Daryl Morey needs to be mentored by David Kahn. I don't think Morey knows how to get a top draft pick, Kahn is the top draft pick specialist. I think we need to trade Morey for Kahn.
Same as Scola, Brooks and Landry, right? We just need that gift or luck in the draft now.... Instead of a Duncan, we got a Yao.....sometimes mother nature does not curry favor for the boys in red. DD
Ron Artest is NOT playing well for the Lakers. His skills appear to be beginning to decline. He's on the wrong side of 30, and he's only in Year 2 of a 5-year full MLE contract. For anyone who thinks the Rockets needed to rebuild, letting him walk was not a mistake. (Also, Ron WANTED to go to the Lakers, so it's not like Morey could have done anything about it, anyway.) I will admit that Morey overpaid for Ariza. I am not as big a hater on Ariza as most here, but he was not worth the full MLE apparently. Fortunately, Morey managed to salvage his mistake and get a better all-around player making only a small fraction of what Ariza makes in Courtney Lee. Criticizing Morey for anything relating to Artest-Ariza-Lee (other than overpaying for Ariza, a mistake that he corrected AND generated a large trade exception that is a key asset to this team) is just plain silly.
Would have to agree with that. Artest was great for the Rockets the year he was here but he was not a long term solution for the Rockets especially for a 5 year deal. The Rockets were courteous enough to offer him another one year deal as a sign of goodwill, but of course the five year deal was what he wanted and then entered Ariza whose salary was basically paid for by McGrady DPI last season. I heard a guy on 610 radio the other day saying that most fans are critical of the McGrady trade, and I basically laughed out loud. Look, Rockets fans are out for blood, and its understandeable, but what Morey is trying to accomplish here is something most franchises cannot do. He is trying to keep the team competetive and rebuild on the fly, while keeping high value recognition with the franchise without tanking. Trust me, if this team was in last place, you would hate him a whole lot more than you might think.
Agreed on all points, although Ariza was signed with a DPE from Yao. The Rockets never got a DPE for McGrady, since Tracy "came back" for his big 6 mpg performances.
Can't judge Morey until he has the opportunity to build around a star (which is really what he has done already, just without the star). If we don't make a serious push to trade up in this draft for a difference-maker (or land one in the offseason), I'm going to get a little more impatient with Morey. I can't fault him for the very good moves he has made so far, just because we haven't had a real opportunity at a star player. I think what he's doing is just waiting, kind of like the Celtics did when he was there, for lightning to strike and another KG and Ray Allen combo become attainable.
Given that he did JUST THAT this past offseason, only to be rebuffed by teams with a top-5 pick and by Chris Bosh, are you honestly going to fault him is he does the same thing again this summer but simply cannot make the other team do a deal with him? That's what bothers me most about much of the criticism directed at Morey. He has done exactly what most of his critics want him to do. Just because the other GMs won't pull the trigger doesn't mean Morey isn't trying to do what you want him to do.
at some point, it needs to happen. we supposedly acquired all these "great assets" to flip....if you can't seal the deal to flip them at some point, then it's time to acknowledge the strategy doesn't work and do something different.
Didn't someone start a thread about that very thing? BTW - gave this thread 5 stars just for the title alone. DD
Agreed, it does need to happen. But not for Morey to keep his job, IMO. I would differentiate what Morey's doing from what John Paxson did with the Chicago Bulls in the mid-2000s. The Bulls had amassed a nice collection of assets (Kirk Hinrich, Ben Gordon, Luol Deng, Tyrus Thomas, future draft picks, etc.), but Paxson was too scared to actually pull the trigger on a package of those assets for a star. The Bulls had a legitimate chance to get any one of Kevin Garnett, Pau Gasol and possibly even Kobe Bryant (although I don't think a deal would ever have gotten done that Kobe would have been willing to waive his no-trade clause to be moved), but Paxson was too big a wuss to make it happen. Morey is the complete opposite of Paxson. He's assembled the assets and it looking to package them for a star. He's out there trying to make things happen, except this time, it's the other GMs who are too scared to make the move. After watching how the Grizzlies got KILLED in the media and by others in NBA circles, many GMs are too scared of not getting enough in exchange for their stars. Hell, look at the crap Denver's been pulling lately in the Melo deal with the Nets. They're acting like scared little children, constantly changing their minds and deciding that they're not getting enough back. Yes, something needs to happen. Morey knows this. It's not lost on him. And he's still trying. Hard. But to criticize him for the inaction of other GMs is a little unfair.
I'm not criticizing him for the inaction of other GM's. But pro sports is a bottom line business...win or go home. At some point, if they don't become a real contender under his watch, it's time to look elsewhere.* * disregard if you're Bob McNair
I think this will be a fair criticism after the trade deadline if we can't pull the trigger on any deals. There are still some teams that could potentially blow up. Morey still planned on Yao being on the court this year. We are sorely missing his defensive presence (Brad Miller and Scola are horrible post defenders... the Utah bigs got exactly what they wanted). We have acquired T-Will who will hopefully turn into a well rounded small forward. They are clearly showcasing Bud to trade him. In all honesty, I'm ok for building to be competitive in 2012 and after. Our 2012 pick is lottery protected and we need all the chances we can get to land star talent.
This deadline will be HUGE for Daryl, he has done a really good job but he is about to be 0-2 going for stars to build around. How many more years will Morey be willing to sacrifice seasons waiting for his star to be available. He next best chance now becomes the summer of 2012 and if Melo lands in NJ then Paul will follow him there, Dwight may be destined for NY and Deron Williams might be the most sought after guy on the market. For as good a team of "scrappy guys" as Morey has assembled, the team is 16-21 and headed for 20-30 by the end of this tough schedule. How enticing is a team surrounded by then 32 year old Scola, 34 year old Battier(assuming he is resigned), and 29 year old Martin and Hayes who is under .500 combined the last season and half to a superstar player ?
I just don't understand what you think a different GM would be doing better? Pick any GM in the world and there is no one that is going to get a franchise player traded to the Rockets if there are no franchise players on the market. So what are his alternative strategies? Tank on purpose? Would you really consider him to be doing a better job if we were on pace to only win 15 games this year? No, everyone would be calling for his job because the perception would be that both his talent evaluation was terrible and he can't land a superstar player.
I don't think he's arguing on whether a GM can do better in Morey's shoes. But rather, the nature of the sport generally means you get canned if you don't bring in wins. In other words, MadMax believes the way to run a sports team is to keep changing GM/coach until you win championship(s). And even then, only keep them until they stop winning. It's basically the nature of things. Whether one feel it's just is irrelevant. If you don't win, the owner needs a scapegoat to escape blame... ALWAYS.
He is doing a good job. I do think he has learned some on the job though, whereas he used to value college production over height, I think he is now realizing how important size is..... He even overemphasized that PPat was a REGULAR sized PF, to avoid any criticism. Morey has made a lot of rookie mistakes, but fortunatly he is a fast learner. DD
MadMax, is meh's interpretation of your take accurate? I've always respected you as a reasonable poster. What "elsewhere" are you thinking about if Morey's way doesn't work? Are you really saying that no matter what the circumstances are, the GM needs to be canned if the team isn't winning?
