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The reason why Morey's moves seem to come out of nowhere

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by meh, May 26, 2010.

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  1. meh

    meh Member

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    We like to joke about Morey being a wizard and just magically create Rockets-favored trades out of thin air. And it's kind of fun to give our GM some sort of mystical aura. But just to set things straight, there's really nothing magical or devious about Morey's wheelings and dealings. Which is something I find some fans here actually starting to believe.

    It all comes down to one thing: Morey WORKS HARD. Sure, he has stat geeks and scouts working for him. And he has a good plan. But in the end, a lot of these dealings simply came down to good old "working the phones", which has nothing to do with numbers. If there are 500 possible trades a team can make in a season, a normal GM may go through 100 of them. A crappy GM 50 of them. And Morey will go through 450 of them. Hence, he makes more good deals because he's thorough and goes through his options.

    Examples:

    1. How we got Scola so cheaply - SA was set to trade Scola a day or two before the deadline. They had a 3-way where I believe Scola was going to Cleveland, which fell apart. With the deadline looming and no more time to hang on to Scola, Morey scooped in to save the day by giving SA at least "something" for taking on Scola.

    Why us and not others? It was obvious that SA would prefer to see Scola somewhere outside the state. And given enough time, I can't imagine none of the other 28 teams in the league can't come up with something better than just taking on Butler's contract. But Morey was the only GM to see the opportunity and give SA a solid offer before time expired. He was prepared. He targeted Scola as a possible pickup. And he knew exactly what's enough to get him here.

    2. How we got Kevin Martin - Regardless of how you feel about Martin as a player, the truth is there was a very nice market for him. Many teams, especially ones that favor stats, all thought of Martin as a great player. So when he came on the market with like 2 days left before the deadline, guess who immediately made an offer?

    Again, as with Scola, Morey quickly seized the opportunity and gave Sacramento a credible offer that they can't refuse. If the Kings waited til the offseason, then they wouldn't have the capspace available by then. Granted, it's stupid of Sacramento to wait so late to put Martin on the market. But they did, and the result was lack of a bidding war that resulted in a good offer, but not the best. When opportunity strikes, Morey swoops in.

    3. Low 1st rounders and 2nd rounders used to be worthless - Before Morey, how many of you actually believes low 1st rounders and 2nd rounders can make a big impact on teams? How many feel it's just a roll of dice and hope it comes out well? But Morey thought differently. He feels if we scout enough, we can raise the odds.

    And raise the odds he did. No, we don't hit on all our 2nd rounders. And we miss plenty. But on average, we're REALLY, REALLY GOOD. Basically, the idea is that since we can't pay $9 mil for a mid-first rounder, we can pay 3 teams $3 mil each to get some 2nd rounders who can turn out to the 1st round quality. Teams won't trade high to mid 1st rounders for nothing because of their value, but split that 1st rounder down to 2-3 parts(multiple 2nd rounders), and teams suddenly can't get rid of them fast enough.

    But even with that, imagine the scouting necessary to find Landry or Budinger. How many players did the Rockets have to cross out before they settle on the right people? We're not talking about lottery picks where you only have to scout 10 players. We're talking about sifting through 100+ players, players no one else know about or care about.

    4. 2008 draft Self explanatory. Simply full preparation and hard work paying off.

    So please, none of that Morey has gazillion smoke screens and is secretly plotting his master plan. His results only seem magical because of the hard work and dedication of himself and his front office people for tirelessly working every angle to give themselves the edge. And one of the reasons why I really respect the way our front office works.
     
    #1 meh, May 26, 2010
    16 people like this.
  2. RoxSqaud

    RoxSqaud Member

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    I think we will all be pleased come pre-season.

    In Morey we trust.
     
    #2 RoxSqaud, May 26, 2010
  3. HTown_TMac

    HTown_TMac Member

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    I thought we got Scola in the offseason?
     
    #3 HTown_TMac, May 26, 2010
  4. meh

    meh Member

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    Sorry, my mistake for not making it clear. The deadline is Scola signing a new contract with his Euro team, not the trade deadline.
     
    #4 meh, May 26, 2010
  5. playlife

    playlife Member

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    it was not the deadline when Spurs were forced to trade Scola...it was Scola's contract which had a buyout which was ending.
     
    #5 playlife, May 26, 2010
  6. Bandwagoner

    Bandwagoner Member

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    [​IMG]
     
    #6 Bandwagoner, May 26, 2010
  7. REEKO_HTOWN

    REEKO_HTOWN I'm Rich Biiiiaaatch!

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    they also needed the cap room to sign Bruce Bowen 2.0...Udoka. LOL. He sucked it up for them and ended up being a waste.
     
    #7 REEKO_HTOWN, May 26, 2010
  8. DaDakota

    DaDakota Balance wins
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    I love Morey, but even he would say it is the entire scouting department.

    He uses a combination of analytics and old style scouting.

    We have the best FO in the league, IMO.

