What is Morey up too? I sit here this morning truly confused as I ponder the following. Are they seriously rebuilding for the future or are they looking for now? After first hearing Yao would be out for the season my first instinct was it is tank time. Not tanking in the sense that we deliberately lose. But putting a team on the floor that would be hard pressed to eek out 20 wins. And indications were that was there intention. First drafting 2 rookies at Von’s spot. Then suggesting Ron would not be returning and Tmac is out. Later learning they were offering Brooks and Battier for an 18 year old kid that would take at least a year to be ready for prime time… all are signs of a team looking towards the future with very little interest in putting the best team possible on the court now. I mean if Brooks and battier were traded for Rubio and Cardinal as suggested and Morey didn’t deny you go from Artest Battier Scola Yao and Brooks to James White, Scola, Dorsey, Jermaine Taylor and Rubio. How can you really compete when your trIt doesn't mean they won't try to win but there is a good chance in the West with the team Morey is assembling we should be guaranteed a top 5 pick. Are they also looking to be players int the 2010 free agency? Certainly their decision to not sign Artest and Wafer put them in better position to do so. Also their non trade of Tmac after saying there are many offers and then indicate they may prefer to not trade them made me think okay Morey is preparing to be under the cap for Bosh. But then they sign Ariza? Why? I mean he is a good player and IMO worth the MLE butwe have Battier. He is not that much better than Battier and IMO he does not compliment him well. Artest did that much better because he had a little better handles and could post up any 2 in the league. Ariza is a 3 point shooting slasher that doesn’t create his own shots. I can see times they play together when you need lock down d but overall by bringing Ariza you relegate Battier to a 6th man role that is a luxury you can not afford to spend your MLE on especially when you have Yao out for the season and your current starting center is Dorsey or Hayes. This just totally baffles me. To even add more confusing to the situation they use the Disabled Player Exception? They use the DPE on we find out they appled for it 3 weeks ago. That’s like over a week before the draft. That is a week before Yao returned to Houston for a foot checkup. They had to already have info from a Chinese doctor that Yao’s foot was not healing and then immediately apply for DPE… What else could it be> The leaugue was not not going to give the Rockets a DPE on a player who had foot injury that was projected to heal long before the season started. And the Rockets new this. Hell most of the GM’s in the league new this. That’s why you heard several of them say they thought the Rockets were exaggerating Yao’s injury. They already knew Houston had applied for the DPE and felt they were claiming it was a season ending injury so they could get that extra exception. A very smart move if true. . So they backtrack on trading Tmac and think about tanking. But then they sign Ariza. Why? I thought they were in tanking mode? I know Ariza is a good long term addition but you just used all of the MLE and you don’t have a center. They have just made the possibilities of getting under the cap enough to sign a star player in 2010 immensely more difficult. And to top it off they are still targeting another player with the MLE and have suggested it won’t be a center. They will trade for a center. Say what? What center in a trade would work who are we going after. I don’t see any worthy centers unless maybe we are thinking temporarily moving Bosh or Amre in that role until Yao comes back. Aha could it be. It certainly makes sense. Forget about 2010 free agency let’s have are cake now! Could it be the Rockets are trying to win now. Could it be they Rockets know the truth about Yao’s surgery while it is serious the fracture is much smaller and even after a more progressive surgery that reshapes the bone the healing of the crack should still be sooner than last year. If that is the case Yao could be back in 6 months or less. Even if goes through extensive rehab March 1st would be enough to get prepared for the playoffs. And what about the recent talk of resigning Wafer? I mean why would you ever consider signing Wafer to a rebuilding/tanking team. Especially considering you have enough wings to fill a basket at Hooters. We already have James White, Battier, Barry. We drafted Budinger, Taylor, and recently signed Ariza. Lowry played there in the playoffs, people on this board want us to sign Marvin William from Atlanta and now there is the rumor we may still resign Wafer. Come on I know the wings at hooters go down better but after a while you got to stop eating. You have to believe Morey intends to use part of the MLE to sign Taylor and Budinger. Why else would they spend millions of Les’ money to buy their rights. So what’s the rest of the summer look like? Well Feigan has scooped that they are looking at another player with the MLE and it won’t be a center. Okay I am even more confused. Using the Mle on more signings all but ends are quest to sign a superstar type player in 2010. And if it is not the center spot what position could it be? Certainly not the 2 or 3 we have enough of those guys already. And not even the 4 were Scola, Landry and Hayes have that locked down and the 1 seems secure with Lowry and Brooks. Unless of course there is a trade going for a big and certainly Brooks and/or Scola would be part of the deal. So in the end I am still confused. The best I can do is speculate and mostly I have been wrong when doing that. But it is my guess the Rockets have no intention of tanking. They will put a team on the floor that can really compete. They hope to set themselves up for the playoffs and then hope Yao comes back soon enough to help them make a playoff run. Maybe they even have Tmac and Von in their plans.
