Daryl Morey Interview on July 2nd: Dwight, Lin, Asik

Lin will be better next year and is the key to our China market. Having two dominant defensive centers is a great thing (will give us an advantage over teams like Miami and OKC). TJones and DMo will both be better next year and one will be starter-worthy.

 

Cool, so Morey and I are on the same page on losing T-Rob for nothing (not really but you know what I mean) if we don't ink Dwight.

I hope Dwight doesn't end up making us look bad.... AGAIN!!!

 

If we can offer him the max, we definitely wouldn't do a sign and trade, which is what has been implied. Bima's calculations seem to show we may be slightly short, which is the only reason for us to consider a sign and trade.

 

Well, one thing i take from this is DHoward better make your decision fast as the whole Rockets are waiting for you to make your decision.

It appears that we are in a limbo right now, we cant and we wont make any free agency acquisition and no trades. So the sooner we end this the better we are and better for howard too.

 

With current CBA, there is not a reason for the Rockets and Dwight to SnT with Lakers unless Lakers want White. Lebron benefited from SnT under previous CBA by getting better raises and an additional year that are no longer allowed.

 

Isn't that what he said?

 

It's not a straight lie just not the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Morey is always looking to better the team and if there is a definite upgrade to the team by trading Lin or Asik than he will do it. But I think he is right adding Josh Smith at the cost of Asik is not that big of an upgrade. Yeah we get a very athletic 4 but we lose the best backup center in the league. And frankly there are so many things Smith would have to change about his game to make him a good fit for the Rockets. And even thenhe will never be a 40+ three point shooter or an 80% free throw shooter and those or big liabilities on a team with the worst ft shooting center in the league. So I think unless the TWolves offer up Love for Asik Morey will stand pat. Unless of course Howard demands it.

 

"We're excited about Thomas as a part of our future, he's been working out in Toyota Center every day this summer!"

Still, very interesting how candid he was about non-Dwight plans being on hold and the team being all in. I guess we'd all roll our eyes if he said anything differently, but I would've expected more of a "we feel like we have great options" response.

That's not really analogous here. The deal Cleveland did cost them literally nothing - not any sort of cap space, or anything - and they got a 4 extra picks out of it and a trade exception. The single reason behind the sign-and-trade then was to give LeBron higher raises, which are no longer allowed under the current CBA. For emphasis, under the current CBA, there would have been zero reason for Cleveland and Miami to do a sign-and-trade as constructed.

The analogous move *might* be for the Rockets to trash Royce White on the Lakers, pay for his contract (possibly more than his $ value, given luxury tax concerns), and send a first them a first round pick for their troubles. It would create a giant trade exception for the Lakers with virtually zero financial impact, and give them a first rounder for their troubles.

That's a very different deal than one involving Omer or Lin.

 

i agree.

 

It's possible they're all circulating the same crap ? Morey isn't just saying they won't trade Asik and Lin, but also that Dwight wants to play with them and that Asik is good value as a 6th man ? Why would he build an elaborate lie like this ? And just days away from a potential trade ?

Yeah I'm a Lin fan but I don't think Lin is being traded. At least I hope not. The trades proposed here never made much sense to me anyways.

 

Yes it does! I need the rest. When/if it does get posted, let's update the OP with it.

 

Only stupid GMs publicly admit to trying to trade a player unless it is already known that player wants to be traded.

and Daryl Morey is NOT stupid.

 

And he's trying to protect himself just in case Dwight doesn't sign here.

 

I think Omer is gonna get traded but Morey realizes how much money Lin brings in and watching Chalmers with the heat Lin doesn't have to play like Chris Paul for the Rox to win s title

 

-(How many more days in LA?) I'm here an undetermined amount of time. I'd say, people know our goals in free agency. We had a good meeting with Dwight. Turns out LA is the center hub of most of the free agents out there. A good spot to be during this intense time.

-(Manu Ginobili?) I'll avoid talking about who we are going after or not going after. Our focus is Dwight and full speed ahead. We'll see what happens. We're right in there with some other good teams and I like what we were able to put together and I hope he did.

-(Reason for why he wouldn't choose Houston?) No I don't. We're biased. We think it's his best shot. His questions were about winning and how he could be a championship contender with Harden. His line of questioning was good because it lined up with what we had to offer. He'd be a great addition.

-(Did he ask about specific players or getting other guys?) He didn't bring that up. He did bring up something I think is reasonable, which is to be involved. Know what our plans are, what we're thinking about doing so he can provide feedback. Like I told James, I'm a partner by nature. I like explaining, walking players through the plan and getting their feedback.

-(Take us around the table) Everyone participated. It was really impressive. James, Chandler both are great recruiters. We were happy they could join us. It was important for Dwight to see how committed his teammates would be. Mr. Alexander the key guy. Dwight knows that's who he is joining. Myself, Coach McHale, Tad are the key folks Mr. Alexander puts his trust in so he got to meet us as well. Obviously some dazzle with Dream and Clyde there. Even amazing for me to be with them and to have them describe what it is to win a championship. There will probably never be another Clyde and Dream but we're hoping Dwight and James, with a good supporting cast, can take down the Heat and give us a shot. My job won't be done if Dwight chooses us. We'll try and upgrade the team. The coolest moment is when Yao skyped in. Yao is amazing. He had a whole pitch ready, which none of us talked to him about. We thought he would make fun of Dwight. He had a whole pitch ready. It was really cool.

-(Mutombo do something as well?) His message to Dwight was most touching because how important community is to Dwight. Dikembe is one of the best players of all time in terms of impacting people outside the game. It affected me so I'm hoping it affected Dwight.

-(Mutombo going to bat for you guys) Shockingly I agree. It really is impressive. I have to credit CD and Mr. Alexander. The relationships built over time, luckily I caught the tail end of Dikembe's career and got to have a great relationship with him but from Elvin Hayes to Ralph to Dream to Yao to Dikembe, Clyde, these are guys who identify themselves with the Rockets but Dikembe and Clyde spent most of their careers away from Houston but Houston is the place they advocate for.

-(Comment on the strength coach? Was that getting someone who has a comfort level with Dwight?) That was totally unrelated. We were looking to upgrade that spot. As soon as the Magic let us talk to him, he's a guy that we had our eye on because we heard such good things about him. People will call bull**** or whatever but that was unrelated. We thought he was the best guy out there.

 

Asik will be easy to trade. Lin is harder not because no team wants him, but because we won't get equal value PG back, it has to involve a 3rd team or something. If we sign Dwight, we probably want a more experienced starting PG. Calderon rumor sounds interesting, but I don't think we can get him any cheaper than Lin, I rather keep Lin and see how much he improved.

 

Why does he sound so tired?

 

It's not hard to see what happened, guys. Rockets FO called around the league to get a feel for what they could get for Lin & Asik so they could go into the Dwight meeting and talk about options. Dwight asked about options in the meeting (remember that "Dwight asks Houston about 3rd superstar" stuff?), and so almost certainly they discussed in the meeting about Lin & Asik vs. various other players they might possibly attain by trading them.

Morey is of course heartless and would sell of both of those guys in a heartbeat, but my speculation from this interview is that they talked about the options, Dwight said he would prefer Lin & Asik to whatever alternatives Morey presented, and so now we're standing pat until we have him signed.

 

I see they addressed my Ginobili update, although avoiding an answer.