[Reaction] 3 baffling aspects of our moves at the deadline

Read the press. He tried...he tried frantically. Again, the only two superstars that were on the market were simply not attainable. You cannot blame that on Morey.

Wait and see. Someone will put up stats now. Are we at a crappy stage of a team's lifecycle right now? Yes. Do we have reason to believe that Morey is the right guy to steer us out of this? I think so - again, please point to specific mistakes he made that would reasonably cause us to assume he is not if you disagree.

 

I heard Ackerman say that too. I guess I understand the reasoning. Try to win, get player values as high as possible. Keep your franchise out of the lottery and on TV. Build experience for the young guys, etc.

But yeah, in my heart of hearts, I want us to make the 8th seed and give the 1st seed a run for their money. But I think it would be better for us to play our "assets" and failboat instead.

 

You can't trade mediocre players for lotto picks and superstars.

All Morey can do is cash in and HOPE to get another chance. Teams have already used a TON of picks and high ceiling guys to get players (New Jersey).

Don't forget about the NBA Draft either. We now have 3 tradable picks to use as assets.

 

1. I'm not saying he had to acquire a superstar...I've said that a few times now. I'd be fine with him gutting the team entirely.

2. I think he's assembled a group of assets that don't amount to a hill of beans, ultimately. Players that don't win together as a team because they're poorly constructed....and players that don't ultimately have much trade value.

3. I've said time and time again that I'm not suggesting we fire Morey. I do think the clock is ticking, however. This fan base has waited a really long time to have a really good team again. A franchise that saw its way into the Finals 4x in 15 seasons now finds itself the winner of 2 playoff series in the last 13 seasons. This is a bottom line business, ultimately.

 

you should have told Morey that. because this "load up high value players with great contracts so we can swing for the fences" strategy seems to be following your comment precisely.

 

Morey has a reprieve simply because his two megastars crumbled and the superstar free agents of this era have opted basically for collusion over persuasion.

Morey's legacy will be what this team does in the post-Yao era, not what has happened up to this point, which has largely been out of his control.

The clock is ticking, yes, but it hasn't been ticking very long, IMO.

 

If there is anything to blame it's Yao's feet.

I don't know if it was Morey or Les but trusting Yao's feet to hold up this year put us in this mess.

 

i don't disagree. big mistake. but i've been through that too many times here for a long time now

 

ok..and it seems we're being told that, as REEKO said, "You can't trade mediocre players for lotto picks and superstars."


sooooo..we're back to me wondering why guys like Scola and Martin weren't on the block if they're arguably the only ones on the roster who could bring in a real return. i suppose the fight for mediocrity and the 8th seed carries on!!!

 

The team was gutted when Yao went down. He offered everyone. People were trying to take advantage of us. He didn't let that happen. You don't panic and gut a team all at once just for the sake of gutting it. This is an ongoing process that will continue at least until the draft and the next trade deadline.

If what you say is true, we will lose a lot of games and we can re-build through the draft. Also, even on losing teams, someone will put up stats and you will find a taker for that guy. I am hoping for Terrence Williams to be that guy. I don't think he will ever be on a championship team, but at least he should become a trade chip to exchange for someone that will be.

You keep saying that stuff with the bottom line. I think that's one part where even you cannot blame Morey - he has been managing the contracts really well from a financial standpoint, to avoid or minimize the luxury tax.

 

Brooks will want a contract like Scola's in the offseason, and if you thought he was a headache when he was here, Morey cut bait before heading to the negotiating table and winding up with nothing.

Look Daryl is a smart guy but he really needs to stop selling us this pipe dream about trading for a star & just try to get cap space & draft picks to rebuild. That should be his focus. I think when Scola's BYC status is up he'll be far easier to move. Martin could net you some nice pieces as well. Every trade should focus on obtaining cap space and draft picks. Go young & cheaper because trading for a star has bombed. Just my 2 cents.

 

Thank you REEKO. I don't know why MadMax keeps ignoring this. I am glad that even though Morey made it clear that everyone was up for grabs, he did not let anyone take advantage of us.

 

wtf, reeko?? i didn't say trade Scola and Martin for Carmelo...I said gut this crap-ass team already. Stop chasing the 8th seed. Trade off those guys for picks...for young guys..for whatever....and stop pretending you're building something with lateral move after lateral move! Blow this mf'er up, already!!! If what you're trading only returns lottery-protected draft picks...then trade the guys that will bring you real draft picks that will really make a difference.

 

The bottom line I'm speaking of is on the court.

The business side of the organization is run by other folks, primarily. They sell suites and amazing seats to guys who want to drink a lot and look at cheerleaders...and they do fine. No problem there.

The team is mediocre. "Mediocre" assets. Mediocre in the NBA puts you in the playoffs in the 8th seed or just outside of the lottery. It's NBA Purgatory.

 

1. You tell me what is better... losing two superstars in two seasons and taking on bad contracts for mediocre players as a bandaid, or remaining competitive with value players, having cap flexibility in the future, young talent, and loads of picks. If Morey would have made moves for Andre Miller, Hedo Turkalo, and Elton Brand, the Rockets could have gotten players that could get you a couple more wins, but severely damaged the flexibility of the future going forward.

