LINK HOUSTON — For the better part of the week, putting All-Star Dwight Howard into the middle of their lineup was the stuff of the Rockets’ dreams. In the end it was strictly fantasy. A pipe dream. As the draft approached, general manager Daryl Morey was said to be dealing more than a four-armed casino worker. He sent Chase Budinger to Minnesota to acquire an extra first round pick. Then he shipped Samuel Dalembert to Milwaukee in order to jump up two spots from 14th to 12th. Those were supposed to be just the first dominos falling as Morey kept inching and climbing his way closer to the top of the lottery selections. Could he get the No. 8 pick from Toronto? The No. 7 from Golden State? The No. 5 from Sacramento? Or even the No. 2 from Charlotte? Put one or more of those choice selections with a veteran such as Kyle Lowry, Kevin Martin and/or Luis Scola and the idea was to entice Orlando with a nice rebuilding package in exchange for Howard. So, Magic, how would you like to take your pick among Jeremy Lamb, Royce White and Terrence Jones? That bag of three kids is what the Rockets were left holding after they couldn’t swing a blockbuster deal and wound up making all of their own. More noise out of the Rockets that produced nothing. This time you could call the reaction that greeted their No. 12 selection in the first round as “The Silence of the Lamb.” “We tried,” said Arturas Karnisovas, director of scouting. So did everybody who bought a ticket in last week’s Powerball lottery. It would seem the swing-for-fences approach on Howard is dead and now the Rockets’ search for an All-Star caliber player to be the foundation of the franchise plods on. CLICK here to read rest of story. Well on the bright side, we are likely to finish in the high lottery next year if we continue down this path.
Lmao all I can do is laugh I'm not even mad anymore I was mad two years ago when Morey though Yao still had something left now that I know these guys are delusional to a certain extent (Jeremy Lamb was a great pick) i just know and accept it.
yeah i was gonna start a thread about that idea, but i didn't feel like writing it. basically morey is getting ripped because he is trying so hard to work as many angles as possible. it's kind of ****ty, but that's life.
apparently we were supposed to sit tight and just pick whoever espn had rated the highest when it was our turn
You would be more angry with Drummond trust me. Today its not the lack of a move up that doesnt bother me anymore. Its what we did with the other two picks after Lamb. Had it ended up being Drummond plus another PF? I think I would have been equally disappointed. In fact there was only two scenarios that could have made me happier. Moving up to get what people think is better in Beal or Thomas Robinson. Taking Lamb and Zeller back to back. The only dream scenario now that we got Lamb to me was drafting differently with other two picks. It would have been Lamb Zeller PJ3/Kendall Marshall
Fran is right though, you can't sugar coat it any more. It is one thing to have a great plan, but that doesn't matter if you can not execute on that plan. Morey seems to have an execution problem, he can't get that big deal done, and make no mistake this is HIS plan. So for me, right now, it is a big old can of fail. DD
lol this Bleacher Report article really had me chuckling. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/...-kentucky-stud-lands-in-perfect-spot-to-shine
I honestly don't think the new Magic GM was ready to move Howard and I don't think there is anything Morey could have done about it. I'll applaud him for at least taking players with a lot of upside this time. If we move the older guys like Martin and Scola and get something of value for Lowry I will consider it a good offseason. (No Pau Gasol)
Hopefully this last failed attemp made them realize that it's not worth going after Howard. I think we finally have some REAL potential in Jeremy Lamb... It'll take more than just him but a Dwight Howard trade is not the only way to build a championship team.
Rockets wasted a ton of time and resources going after Howard and if he had landed here for a 1 year rental we would have been left with nothing at all. A total rebuild. Maybe that was the plan but it seemed like a bad one the whole time.
But its not his plan Its the owners plan. The guy who believes a team can get a championship through free agency The only constant in being out of the Western Conference Finals let alone the Finals going on 16 seasons is the owner Not a coincidence
