Lin."

"Plus, every year before the draft, you say that we should draft the best player available regardless of position, kind of like what you did drafting Patrick Patterson when we already had like 4 power forwards on our roster, and then you figure out later what to do with the extra players left over. I have no problem with that approach since we do that with the draft every year. So you should have taken the same approach in keeping Lin, regardless of the position he played and how many point guards you had, if you had noticed just how promising Lin was during practices, right?"

Morey: "You have a point there. But that $3 million we have to pay Flynn was just too much of an obstacle."

Alexander: "Why the hell did you sign Flynn anyway? That guy is not worth $3 million. What were you thinking?"

Morey: "Well, he was the #6 pick in the draft, and we thought he had great potential, and we thought we could have packaged him or Dragic in a deal that could have gotten us an All-Star, then we would have either Flynn or Dragic as Lowry's backup"

Alexander: "Well, everyone can see that Flynn isn't all that good, so that acquisition is on you. And it sounds like when it came down to cutting Lin, you thought Jeff Adrien or Jonny Flynn had more potential than Lin? We all know how that has turned out. Plus, I think you have a tendency to bring in a lot of players like we're a factory, treat them like "assets" or "chips" that can be used in a big trade deal, but when you do that, you lose perspective of the human side of things. The heart, the desire, or even the athletic skills they have that are actually pretty decent.

"Look, I know that hindsight is 20/20, but I am paying you millions of dollars per year with all your computers and stats geeks to make better decisions that even advanced basketball scouts can make. I mean, just look at the ESPN video [see below] where they break down a lot of Lin's physical attributes and how they compare against the best players in the league. I expect you to do the same kind of analysis with your resume and background, and you didn't."

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/lkByuihqOt4" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Morey: "I'm sorry, Mr. Alexander. I made a mistake."

Alexander: "Well, I just wanted to express my frustration because I think you have taken your eye off the ball by trying to hit home runs in spending most of your time trying to acquire All-Stars at the expense of keeping what we already have and letting those players have the opportunity to get better. Back in 1994 when we won our first championship, we had relative unknowns in Robert Horry, Sam Cassel, Mario Elie, Otis Thorpe, Vernon Maxwell, Scotty Brooks, Matt Bullard and others who we gave the opportunity to get better and gel.

"Sure, I would like to have an All-Star, too. We have a borderline one in Kyle Lowry, and I commend you for acquiring him a few years ago when he was a backup in Memphis. Lin could have been an extremely good backup for him right now, and God forbid, if Lowry had gotten hurt, Lin could have stepped in. And then we would be going through some of what the Knicks are going through, like selling out every game, other big-name players wanting to come here, and everyone in Asia would be watching us again like they did with Yao. This was a very bad mistake that has kept our franchise from growing and getting better, and I wanted to let you know that every time you are about to waive or trade a guy, I'm going to ask tough questions regarding the type of analysis that went into making that decision, because right now, I can't trust you like I did before."

Morey: "I understand. You pay me a lot of money to make the right decisions. I'll put together a full report on every player we are about to cut or trade so you will be convinced we have done our due diligence."

Alexander: "Call me a contrarian, but I like how the 2004 Detroit Pistons won their championship. They didn't have really an All-Star, but through finding undervalued players, giving them a chance, and having great coaching and a great work ethic, they beat the Lakers 4-1 in the NBA Finals. Call me old-fashioned, but I still think teams can win that way if they don't have a couple of All-Stars. Sure, it's harder, but I'm not going to whine that no big name free agents want to sign with us, especially now that Yao is gone. I want you to use your computers and stats better, because that's why I pay you the big bucks.

"But most important, I am thinking I need to find someone to help you who has a long track record of evaluating players once we get those players on our own practice floor. When I hired you from the Celtics, you really didn't have that kind of experience. You were very strong on the quantitative side of things, but not on player evaluation. I thought the one year that I had Carroll Dawson grooming you as the GM before you took over the job full-time would have helped, but obviously, it hasn't been enough. Instead, I feel like you have been too quick to cut players or not give them a chance after going through a lot of effort to crunch the numbers to make them someone we should bring in. I mean, look at Steve Novak, your first draft pick as a GM . He's tearing it up with the Knicks, and even Jeff Van Gundy said he's the best 3-point shooter he has ever seen. I bet you any team in the league would want that guy right now, even if he doesn't play defense like you wanted. You can't have the perfect player all in one package."

"And I know everyone is giving us heat trading for Hasheem Thabeet, Terrence Williams, and Flynn, who are doing nothing. But to be honest, I don't know if I can trust that once we get rid of them, they won't turn into stars like Lin has, or very productive players like Novak. This mistake with Lin has been a big wake-up call that maybe you aren't the analytical wizard that I though you were."

Morey: "I understand, Mr. Alexander. You have the right to bring in another person who can help us make better player evaluation decisions so that perhaps one day we can find a player like Lin that everyone overlooked, and who could be even better than Lin. I'll make it up to you anyway I can. I am just grateful for the opportunity to be the GM of this franchise as long as you want to have me."

Alexander: "Well, like they say. Get fooled once, shame on you. Get fooled twice, shame on me. The next big mistake you make will be on me, which could mean your job. I'm hungry for another championship and I am not afraid of mixing things up if we let go another player who is half as good as Lin."

 

Sounds like Morey-like analysis that he did on Lin. Easier to just blow off things off and not try to understand the situation. Lemmings.