More from Morey - Post Draft and Beyond

I just attended a post draft luncheon held by the Rockets for season ticket holders. The food was great, but the best part was Daryl Morey spoke to the group (I'd say about 70-80 people) and took questions about the draft, free agency, and the team's future. Here's a download, straight from the mouth of Morey. I took notes and tried to get his answers verbatim.

- PP and Hill: I asked Morey to talk about how PP projects and to distinguish between him and Hill. In addition to what has already been reported in the Chron, Morey said PP has basically the exact measurements of Al Horford. Morey says that Hill will play the 5 in Summer league, and that Hill is the same size as 50% of the 5's in the league. Also, Hill is working out with Yao today.

- All draft picks are viewed with a 4 year window. AB was chosen despite the glut at guard. DM's view is that rosters change and the best players will eventually rise to the top. AB did so in 1.5 years, despite a glut when he first arrived.

- Top of the Draft: Morey revealed that Wall, Favors, Cousins and Turner were on the top of his board. It sounded like in that order, but not clear. He said they tried very hard to trade into the top 5, and at times he had to ask himself if it was really worth all they were offering. Here's where it gets interesting -- Morey said they got closest with Philly, and it meant Les Alexander was taking on significant contract obligations with millions of dollars in salary, IMO - a clear reference to Elton Brand. A couple of hours before the draft, Philly said no.

- 14/15 from the Rockets board were taken in the top 15 of the draft. (I'm guessing Sanders was the one that wasn't in our tope 15). Morey said he talked to several GM's and they said the same thing.

- DM was targeting one player in the top/middle of the 2nd round, but couldn't get the deal done. I didn't get a chance to ask who it was.

- Jordan Hill: The rockets had him as the 12th or 13th guy on their board last year. He was top 6-7 based on basketball skills/talent, but there were some concerns about non-basketball issues. DM looked at Rusty Hardin and said - Rusty (criminal defense lawyer) deals with those issues all the time. Hill has demonstrated no problems in that area since being drafted. When they reviewed Hills tape of play in NY, they couldn't figure out why they weren't playing him. DM talked to a former NY staffer who said Hill looked good in practice, and didn't know why NY wasn't playing him. (IMO - it was D'antoni).

- Who had a good draft: DM said Presti always does a good job and did so again. (Presti's name came up several times in response to post draft conversations and it appears DM has a fair amount of respect for Presti and talks to him quite a bit. Like any other industry, I bet there is an elite tier of GM's that talk to each other). DM liked the Spurs pick, and wished they wouldn't always somehow come up with a good player, like Blair last year).

- How does DM see the West next year: It's going to be tough like always. The guy is funny - he flat out said, in a hilarious but serious way, hopefully PHX will take a step back (a clear reference to Amare), the Spurs will finally get old, and Memphis will screw it up. Dork Elvis is a funny guy and seems like a good guy to have a beer with. DM said he was talking to Presti about an increasingly tough Western conference, and Presti said it's going to be tougher in part b/c the Rockets will be better.

- Chris Bosh: DM made it clear that the Rockets are going after "that guy that's been talk about but I can't talk about". When asked about the teams that present the biggest challenge to us in getting Bosh, Morey identified Chicago, Miami, LA. I wish I could remember, but don't recall if he said NY. I was struck by the reference to LA, just because of the significance of that possibility and someone like DM confirming it. Morey referenced the vegas odds and Houston having as good a shot as any. My friend asked if, today, DM knew what it would take to get Bosh, and if he could disclose it. Obviously DM could not disclose it. The hard part was trying to discern whether DM knows what it would take. Neither my friend nor I could get a clear read from DM's answer, but my guess is he does.

- Free Agency generally: If no bosh trade (which would involve sending out multiple players), our roster is pretty stacked. We would probably look to add 1 FA, likely a big. If no FA big, then Hill and Hayes appear to be the backup 5's.

- Rusty Hardin asked about Taylor. DM said Adelman loves taylor and wants to get him on the court. Adelman thinks Taylor can be a starter, just needs minutes. This discussion was part of the talk about a crowded/deep roster and it's hard to get minutes.

- Yao - he is getting healthy. He is working out with Jordan Hill today. DM can't comment on Yao's contract situation. He only said that he doesn't expect Yao to opt out. (With the recent vibes from Les Alexander and DM, I half expect them to announce an extension if Yao plays a few weeks into the regular season and there are no setbacks.). The trainer they have for Yao, out of Arizona somewhere, is having to hold Yao back a lot. They plan to use Yao 25 mpg to start, and see where that takes us.

- Who benefits most from Yao's return? Off the cuff, DM said scola. Scola had a great year last year, but DM says Scola struggles to pass out of double teams (a great observation that many folks here have made).

- DM was asked "How do you feel about our PG's." From his tone, the person asking the question clearly didn't like our guard combo and wanted to talk about CP3. DM said Lowry will be back. In a hilarious moment, DM said "Wait, you don't like our point guard situation. That was the one position I feel really good about. What do you want, magic johnson?"

- DM was asked whether he felt other GM's were afraid to deal with him because of his track record and how his moves all seem to be like magic. Another funny moment - DM said that those are comments that should be made about 2 years from now (presumably when his contract is up). He complimented his staff and the owner for supporting the moves. He also said let's not congratulate ourselves b/c we're not where we want to and need to be yet. The work isn't done and this league is about getting elite players.

- What rockets are the most sought after by other GM's: Yao, then AB, then Budd, then Ariza.


- Lowry and Scola are RFA's and will be back.

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I think I got most of it down. I hope folks here enjoy. Let me end by saying that I don't think DM was using that as an opportunity to spread false information to other GM's. Also, I thought that he could have been much more guarded with his answers. On balance, he was very candid. He provided more detail than I thought he would in some of his answers. He seemed tired and perhaps let his guard down a bit, given the small audience and it being just after the draft. In any case, it was an awesome event.

 

Nope. I was surprised by that too. And I can't think of a strategic reason why DM would exclude Hill if he was being sought after. I'd think he'd want to pump up Hill's value. I think DM was being candid.