    Also, great thread....REP this man !

    DD
     
    #8 DaDakota, May 26, 2010
    Last edited: May 26, 2010
  9. roslolian

    roslolian Member

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    I think you're spot on this DD.

    I think what makes DM and his staff unique is that they seem to merge the best of old-school and new-school styles. They use analytics to identify which players are good, however unlike Bball nerds like Kahn and Chris Wallace they aren't afraid to haggle and barter with the other GMs, just like Red Aurbach and Jerry West.

    Sometimes getting good trades isn't just a matter of outhinking the other GM, it may be a willingness to explore deals with lots of people. The Kevin Martin trade was definitely a result of that, if DM hadn't pulled Sact in the discussions we probably wouldn't have ended up with all the loot.
     
    #9 roslolian, May 26, 2010
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  10. tmoney1101

    tmoney1101 Member

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    Great write up, 5 star thread.
     
    #10 tmoney1101, May 26, 2010
  11. WNBA

    WNBA Member

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    Morey is the only superstar on the team.

    Best GM ever.
     
    #11 WNBA, May 26, 2010
  12. rockets934life

    rockets934life Member

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    Morey has done a fantastic job but I wouldn't say his moves come out of nowhere.

    Scola - while surprising that the Spurs would trade within the division, they where looking to move Scola to open up salary for a shot at Tiago. Morey took advantage of a bad situation for the Spurs.

    Martin - We all knew Morey was after him, Clutch kept saying it, so it didn't surprise me he got his man.

    Draft - This is where Morey has truly made his money, he has assembled a nice collection of young talent with good coaching and excellent scouting.

    Morey seems to target someone and normally takes advantage of other teams situations to get it done.
     
    #12 rockets934life, May 26, 2010
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  13. Jontro

    Jontro Member

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    Nah... Morey is still a wizard with a hat full of magic tricks ;)


    nice write up btw! Good take.
     
    #13 Jontro, May 26, 2010
  14. ashiin

    ashiin Member

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    Nah he's the Gandalf of the NBA GMs.
     
    #14 ashiin, May 26, 2010
  15. Hippieloser

    Hippieloser Member

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    Morey gets his way through the power of prayer:

    [​IMG]
     
    #15 Hippieloser, May 26, 2010
  16. Deckard

    Deckard Blade Runner
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    Great job, meh, but while you're trying to make Morey seem more "human," the end result is polishing his aura. ;) Loved how you described the Scola and Martin deals. Very nice!
     
    #16 Deckard, May 26, 2010
  17. tonybrooksadj

    tonybrooksadj Member

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    LOL you know Gandalfs gay right?

    Morey= Genius
    10/11 line up
    Brooks/Rubio
    Martin/Taylor
    Ariza/Battier
    Scola/Hill
    Yao/Big Al Jefferson
    with Chucky and Bud rotating
     
    #17 tonybrooksadj, May 26, 2010
  18. bloop

    bloop Member

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    lmao Morey WORKS HARD

    Morey has the biggest analytics department in the league. it's not just him outworking other GMs. having more (useful) information and more guys to crunch that information is the advantage that Morey has. it's the exact same advantage that all those hedge funds have over you joe schmo investor.

    for that give credit (for once) to Les. he said he wanted to use the available data in a progressive way and to his credit in this instance he was a man of his word, giving morey the resources he needs for a competitive advantage

    obviously after you have the numbers in place, Morey is the one pulling the trigger on the deals... not some spreadsheet or some 1st year MBA out of Wharton so yeah Morey gets credit for his judgment so far but I really dont think it's accurate to say he's just outworking guys... he's got a system in place for the data and a good decision making process at the top

    all that is good and fine. but you're really talking about incremental advantages... a stolen 1st rounder here, a hidden starter there... we really don't know what the net upside of a % point better management is. what we have seen is that BIG moves in the NBA are basically kick-you-in-the-nuts old fashion brute force/back-room moves like Gasol to the lakers and Garnett to the Celtics. maybe Morey's system can pay out big... but the jury on that is still out.

    I guess a lot of it will be settled after this summer and the next trade deadline...
     
    #18 bloop, May 26, 2010
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  19. Bandwagoner

    Bandwagoner Member

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    1. No he isn't.

    2. Even if he was, what would it matter with respect to what ashiin said?
     
    #19 Bandwagoner, May 26, 2010
  20. Easy

    Easy Boban Only Fan
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    Simply put: Morey does his homework. (I wish I had a team of geeks help me do my homework. :grin: )

    I am almost sure that he keeps a list of players he targets and each of these players has a detailed profile, including contract situation, and his team's possible moves.

    He is prepared. And when the opportunity comes, he just pounces on it. And I think he also plants potential seeds, paving some deals that would materialize when certain conditions obtain, so he can get a deal done quickly before other unforeseen factors spoil it.

    This is just my speculation. I think losing Roy to Portland taught Morey a hard lesson.
     
    #20 Easy, May 26, 2010
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