Leonard is twice the player that Morris is, easily. I never said anything contrary. However I am against all the armchair GM'ing that goes on here about a pick that happened over 2 years ago that plays a position we already have a very high caliber player at.
Did you miss the part where I said both players would be useful together on the Rockets? There's a lot of versatility between Parsons and Leonard. Morris was a bad pick then and nothing as changed. Chandler Parsons doesn't change anything. The only way that argument holds weight is Morris was turned into something useful, which he has not yet been. If Thomas Robinson becomes a great player for the Rockets or is moved and allows for the Rockets to bring in a game-changer, then yeah, Morey got lucky. But I'm not in the business of centering arguments around luck or chance. It's the equivalent of a dog shot in pool.
I love Parsons but I think Leanord has the higher ceiling. You can't compare 1st rounders (early ) to 2nd round pick. Only when its late 1st can you make that argument about the 2nd round.
Players I would rather have drafted than Mook Morris: Kawhi Vucevic Shumpert Kenneth Faried Reggie Jackson Marshon Brooks? Jimmy Butler Isiah Thomas Too late now though. Let's move on
It was a bad pick in hindsight. You can teach an athletic player how to play better defense. You can also surround him with better defenders. The offense is the hard part. Morris, even now, is a better offensive player than Leonard is, and may ever be. The difference is Leonard was put into a position where he could maximize his potential easier than Morris. What do you think is more difficult, picking your spots, while a big three do their thing or trying to be a go to guy in the NBA? Morris had a tougher road, but unfortunately, he also had a tougher mentality to break through. That's the hardest part to gauge in the draft. The risk is not knowing how players will mentally adjust to the league. You draft BPA when you're in the position the Rockets were in back then, period. Morris was better prepared to be a go to guy than Leonard. That's indisputable. You can argue they misjudged his mental toughness/focus and commitment, but not his skills. Those are legit.
It was just as bad a pick at the time. Wait, are you suggesting that Morris has been or has tried to be "the go-to guy" in the NBA? If you're drafting BPA, Kawhi Leonard was the best player left on the board. Hands down. Everyone knew it. And, no, I'm sorry, I don't think Morris is better prepared to be a go-to guy than Leonard (not that I think Leonard is a go-to guy). No. Hell no. They drafted a tweener 4 and tried to make him a 3 or a stretch 4. Morris is a better scorer. That's it! That's all he has on Leonard. I'm sorry, but that was always a bad pick.
No just don't whine and moan over something that happened a while ago just because you are watching one series with a said player that the rockets could have drafted. .
And I'd like to point out that I think Leonard's numbers would be a lot better if he wasn't in San Antonio. This notion that he's some product of the Spurs system is beyond ridiculous. He was a guy that should have been a top 10 pick in that draft and fell probably because he was injured at the time. I don't know, I can't remember why he fell to #15 but I know he was projected in the top 10 as early as the month of the draft.
See, your problem is you take that as whining and moaning. Why does it have to be whining and moaning? Why can't people just have a discussion about what could have been? There's countless threads about CP3 and Dwight Howard and what could be. What's the difference? BTW, I'm only posting in this thread because posters like you that are just completely brushing this off instead of at least acknowledging that Morey F'd up and tried to get too cute with his drafting strategy.
I wouldn't have picked any of the Morris boys as I'm always suspicious of guys who suck at defense. That being said, they picked up Parsons in the second round and that more than makes up for their first round mistake. If he ends up being another Shandon Anderson or Trevor Ariza, will that make you happy?
I wouldn't have picked Parsons, either. Saw him play a ton in college. Never could have predicted this. Morey definitely struck gold there. But Leonard was an easy pick to make. Morey got too cute. Leonard had great potential on both sides of the ball and provides more versatility than Morris. I don't understand why people can't just admit that Morey goofed there instead of being defensive and dismissive. No one is saying he should be fired for missing Kawhi Leonard.
If Marcus Morris ends up being a quality 15ppg 7rpg player...all you guys will cry about Morey trading him for nothing. If he ends up being a 4ppg 2rpg player..all you guys will continue to cry about what a terrible pick it was.
No, not really. A few posters might try to do that, but the majority will remind them of what the situation at hand was. That's what I don't get about this dismissive attitude by some here about this. This isn't even a hindsight argument. It's only an argument supported by hindsight. Many wanted Leonard at the time and he was the BPA by the analysts at the time.
Yes, Kawhi Leonard is a much better player than Morris but the Rockets picked Chandler Parsons in the 2nd round and pay him 1/2 the cost.
The rockets roster if we drafted faried and leonard. Lin Martin Harden Parsons Asik Because thats who okc would have wanted in the trade for harden. With martin as a FA, guess what, we would be worse off.
