What did you think of his moves to surround Yao/T-Mac with Brooks, Lowry, Landry, Scola, and Artest? Were those 3 years failure as a GM? Or does that 2nd round appearance not mean anything? Also, did you think he failed as a GM after T-Mac/Yao went down and it took him 3 years to find the next star? Should it have been done more quickly? And finally, once he had his star, is it failure to not have won a championship within 2 years? It's one thing to say he failed. It's another to point out how other GMs have been able to consistently succeed when put in similar positions. How long is the list of GMs that would've done better if they replaced Morey 8 years ago?
So what happens when Durant says No? The Rockets would waste 2 yrs of contending just to be told no. You cant bank on 2 yrs down the line like that.
Then they push it back 2 years for Andrew Wiggins! If not Wiggins, then they'll push it back 2 years for Jahlil Okafor. If not Okafor, then they'll push it back...oh ****, we're in the year 2022 by now! :grin:
then we move all in for the cloning rights to Olajuwon. Then by the time 2080 has arrived and the original Olajuwon hologram can train his android body...we shall.
Let s be real here , chances are very slim we get durant very slim . He is most likely staying where he is . We are just waiting 2 years of contending here
I like Morey though there are things I'd do differently. That said, if this extreme longshot he's pinning all their hopes on and wasting valuable time on doesn't pay off, then it's time to call fire up a Fire Morey and McHale thread.
it's been said a thousand times, but those 8 years were not spent doing things the most efficient way possible to build a contender. the efficient way would have been to cut yao/tmac, trade the entire team for draft picks, tank the hell out of 3 years, collect top of the draft talent and rebuild. what morey was tasked with was to field a competitive non-tanking team while transitioning from a pair of superstars in Yao and Tmac (for which the team received no return when they moved on in their careers) to a new paradigm in Dwight and Harden. that is a brutally hard task, and the reason why morey gets so much credit. yes you're right that eventually it has to turn into something in the playoffs. but to say that morey's "way" is responsible for playoff failure is false. morey wasnt the one that failed to guard Lillard on that prayer of a 3-pointer last year. that was chandler parsons. every roster is going to have flaws. the nba is about matchups and no team matches up well with everyone. morey is building a flexible team that can matchup relatively well with most, will struggle against some (mem/lac/gsw) and generally succeed against others (sas/dal/okc). if this season does not result in playoff success it wont be because the "model" was bad. it'll be because of matchups, dwight's knee problems, the outside shooting, or something else that is tangible on-the-court type material.
Rockets need to fire the ones responsible for the lack of playoff success we have now had for 20+ years. Make it 22+ years once Durant inevitably spurns us at the alter.
And more often than not misses. In before: ...and what's the alternative? Not swinging and missing?blahblahblah Morey would fit well on the Astros! Swing and miss and strikeout a lot!
Harden obviously has some pull on what trades and FA this team will go after. I actually feel comfortable saying that Harden feels optimistic about landing Durant. KD just said himself recently how his team isn't as good as it once was and that he wants to win. Teams like the Knicks and Lakers aren't going to offer him anything special. If the Rockets can prove competitive the next two years, he might jump on board with us. The optimist in me.