Wow what a waste of a long post. If we get Amare everything becomes so much clearer. Never question Morey's Master Plan. Win now baby!
I think Morey is simply increasing his collection of assets. While keeping his options opened for anything that comes. We should also keep in mind this is a business and if the Rockets tank they're going to lose money. Rubio would have sort of been like tanking or retooling in a big way but he would be bring alot of hype and sell tickets.
I share your same thoughts....I habe no idea what is going on. Are we tanking? Are we trying to rebuild on the fly? If the Amare and J Rich for TMac Battier and Landry is true, we are trying to move foward now. I just dont see it
Morey doesn't actually exist. He's an actor. Really, the rockets just hired a kid who was really really good at NBA live. He's been running the show ever since. See, this kid checks trade scenarios and signings by doing them, playing out the season, and then giving the Rockets his verdict. That's Morey's master plan.
no 1 knows what Morey is up 2. As fans there is nothing for us to do besides sit and wait. Well on Clutchfans guys can try to play G.M and take his job which they do a turrible job at . Ariza was basically a good under value signing. 24<30. I'll have that any day considering Ariza is a good defender also. He is no Ron Artest but he is lengthy. The one thing I don't like about Morey is that he talks too much. Stop talking and just do it. Oh we are going to try and do this this or that. Who cares. Just do it. Lets see if he lives up to his words about this mystery guy in a week or whatever the time line is. If that doesn't pan out he is basically making himself look silly.
We are positioning ourselves for the future. However, if the right deal comes along, I think Morey would pull the trigger. It's pretty simple, IMO.
What's all this about Ariza and the MLE? Ariza is a young player that could become a defensive force with the right training. He's also athletic and has a jumpshooting ability. We have money from Yao's injury settlement with the NBA and he's one of the better young choices available. Ron Artest would not fit in this mode. He was servicible in a team that was going for it all last year. We now have two superstars that are unlikely to play much if at all this coming season and Ron has no reason to stay outside of the money.
My personal feelings on your points. 1. Signing Ariza doesn't affect anything. His salary, even when moved to next year, will still only give us someone like Ariza. So why not give such a FA an extra year to familiarize himself with Adelman's offense? And having Ariza will not add many wins to this team anyway. If anything, it could just mean we can trade Battier easier now. 2. Saving the MLE could end up being for signing 2nd round picks anyway. Until Morey actually offers some guy near or at full MLE, you can't just assume he saved it to get another impact player. 3. I get the feeling that Morey has to come out and at least make it look like he's trying. If he comes out and just outright tell the fans that the Rockets are in tank mode, even if it's the truth, then no one will end up buying season tickets.
I think Morey's style has always been to accumulate as many cheap, tradeable assets as possible. This applies to the Euro-stash picks too. Accumulate lots of trade assets and then pounce on an opportunity to get a star through trade when you can, like Boston and LA did (worth noting Morey's former boss was Ainge, so he should be familiar with the strategy). While fans of this board may like the option of tanking, Les might not, so it's a good possibility that Morey might not have the freedom of choosing a tank-mode option.
Well, I would say it is very VERY rare that you get a superstar player (one worthy of leading a championship team) through free agency. You only get those guys through trade or the draft. With a team like the rockets, that prides itself on tough defense and hustle, at worst they still wouldn't get a top 5 pick. That leaves you only trades as an option for upgrading a team. Morey's goal, as I see it, and this goes for every season, is to acquire high value players whether they "fit" or not. The ultimate goal is to get a superstar or high draft pick with these high value players...or get more high value players. He wants to keep the team influx so that he always has something to offer other teams as apposed to having a team full of veterans on the decline that have relatively low value around the league.
Also wanted to add that Morey in his interview(s) with Bill Simmons kind of alludes to this. They were discussing how Bill prefers keeping 8-9 man rotation to avoid chemistry problems where your 10th and 11th man feel they should have more minutes, while Morey believes in accumulating as much talent on the roster as possible (and Europe as well) for trade opportunities,
Morey is making solid moves to bring good players at a reasonable price. Making these moves will allow us to be competitive, if not this year, then for the following 2-3 years. It is unrealistic to ask us to plan for a complete tank season. While us die hards on clutchfans would still watch the games regardless, those kinds of seasons lose a lot of money for the owner, and often lead to fan and player apathy that can last 2-3 years. We have some good players: Scola, Brooks, Landry, Battier, etc, and we have assets that can quickly be sold to make us good 2 years from now. The exact plan depends heavily on Yao's health, which has a lot of uncertainty that Morey can not control. He is positioning us so that we can go either way. If Yao can not come back, then it makes sense to let TMac's contract expire and let the season play out with us in the lottery. If Yao is recovered halfway through the year, then we trade TMac for something good and make a playoff push.
A lot of people echo this sentiment. My only question is, did Ron Artest mean the end of Battier? Getting a wing player similar to Ron doesn't necessarily mean the end of Battier. We could be emulating what we had with Ron and Shane.
