CD gambled and it bit him in the ass sure but had Morey been here during the 2000s, no way we would've ended up with Francis, Mobley, Yao or Tracy McGrady.
Yao? Maybe not, as we might not have sucked so bad. Mobley, Francis, & McGrady? Probably so. Morey has done well with 2nd round picks (like Mobley) and getting a star player via disgruntled trade demand is his strategy.
To me it's not even close in CD's favor. CD took the job in 1996 post championship years but kept us a contender until Hakeem retired. CD also has brought in notable players such as Pippen, Barkley, Steve Francis, and Tmac. When JVG was the coach CD brought in Alston, Battier, and made trades to make the rockets competitive again. Granted not much materialized from these players but he got us pieces to compete. So far morey has struck out time and time again. To me Morey falls victim to the term paralysis by analysis...
anyone voting CD is bugging! (lol...jk) But...Rhoderick Rhodes??? Ice-Tito Maddox??? Bryce Drew?? ...AND..pass on Rashard Lewis? Had my fellow Ram crying in the green-room, man!!!!! On the real, though....CD was a better handler of players and people and he pulled the trigger on big moves on the regular. I think if CD was the GM making player acquisition and trade decisions and Morey was asst GM making draft decisions.....those two combined would be the best GM in the league. lol
How hard is it to keep a team with Hakeem and Drexler "a contender" the year after they won their second back to back championship? The Rockets went from 1998 to 2006 without getting out of the first round under CD for those looking for "results" from their GM. That's longer than Morey's entire career here, and included a four year stretch where we didn't make the playoffs. It was complete luck that gave us the first pick that landed us Yao when we had the 5th worst record, and if Yao hadn't been here and healthy there is no way TMac wants to come here because he cares who the GM is. If you think superstars who have turned us down would be signing if we only had a different GM then you are out of touch with what makes a superstar come to a team in the first place.
I'm pretty sure Daryl Morey would give Howard head if he thought he would come here. I think superstar players would like Morey.
First the question was who is the better GM. CD IMO constantly brought in players that made us competitive. When went to the playoffs on a more consistent basis with CD than we have with Morey. It isn't the GM's fault that we couldn't get past the second round. The GM simply brings players in, manages salaries, and deals with player personnel. If you were to ask anyone in the association they would also agree that CD was a better GM. CD is regarded by many as one of the best NBA front office execs in history.
I think a lot of you must have blocked out those wondrous Sam Mack-led Rockets teams, Moochie Norris (what's on your head, what's on your heaa-add, Moo-Chee! Moo-Chee! Moo-Chee Chee Chee!), Kelvin 'Lazy lard-Butt' Cato, and Mo 'Is there a game tonight?' Taylor... Having Olajuwon spoiled Rockets management into a false sense of confidence, which is mainly what allowed them the luxury or having the courage to make risky deals. The risk wasn't so bad, because, even if the players we brought in sucked, we were still going to the playoffs just because of Hakeem. Give Morey Olajuwon and see if somehow as if by magic more high-caliber players are willing to come to Houston. But as soon as our own superstars either left or broke down, we had the most crap teams you could have ever assembled. Old Glen Rice? Matt Maloney? Magic Lamp? Jason Collier, Mirsad Jerk-can? Passing on Lewis THREE TIMES?? There is not even a comparison between these two GM's. CD was a good ol' boy, who was well networked and connected because he had been around so long, but the deals he made were mostly terrible.
