I was thinking about Butler the other day... had he chosen us instead of Miami, we would most likely not be stuck with Westbrook. Ugh.
Jimmy Butler or any other star played not named Westbrook most likely doesn't want to play with James Harden.
Won a title(2005-06) shortly before Morey took over the Rockets(May 2007/2007-08), then mediocre, built the big three & won a few more titles, became mediocre again, signed Jimmy Butler, now 2 wins from the Finals. 3 different title windows! That's impressive. How many title windows has Morey built in 12 years? Would you rather be the Heat: 3 titles, 5 appearances, mediocre in-between or the Rockets: mostly good, never bad or mediocre, no titles, no appearances 2003-04: 42-40; L Semifinals 4-2 Pacers 2004-05: 59-23; L Conf. Finals 4-3 Pistons 2005-06: 52-30; W NBA Finals 4-2 Mavs 2006-07: 44-38; L 1st Rd 4-0 Bulls 2007-08: 15-67; --- 2008-09: 43-39; L 1st Rd 4-3 Hawks 2009-10: 47-35; L 1st Rd 4-1 Celtics 2010-11: 58-24; L NBA Finals 4-2 Mavs 2011-12: 46-20; W NBA Finals 4-1 Thunder 2012-13: 66-16; W NBA Finals 4-3 Spurs 2013-14: 54-28; L NBA Finals 4-1 Spurs 2014-15: 37-45; --- 2015-16: 48-34; L Semifinals 4-3 Raptors 2016-17: 41-41; --- 2017-18: 44-38; L 1st Round 4-1 Sixers 2018-19: 39-43; --- 2019-20: 44-29; UP 2-0 Conf. Finals Celtics
Hey that's not fair! We were mediocre multiple times! We just didn't draft the right players (Morris over the clear choice in Kawhii / Lamb, White, Jones all over Jae Crowder, Draymond Green and freaking Kris Middleton from down the street, Not picking homegrown Deandre Jordan) or we traded away a pick because it was out of the lottery and won a meaningless game! Prince, Siakam and Brogdon would have been available there but Morey wouldn't have picked the right guy. Most GMs miss more than they hit and Morey isn't an outlier. He made the greatest trade in franchise history and has consistently failed to put the right team around him. CP3 obviously fit but he was going to get this contract no matter what and we didn't care. Short sighted moves for the past 10 years or so starting with not drafting Kawhi because he didn't have "star" potential to letting Dragic walk over a stubborn rule over the player option. Imagine having Dragic/Kawhi/Harden/Dwight during that initial run. Tilman would have never owned this team. Les would have sold immediately after the first championship so he could leave Houston for Florida quicker. The problem is, Morey is above average, clearly top 10 in the NBA as a GM. Tilman will not replace him with someone better.
I was confused about why he'd go to Miami. They didn't look like they were going anywhere... Now I get it. By hook or by crook, Riley finds a way back to the top. Makes The 1994 championship that much more impressive to me.
He remembers the 94 finals well. It's why he has consistently screwed the Rockets. Bosh being offered the huge contract at the last minute, convincing Houston bound Jimmy to come to beautiful Miami, stealing Dragic at the deadline. He tried to steal Russ from Morey but luckily for him, Tilman wanted to show Riley the goods.
This is so full of bullshlt. Morey built nothing for championship with or without dominant Warriors. The only thing he is good at is his big mouth, talks the talk. Rockets haven't been in final once in Moreys tenure and will not be any time soon as this team is constructed.
9 different franchises have been to the finals since Morey became GM. 7 different teams have won. Not winning a championship isn't great but it's not a given at any time. Not making it still puts the team in with over 70% of the league. The bias is cool. Morey isn't the greatest GM in the world but he's clearly top 10. 2007-2019. 12 years 24 spots. 9 teams. 4 of them only once. 5 of them 2+. This year will likely be one of these five franchises that have been more than once. LeBron is a common denominator. WE have never had LeBron. He's taken up seven of the possible 24 spots. 1. San Antonio 2. Boston 3. Lakers 4. Heat (LeBron) 5. Cavs (LeBron) (now they are bottom dwellers with no future) 6. Mavs 7. Raptors 8. Thunder (we traded for their third best player the next year) 9. Magic (their best player would be on our team shortly after) (clearly not a better GM in Orlando) Edit: 3 of these teams have new GMs since they had finals wins or appearances. There is value in organizational structure and San Antonio, Boston, LA, Miami and Toronto are clearly better ran. Thunder is close. Dallas is great but look at their scandals. Tilman is a new difficulty for Morey, it's not going to get easier for him.
Our team this year would've been very different if we'd landed Butler. We'd have probably had to part with two of these three: EG, Clint, PJ, and likely wouldn't have gotten Covington (though maybe). More importantly , we would had Harden and CP3, with Jimmy Butler tasked with the job of mending that marriage. Who knows whether it would have worked, but having both of those guys to take the "gotta be the leader" pressure off of Harden and just let him hoop would have been a fascinating experiment.
There is no any current GM that has same or longer tenure as Morey and wasn't in final once. Are Rockets trying to win, at all? It looks no to me.
I wouldn't underestimate how seductive Miami as a city is to professional athletes. It's basically the Los Angeles of the east. The Heat organization is fine and Riley is certainly persuasive, but we've seen a number of times now that guys like LeBron want to play there because they just want to be in that area.
this is a strange goal post to have. Morey never was allowed to tank. He was finally throwing in the towel and Harden fell into his lap. I’m not saying he’s perfect but he’s definitely not the problem. Like 5 of his top guys have gone on to be the GM for other teams. Including one this week. He’s highly respected and we won’t have a better GM in his place when the time comes. is he perfect? Of course not. Is there a better alternative readily available? Lmfao no will Tilman and he have a falling out within 5 years? Yes then you can see what you begged for. Then when things get worse you’ll have to find a new scape goat.
would you be satisfied with Morey had he bribed the refs and get rockets the championship that way? serious question
Which one of them went to the finals on a team that didn’t pay lux tax, which Morey isn’t allowed to do? Question #2 is which went on a franchise that didn’t allow tanking, which Morey isn’t allowed to do?
I remember some article at the time where he revealed he was dumbfounded that they lost that year. He had analysts and number crunchers giving him high chances of success. Dude didn't realized Dream weren't kind to him or "the numbers".
I have been saying this for a while. It is absolutely insane that Rudy T is not the president of basketball operations for Houston with Morey as just a gm. Pat Riley commands excellence. He is Miami culture. He knows and attracts talent and works with his gm and coach. I appreciate Morey and his numbers and ability to dig in a garbage discount bin when needed but there needs to be a true basketball mind in charge.