[ClutchFans] How we got here: A look back at the end of the Yao era to now

Given how things eventually fell in place around the league, does anyone want to venture a guess as to where we'd be if Morey's plan of acquiring Gasol and Nene worked?

Would we have still been able to move/trade them in order to acquire Harden and/or Howard, or would we be stuck with a decent, but old and overpaid front-court and a weak backcourt?

I'm sure there was quite a bit of planning that went into getting Howard, but I assume its a more evolving plan based on a dynamic player market, rather then something that was just set in motion from years back.

 

"avoiding multi-year deals on non-core pieces."

I think that is one of Morey's strengths. Morey keeps things flexible. Things are always changing in the NBA, and that flexibility allows Morey to adjust his game plan on the fly. I think more GMs are wising up to this. But Morey is the best at it.

"panning for gold"

Good comment. Getting guys like Beverley are huge. And locking those guys up in favorable deals to allow "flexibility" with adding in "big salary" players that are worth that "value."

 

Great recap Nike! Laying it out great.

What strikes me is how all of DM's moves seem to be so calculated. Each move made to set up the next

That may be an over used cliche on this board but I really think it's true.

Some GM's just look at whether or not a move makes a team better, but DM always takes it a step further, Does the move help us get closer to competing for an NBA championship? Or does it impede us from getting closer to competing for a championship. Whether the move makes us better today or not is typically irrelevant to Morey (i.e. the Patrick Patterson trade).

Daryl Morey likes to take chances on high upside talent but he always seems to have an exit strategy when those chances don't pay off (i.e. Jordan Hill turned into another 1st round pick). DM almost always gets market value or better on his trades. Monte Hall was not as good at making deals as Daryl Morey (if your under the age of 40 you may have to google Monte Hall to know who he is).

Daryl Morey is a renaissance man in the NBA. He uses every single means at his disposal to improve the team. He has an uncanny ability to find 1st round talent in the 2nd round. Carl Landry was essentially traded for Kevin Martin (clear 1st round talent), He trades for high upside players that did not work out for other teams, he abuses other GM's with his knowledge of the CBA (Asik & Lin) and he trades for Superstars (Harden) and signing Superstar free agents (Howard).

The last two off-seasons in particular have been fun, watching Daryl Morey take a sledge hammer to the myth that he can not pull off the deal for the superstar.

Daryl is damn sure one lucky dude. We all felt the anger and disgust at David Sterns famous Basketball Reasons fiasco. But for Harden and Howard to just fall in Daryl Morey's lap has got to be luck. But to tell the truth Daryl has created his own luck. We have all heard the definition of luck, Luck is when opportunity meets preparation!. No one has prepared harder for the Harden and Howard opportunities than Daryl Morey.

Daryl Morey is the best damn GM in all of basketball!

 

http://insider.espn.go.com/nba/stor...las-mavericks-next-move-missing-dwight-howard

Article about on "now what" for the Mavs after losing out on FA the last two years.

Wanted to bring this in here. Notice that Cuban CHANGED his thinking about "payroll flexibility" with the new CBA change. Notice that MOREY has been doing "payroll flexibility" ALL ALONG. And this allowed Morey to get a JUMP on Cuban on this arms race. It allowed Morey to get better assets/young pieces to prepare for "the moment" to strike. That moment with the Mavs, saw them at the "early stages" of their movement without any young pieces.

Cuban was LATE to the game and lost.

 

18 months sure goes by fast. +1 nice read

 

this was an awesome article!!!

 

What is amazing in this is that Morey has done all this while still fielding a competitive team. This was a crazy rebuild . I say crazy because it was always assumed that Yao Ming would be the franchise player for years to come but he retired at only 28 years of age due to injury. Since he retired the Rockets have not had a losing season despite the constant roster turnover. Yet somehow Morey has managed to turn the team into a contender via hard work , shrewd contract management and good value for money type talent recognition. To all the people on this board that go on and on about the Spurs being a great organization, ask yourself if Tim Duncan and Tony Parker broke down with injuries during their prime years could the Spurs have turned the roster around so quickly without having any top 5 draft picks and fielding a team that was over .500 the whole time? Keep in mind that they shut down David Robinson for part of the season despite him being healthy to play so they could draft Tim Duncan. I have to admit that the parts of the last three years have been real frustrating at times because of the "treading water" approach of the Rockets but hats off to Morey for pulling this off . Time for us to sit back and enjoy the ride hopefully for years to come.

 

Luck is still a major factor in all sports. Morey couldn't have anticipated the Lakers' implosion at the beginning of last season. Everybody expected Howard to be the Lakers' next franchise player after Kobe faded.

But the ability to seize luck when it comes takes smart management. What Morey has been doing all along is this:
1. Keep incrementally upgrading the assets.
2. Keep long term flexibility

Both of these MO allow you to pounce on a big fish immediately when it is available. Of course, these MO also result in a revolving door roster. I really hope that now is the time to keep the core (maybe after we get one more big fish) and stop changing players like changing underwear.

 

Great read. Thanks!

 

^^^^ THIS ^^^^ Virtual high five from an MOF to you.

 

Excellent post. I disagree with exactly one sentence in the entire thing: The Trevor Ariza deal was not a poor decision. Ariza flashed just enough potential to take a flyer on him with a contract that, while it ended up being excessive, was eminently movable for actual assets in exchange.

 

Luck = When Opportunity meets preparation.

Daryl Morey has been preparing for this or what ever opportunity happened to come along.

Daryl Morey makes his own luck.

 

I bet Morey has a real strategy when he plays Candy Crush.

The lesson for the NBA is don't let "win now" get you stuck with old players making too much money. We have DH in his sweet spot but I wouldn't be surprised if we pass on a 2nd max when he is 32 (I think)

 

Yep. It was preparation all the way. The luck was Presti panicking and moving Harden on a short deadline just before the start of a season. It helps that the Wizards turned down the deal first, leaving Presti to turn to Morey, who he knew was a willing partner with what was a decent package.

Honestly, what were the Rockets going to accomplish with the pre-Harden trade roster? It looked like Morey was clearing the decks and was letting the balance of the season fall on how Lin and Asik would perform as starters. The Harden deal changed everything.

 

Would waive Derek Fisher again.

 

This article is full of mistakes! Where to begin? First off, Royce White was drafted #16, not #15. Sheesh. Secondly, ...okay, that's all I got...

Thanks for putting in the work, NIKE. Good recap. What a crazy 18 months.

 

Great OP NIKE - Morey is indeed a wizard......

 

You need to be ready for any opportunity and abide for your time.

 

This should be on the front page of the web site. Great read.