I can't understand how people can back Morey. Moneyball only works in baseball ! You have a true minor league system which helps with the development and evaluation of young players. The NBDL does not compare with the minor league system baseball has simply because the talent level in the NBDL is so inferior compared to its "big leagues". Basketball is a completely different animal. The talent pool is much smaller in the NBA and having great players is a must if you want to excel. There are much less roster spots and positions on a basketball team than on a baseball team. A single player has a greater impact on the success of a basketball team than a baseball team due to the fact that there can only be 5 players on the court compared to 9 players on the field. In baseball you have much more position players to chose from be it from your minor league system, overseas, or free agency. You don't have that luxury in the NBA. Playing moneyball in the NBA only keeps you in the middle of the pack. Drafting in the middle of the draft it is nearly impossible to acquire star players. You have to take much bigger risks in basketball because a team relies more on the individual performances than team performances. That's not to say that you don't need a complete team to have a championship caliber team. You can't tell me that Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, and Cole Hamels are not just as important and high regarded as Lebron, Wade, and Bosh to their respective teams/sport. The NBA trio however have the advantage because they have more of an impact in a game than the MLB trio. Bottom line you have to acquire talent at ANY COST if you are a NBA GM. Moneyball does not work in the NBA. If Morey want's to play moneyball, go be the Astros GM!
This lopsided deal of Lowry for just a pick and not even possible of being top 3 (so no Shabbaz, Noel & Cody!) settles it: Morey is the worst GM the Rockets ever had.
Not getting out of the first round for 9 years is competitive? We missed four years with no playoff appearances under CD too. How is it not the GM's fault if they can't get out of the first round when CD is GM, but not making the playoffs the past 3 years after losing two superstars to career ending injuries is Morey's fault? I suspect there would be very few in the NBA who would consider CD a better GM, and none who would consider him one of the "best NBA front office execs in history".
I dont see how anyone can defend CD as the general manager. Morey signed Ariza to a bad contract...CD signed Shandon Anderson, Matt Maloney, Mo Taylor and Kelvin Cato all to terrible contracts. Morey made a bad trade taking on T-Will. CD traded for a washed up Glen Rice and gave away a 1st round pick just to get rid of him!!! Also received a poo poo platter from the Blazers in return for Scottie Pippen instead of asking for Jermaine O'Neal. Morey made the mistake of drafting Joey Dorsey. CD made the mistake of drafting Rodrick Rhodes, Serge Zwikker, Jason Collier, Bryce Drew and Mirsad Turkcan. As a GM, Dawson was a great assistant coach.
Somehow "we all knew" what EVERY GM in the league did not? Every team in the 1st round passed on him, and for good reason. Interesting how many of you seem to forget the glaring holes in that young man's game coming out of high school. Truth is he was extremely fortunate to land in Seattle during the Ray Allen years where he was given a license to chuck and he wisely parlayed that into a 100 million dollar payday. I honestly believe that were it not for his fortuitous tenure in the northwest, what you would have gotten out of Lewis for his career is what you have gotten out of him for the past three seasons. Funny how, on this very board, it was widely reported that the Gay/Battier trade was one of the first moves by DM as he was being groomed to replace CD. Morey has even referenced it as a move he was fully in on. Now his fans seem to no longer want to accept that as factual. I'm no CD apologist, his shortcomings were obvious and well chronicled here, but I also don't believe in rewriting history after the fact by issuing hollow assertions and inaccurate recollections.
It is way more competitive than any team besides one that morey has put together. And when we did miss the playoffs we were rebuilding with Franchise and Cutino. Which got us a number draft pick and later Tracy Mcgrady. Granted we never made out of the playoffs but we got there more consistently than we have with morey. We have had more coaches, more inconsistency, and year in and year out our starting roster has changed. No matter what you say, in any sport you need a consistent atmosphere and foundation to build a winning program and we haven had that for the last three to four season regardless. CD for the win
Lastly, the tmac trade was put together by CD not Morey. So any credit the Yao and tmac duo receives should be given to person who was responsible for the trade which is CD
The Rockets admitted that they would have selected Lewis if the "great" Turkcan wasnt available. So the Rockets thought he was worthy of a 1st round pick, they just so happened to pull the trigger on the wrong guy. CD did that a lot. Sure Morey said he was on board with the Battier trade. What else was he supposed to say? That deal was another stupid trade by CD? CD was the GM in charge so that failed trade is on his resume. Not a Morey fan but Morey clearly wins if my options are him and CD.
