Right, because it's not like people play out of their minds in contract years only to suck after getting a big deal.
Be a man and admit you either 1) misspoke or 2) said something incorrect. I've even taken your argument on in the context of including people we cut/released, and it still sounds silly.
Not to jump in anyone's argument but just to point out all GM's make mistakes. Morey is no exception. I think he makes less now than he did in the beginning and is getting better. But that doesn't make his mistakes non mistakes. That is my problem with some on this board. You can not point out Morey's mistakes without going into battle. I am mostly a Morey fan. More and more I see what he is trying to accomplish. He is filling up this squad with second tier assets and hoping that enough of those will be flipped one day for a star. I do wish he had some of CD's people skills but all in all I think he is doing a pretty good job. He does take risks and although mostly they haven't panned out they were of the low risk hi reward type. So I am okay with that. I do see what he was hoping for with Morris and elite scoring big 3. Someone who would be a mismatch for most 3's. But IMO I do not think Morris will ever really be a 3. So that leaves us stuck with another undersized 4. Still he has found some gems in the later stages of the draft and made some good trades and mostly (not always) he doesn't lose something for nothing. So you won't hear me demanding for his head on a platter but as a Rocket fan I reserve the right to point out his mistakes from time to time.
DD, I think Donny is taking the argument literally, so when he says "let walk for nothing" he means during the summer when his contract is up. In that case, the only players of value that we let "walk" was Artest and Hayes. We let the market dictate the value and then we resigned Landry, Scola, and Lowry. So Donny is true in saying the Morey never gave up something of value fort nothing. When a player leaves, the market either sets the value too high and Morey keeps the asset of financial flexibility, or the player's value is so low he would rather keep the asset of an open roster spot. Morey's game-plan has always been to attain as many assets as possible to get a star player. He does this exactly by never giving something of value for nothing. Donny, I think DD is saying that its not the game-plan that is flawed, it is in the follow though. It is true that both Williams and Lin had no value when they left. The game-plan would be to get rid of them. However, whatever metric they used told them that Williams value initially exceeded a protected 1st rounder and Lin's value was below that of a roster spot. By miscalculation, Morey is figuratively letting "assets" walk for nothing (actually losing a protected 1st) by getting rid of Williams and Lin. I think DD is right in that we should hold the GM accountable for mistakes that end up costing the team in anyway, no matter how small the impact. I also think Donny is right in reasoning that if that's the best you can come up with, maybe our GM isn't such a shmuck.
Coming from someone who has been labeled a Morey "apologist" I think this is a very valid statement. Most of the arguments made on this forum are taken out of context and their positions are made in a perfect world vacuum which drives me nuts. The moves he makes that are mistakes deserve to be questioned, but you really have to keep everything in context when dealing with Morey deals that often just push over the next dominoe, and the next.
I have no problem holding a GM accountable for his mistakes, but DD's constant bogus and/or overblown criticism of management makes him look very biased. Trading for T-Will and releasing Lin, were mistakes, but do not fall under the purview of "letting talent walk for nothing". On the contrary, Morey is very good at converting dead weight or expirings into something of value. DD either misspoke or had his facts wrong and now he's too stubborn and embarrassed to admit it, per usual.
Yes it does fall under that, we just RELEASED TWill for nothing, and then we needed a backup PG, never mind that the team had to PAY HIS CONTRACT....anyway. We are not looking at it in the same way...and yes, I am biased against management, I think they are ****ing around, and fooling the fanbase, instead of doing what is right to get back to a championship level. DD
Of course we're not, because you're abusing the **** out of the English language. Words have meaning. Dictionary, go find one. If you want to amend your statement to include players that are released, fine, but even then, it's a really weak criticism that doesn't stack up.
Yeah, DD, they are just ****ing around...because obviously running out Luis Scola and Kyle Lowry as your best players is putting asses in the seats and filling Les' pockets more-so than having an actual superstar would. Championship caliber players are hard to come by. Tanking doesn't guarantee you find one any more than our current method -- as seen by the years of the Clippers, Warriors, Wizards etc. in the lottery. Sometimes it just takes some luck and we have not had much of that (hell, even tanking takes luck).
LOL - you are being an anal Alice in regards to the topic and you call me Obtuse.....now that is hypocrisy at it's finest. DD
I had a strong impression at the time that Morey intended to give Hayes a contract after the Gasol/Nene deal, and Hayes was waiting for that to play out, because he wanted to stay, and Morey/Alexander wanted him to stay. Stern blew up the whole thing. Blaming Morey for Hayes signing that contract, IMO, is a mistake. Blame Stern.
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Morey signed Lin in the first place. He bought a $5 stock, and sold it for $5 after a while. Then the stock soared to $50. He didn't lose anything and is better than those who never would've bought the stock.
We're getting upset over waiving Terrence Williams now? Might as well bringing out the pitchforks over releasing Jeff Adrien too.
Jeremy Lin walked because the Gasol deal fell apart, and Dragic > Lin.... Ron Artest got us Courtney Lee......... Terrance Williams did not leave as a free agent, he was cut because he is a moron.
It's more like he found a lotto ticket on the ground picked it up and put it in his pocket. Later, without checking the numbers, he pulled it out of his pocket and tossed it. The Knicks walked right behind him and picked up the discarded ticket and checked the numbers and BINGO, they won the Lotto! The moral of the story is don't waste your time picking up a trashed lotto ticket if you are not going to check the numbers. It only causes you pain and sorry if it is winner later.
There are no "perfect" GMs. It is literally impossible because real GMs(unlike armchair ones) have to deal with real life problems when it comes to player evaluation. So they have to work with limited information within limited time. No one can always make correct decisions with limited knowledge. The only way Morey or any other GM can achieve the awesomeness of clutchfans 20/20 hindsight is by having a time machine. Morey doesn't have a time machine. Hence 20/20 hindsight will always destroy Morey in terms of GM power.
That's pretty disingenuous and misleading. With Dragic and Lowry on board, there wasn't exactly a lot of room left in the pockets, nor a lot of time to "check the numbers". And let's not act as if New York chose to start Lin, instead of being forced to via injury. That's the worst possible moral you could come up with for this situation-- if you're not going to play someone, don't pick them up? WTF kind of lesson is that? It's called back-ups. Every team needs them, you just hope you don't have to start them. Yes, it was a mistake, but that's a terrible characterization of the scenario.
