How much power does Morey have relative to other GMs?

I'd say a top GM (or president of basketball operations like Riley) can be worth multiple tens of millions to a team annually. For example, without Riley there is probably no big 3, no 3 championships. And someone in control of the whole system like Popovich may be worth far more than the 5 win swing Morey has the average coach at. Without Presti, does OKC resemble Cleveland in ineptitude of draft selection? - it's very possible.

The market inefficiencies are (1) the owner doesn't know how to find the best person - if owners had perfect information, GM salaries would be over ten million, easily; (2) a top GM like Morey does not have the bargaining power to command a salary in accordance with his value-added.

 

Hinke seems to have a great deal of control of the 76ers.

 

I don't feel like Morey has more control than other GMs. There are certainly select GMs that has to get the owner's permission on every single thing they do, but most of the time, especially with the new age owners, it's more about having a direction and the GM carrying that out.

The one difference is that with a contending team, there's no point for Les to tell Morey what the direction of the team should be. Whereas when the Rockets were in mediocrity, Les' influence was more pronounced.

 

While he doesn't have the power of Popp or Adelman, he isn't the weakest coach in the NBA. Most GM's hire a coach that has a philosophy similar to theirs. Morey does not tell McHale what plays to call or what his rotation should be. Spolstra is at times given plays to run and Riley has stepped in concerning rotational decisions.

The philosophy the Rockets have is similar to Boston had for decades. The coach leads, assistants draw plays and trades are handled by the front office.

 

Don't forget that sometimes luck plays a part in it as well. GM's can look brilliant for a period of time and then terrible. Look at the Kings GM Geoff Petrie. For about 5 years he literally did not make a bad move. He brought in Webber, Peja, Wallace, Jason Williams, Hedo and Barry. He traded Williams for Bibby and got Wallace late in the draft.... Then he sucked for a decade. Colangelo is another... He is viewed as an elite executive, ends up in Toronto and is horrible. Jerry West goes to Memphis and drafts Drew Gooden over Amare Stoudemire and gives Brian Cardinal a big deal.

I don't think Morey would screw up elsewhere but circumstance and luck play a part. What is we had gotten Bynum a few years ago? What if the Gasol and Nene deal/signing wasn't blocked? What if we traded for the #2 pick from Charlotte and had taken MKG?

 

DM certainly has a lot of power, but honestly there's a lot of GMs with that kind of clout in their org among them Ainge, Hinkie, Presti, Buford and Pops (both have been together for decades), Ujiri etc.

It really depends on whether the GM has been delivering results, for example when Colangelo built up the PHX Suns he had complete control over the franchise, or when Dumars built up the bad boys 2 in Pistons he also had complete control. In cases where the GM messes up, that's when the owner starts to lose trust and second-guess the GM's moves, for example when Linsanity blew up there were reports Les Alexander called him up and let him have it.

 

I love it. Morey ain't afraid to swing his nutz around either. No way McHale signs off on trading our entire PF rotation down the stretch last year, HA!

 

Les holds the power.

He wants results and isn't afraid to invest hard money to get it. What I like about Les is that he doesn't seem to need any attention or credit. Maybe it's because he shies away from the spotlight. But his stamp on the org is clearly there for those who pay attention.

Morey has a big influence because Les trusts him at various things. Anyone can see how much he hustles more than the typical GM. The man is sharp and can speak numbers in a way Les understands. I like how people who have worked with Morey all claim that he understands the difference between how the game is played and how the game is read on the stat sheet. People who have read MoneyBall might see that difference between him and Billy Beane.

Whether it's the time he spent under CD, who fit a completely opposite mold than Morey, or the flow of the game is just his natural passion, I haven't felt like all of his decisions are based off of some cold hard calculus you'd see on Playstation or a fantasy league (or maybe cap considerations put a brake on many of those moves...) . No one has come out and claimed his stats finding are imposed on the team.

Though thinking about it more, Daryl should be criticized for shifting assets around mid-season to the point where players expected it. That's the Playstation move that hurts a team's momentum more than it ultimately helped.

Maybe RGV is his outlet to totally geek out, but I think Murry's power comes from his respect and passion to improve the game with winning as an example.

 

His ki is limitless.

 

Great points. That explains Mike Brown being hired again. So has the mess in Cleveland been the owner the entire time? (Bennett/Bynum)

 

You mean 'Moreyball'? It's a play on 'moneyball', it refers to management / team construction philosophy, not to style of play.

 

Judging by the tone of this post, combined with your name, I think you are Daryl Morey posting under the name of Invisible fan

 

as far as power and brilliance, he's this guy.

 

I think a lot of coaches have a lot of influence on roster changes, whereas all McHale gets to do is offer his opinion, except for preseason cuts, where the coaching staff still reigns supreme.

Furthermore, I think Morey has more power than the average GM to dictate system to the coaching staff.