And yet we didn’t. In fact, Morey’s never made a Finals appearance despite having a top 5 player for most of his career.
I feel like people are overrating Morey’s results pre-Harden trade. We missed the playoffs three straight years and averaged a record just above .500. The Harden trade really saved the Rockets, and yes, Morey deserves all the credit for that incredible trade.
Go look at the roster he had when he took over and tell me how exactly he was supposed to add major star talent those years. No cap space, no great young assets, no high draft picks. He slowly improved non existent assets until he finally got to Harden.
Didn't he have Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady? Stone started with Harden, no cap space, nonexistant assets besides for Harden, and only 2 likely FRPs in 4 years. 4 years later, Stone has 7 interesting young players, FVV, Brooks, and Adams. I am so glad Harden got disgruntled.
Yes, and both were bound for the glue factory. And I don't understand this "likely 2 FRP's", he had 3 top 3 picks due to sucking (one of which was due to a Morey protection), a lot of other stuff on the way when he traded his prime superstar, and years to clear cap space. The starting line of the 2 isn't even in the same galaxy. Its such a stupid argument it almost sounds disingenuous.
This really doesn't get underscored enough. Stone selling a multiyear rebuild path to Tilman. And having the patience to see it through. As an owner that just bought the team, it is tough to stomach a ton of losses. But look at the team now. There are many owners that would have been impatient and changed directions midway through the rebuild. Following through with the full plan was essential. And now they have the benefits of the Core-7. It was worth the pain in my book.
I remember when Tilman bought the team and all of us including me were concerned. First it was his conservative politics that thee me off but I let go of that because the reality is the vast majority of pro sports franchise owners are conservative leaning. And then covid hit and everyone assumed a dude who makes his money on the food services industry would become poor and be a miser making only short term decisions rather the hard long term decisions. But here we are, Tilman showing genuine patience and it paying off. Maybe Tilman being a genuine fan and Houetonian made the convincing more easy.
I think Stone has done a great job, but I agree with your point about Leonard. It's easy in hindsight to say that Klaw was the obvious choice. However, the Morris twins were studs out of Kansas. Totally reasonable to assume at the time that they would be solid NBA players. Safe choice with high upside
Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady were still All-NBA players Morey's first full season as GM. Harden was not and has not been on an All-NBA team since Stone became GM. Yes, tanking turned an unlikely pick to an actual Top 3 pick, tanking turned another pick into a Top 3 pick, and the other Top 3 pick was earned in a trade. Stone convinced the owner of a plan (granted, I don't think there was much of a choice) and executed a plan (though with many hedge bets) that took 2 likely FRPs (or 3 if you want to give Morey credit for trading for Westbrook and limiting the damage such that tanking saved one of the picks) and turned those 2 (or 3 picks) into 7 interesting young players. Harden was the only real asset among the players when Stone became GM. The Rockets were incredibly lucky that they traded him when they did, and were fortunate to have a GM that nailed that trade.
A lot of team success has to do with having a top 5 player. And that is often not controlled in the GM's hand. Luck is as much a factor as GM skills. I've always wondered if Morey didn't have the opportunity to get Harden, how would he be remembered as the Rockets' GM. Stone took over at the time when Harden got disgruntled and he was forced to rebuild. It could turn out to be a blessing in disguise for him. And he has been very lucky in terms of lottery results. I don't know what Stone would do if he had an aging Harden and a bunch of mediocre role players in hand. A good GM, apart from being able to recognize talent, is being prepared when opportunities come. So you can't judge his performance just by only looking at team success. You have to judge how he utilizes the opportunities he has been presented.
I expect my grade for Stone will be improving quite a bit in the next year and a half of things keep going well
3 years ago I wonder how many people here thought Harden giving up on the team was probably the best thing that could happen to the franchise? We were so doom and gloom back then when t happened not realizing the only thing we'd have looked forward to with Harden staying is some mediocre teams making first round exits with an aging Harden. If people knew this would happen where national media pundits are ranking the Rockets somewhere at the top of every list in regards to franchises with the best futures now, everyone would be on board. Harden timed his exit perfectly to help this franchise. Holding on to him and letting him age here would have resulted in a decade of mediocracy.
On the Harden trade, I give the NBA 5 more years max before the 4+ unprotected picks+swaps for a star is a thing of the past.
The Morris twins were safe picks. Marcus couldn't dribble the ball and he couldn't shoot 3 pointers. His athleticism was average. Kawhi couldn't shoot, but he was better in every other indicator than Marcus Morris. I was hoping that Morey would select Kawhi. I was disappointed when he didn't do that. I believe Morey's lack of basketball experience is the limiting factor in his career. I'm not saying Stone is better than him.
Yep. Harden becoming disgruntled basically helped Stone try to do for the Rockets what Luhnow did for the Astros. If the Rockets win a title, I expect Stone will go from heel to hero like Luhnow did. If the Rockets don't win, I expect Stone will continue to be disparaged, but that NBA teams still become much more protective of Top 4 picks and swaps in the future than they were prior to the Harden deal.
C for me as of today. He has built a solid foundation with promising pieces, but he's also had 4 years garbage basketball. He hasn't messed anything up big time so that's something (lots of them overthink), and he did make a great hire in Udoka, but again, hasn't made any splash moves, hasn't made any outside the box moves. C is not a bad grade, it's passing but to give him B or A is not expecting enough from your team
The Rockets were a good NBA team last year. Expected win total from their pt differential was like 46. And that is very impressive for a rotation of mostly 19-22 year olds. So the reality is it was 3 years of horrendous basketball with one totally out of Stone's control with the Harden departure year. I can't recall who hired the Silas coaching staff? If it was Stone that was probably his biggest mistake so far.
The Rockets won 41 games last season. Of the young guys that played with Silas, only Green seems to be developing at a below average rate. Silas may not have been good at winning games, but overall, the Rockets would have been a playoff team last year if Silas was as bad for development as people make him out to be. I'd put KPJ extension as probably the worst thing Stone has done. Maybe Lopez fiasco, but I'm not sure the Rockets aren't in a better position.
Sucking meaning tanking? That alone is a crucial period because it requires PATIENCE, mainly from idiot fans like you who want to burn the place down bc you don't understand we're supposed 2 lose games. San Antonio did the same thing but we did it better. Tanking doesn't guarantee you'll rebuild successfully like Stone did in 3 years. Just give him a A+ and move around