-You can argue all you want about how talented our young guys really are and how bad the picks are. But they came for at a great pice, and picks are picks. What team doesn't want picks?

-Also dont forget the Rockets have two players who are still borderline All-stars in Kevin Martin and Scola. They have major deficiencies, but they are still good solid players on decent contracts.

2. Gerald Wallace did not get moved for Prizbilla alone. He got moved for Prizbilla and 2 1st round picks that are really pretty darn good. They are top 7 protected yes, but still much better than anything the Rockets could have given, plus Prizbilla is an expiring contract and he will be serviceable if they make the playoffs this year. Yao Ming would not be.

3. Lateral moves???... not really considering Battier and Brooks were gonners in the offseason anyways, and even if they wanted to sign Brooks they got word that Portland and Sacramento were going to look at signing Brooks in the offseason for alot more than Houston wanted to pay. Sign and trades might not be allowed under the new CBA. You get an upgrade defensively at the backup PG position, about the same production offensively, and a decent draft pick.... If anything that move does not make sense for Phoenix.

The Memphis trade.... well Im not sure I agree with it, if I was Morey I would have rather traded him to an Eastern conference team for 2nd round picks than Thabeet, but if for some reason Thabeet can learn how to be effective defensively it will turn out to be a steal.

-These are not the sexy moves everyone wanted Morey to make, but if you look beyond the first glance, these are decent moves.

 

The problem with the line of argument is that the opportunity cost of this strategy is/was almost literally NOTHING.

The "high value" players we loaded up on were conjured from literally almost nothing - low 1st rounders, second round draft picks, malcontents, bad contracts, washed-up veterans, expirings - our cheap, low value assets are not enough to net a superstar, but they're also far better than the alternative: keeping a spanoulis, rafer, Ariza, and the other trash used to get them.

Let's say there's a down-on-his-luck hobo with few prospects, which, thanks to Tracy and Yao, the Rockets basically are/were

He digs around in the garbage and finds some aluminum cans. He trades those cans for enough $$$ to buy a happy meal. He's unable to flip the happy meal for a filet mignon, but then he really had no alternative. But at least he had a happy meal. He's better off (unless you're arguing from a "tank" perspective, that he should have abandoned the can recycling journey to wait outside a steakhouse and hope the filet falls into his lap somehow - a valid argument and one that I've made)

The only real negatives thus far are the Stoudemire fail and the long-term mistake (which I think is a Leslie "Rocket Capital" move) of not abandoning ship on Yao in 2009 (and trading Luis, Bat, etc then)

That said, I'm as upset as you are that the Yao era was an utter failure and waste of a decade. Speaking of Stoudemire, the big mistake was not just not acquiring him this offseason, but not acquiring him 2002 (the Rockets apparently loved him and IIRC had him 2nd on their draft board).

 

Morey had a choice to trade Lee for 2 first rounders yesterday Max. He didn't because he wanted Asik and the Bulls didn't budge. Morey didn't flinch.

What does that say? Morey won't be labeled a GM that just gives away players. When he is ready he will trade them for the most he can. I trust him with that. He won't blow this thing up for 50 cents on the dollar and I admire him for it.

 

How long ago did you want them to start gutting the team exactly? Was it before many everyone was calling us a preseason top five contending team or after Yao and Tracy were completely crippled and had no trade value? There was no in between. Also, you keep complaining but are not giving any viable alternatives that would significantly improve the team's current outlook

For one, the correct terminology should be "conjured" assets. It's not liking he's giving away valuable things collecting these. Since you're not providing any alternatives, all I can gather is you would have rather us not built a contending team around T-Mac and Yao, kept guys like V-Span, not drafted NBA keepers in late draft picks, let T-Mac leave for nothing. To what end exactly? So we are so bad that we maybe get lucky in the lottery and become what exactly? The current Wizards team? A squad that has one quality NBA player and about 17 more steps until they get to contention?

That's fine for a business man or someone who doesn't look at anything but NBA standings. Since we're on a fan board with what I assume to be fans who watch the games, follow the roster moves, see when franchise players go down with injury, I don't see any reason we can't put a little more thought, rationality, and analysis into it.

 

The Rockets don't have any assets that could have brought them a star now. There is no combination of players we could have sent Utah that would have trumped NJ's offer for Williams. There was also no point in outbidding NY for Melo since he would have left in a few months anyway.

Hate to say it, but the Rockets probably have to go into full rebuild/tank mode for at least one season. I say trade Scola and maybe Martin over the offseason for unprotected picks 2 years down the line. Those are the only traded picks that ever end up as true lottery picks, but it's a roll of the dice. At the same time, we tank and hope we can get a franchise player in the draft.

This is our most realistic chance, but the truth is that rebuilds are not fun. People think they are mad now, but it's worse when your team is losing 60 games, which is how bad it needs to get to hit the top of the lottery. It's likely people will be calling for Morey's head twice as much then, and he'll get fired despite making the correct long-term move.