"Pushing his own agenda" - if by agenda you mean doing everything he can to fulfill his vision (even if it's based on his belief that analytics is the way to go) then can you blame a GM for doing what he believes will work? If his own agenda were something he was doing for personal gain to the detriment of the team then sure, but there's nothing his done to suggest he's not doing anything other than doing what he thinks will get this team to win. Fault his strategy, but not his intent. "Building a culture of high turnover" - you can't have your cake and eat it too. Getting this team the players it has now in the short time he's done it in requires turnover. If you don't like his approach that's fine, but you're expectations should be on par then with a team with the likes of Kmart, Scola, Lin and Asik. "Rubs players the wrong way" - to suggest these players on this squad are playing the way they are because of Morey turning the roster over is silly. This squad is virtually the same as last year (swapping smith for Lawson). Ironically these players probably aren't playing up to par because they aren't afraid enough of getting traded.
Because we all know who the former GM's are. And the ones we don't know have obviously never been a GM before. Would you feel comfortable giving the keys to the franchise to someone who has never run a team before? Morey has proven he can build a team from nothing. Maybe this particular group of guys hasn't worked out like we all thought it would. I mean seriously, who could have seen this coming? The same starters from last season are playing way worse than last season, and that is not Morey's fault. And if he has to make moves to make this team a contender again, who is better than Morey at making those moves? Getting rid of Morey because of one underperforming season for some rookie GM is assanine.
No way should he be fired. He should have been GM of the year at least once in the past three seasons. It isn't his fault that Harden turned out be Melo Jr. or that Lawson apparently sucks now. That said, it's time to go after a proven coach and then get out of the way and let that coach run the team and dictate the offense as he sees fit.
Eh, sorry, but this IS Morey's disaster. He's the guy that wanted to implement a 3PT philosophy but opted to sign poor 3PT shooters. Ariza had 2 good seasons, Brewer is trash, and Lawson has never been a shooter. Additionally, he KNOWS we have to cover up Harden's defensive issues, and he's opted to surround him with Lawson, Brewer, & TJ - all sub-defenders. Morey opted for flexibility, and he struck out on the 3rd star rather than just building a solid TEAM. Morey's risk assessment clearly failed him.
I get what you're saying... But I agree with Dave... Morey has screwed up by trying to implement his offense instead of letting the coach run his own offense.. We all agree with that.. But as a GM going out to get players, he's done a good job at that.. This roster on paper is a championship caliber roster. The problem is on the court and that starts with coaching and players attitudes. The GM should be working with the coach to get the correct players on the floor to run the coach's game plan. T_Man
He built a solid team last season, even if it was a salvage effort after the Bosh/Parsons situation blew up on him. But I do agree that he's made some critical errors over the last few years. Signing poor individual defenders and horrible shooters, lousy first round draft picks, failing to get a 2nd playmaker(although he did try with Lawson), and most importantly, dismissing the value of a quality head coach and settling for McHale who allowed the inmates to run the asylum for years. I don't think anyone expected everything to go so wrong this season, but I guess it's the antithesis of last year where everything(aside from injuries) went right, especially Josh Smith falling into our laps. I don't want Morey fired yet, but he better reevaluate his entire philosophy as he tries to clean up the mess he created. Especially with regards to coaching. If JB is retained next season, it better be because they're blowing up this roster and going into tank mode for several years. Otherwise, go get a quality veteran coach and stop acting like that aspect of the game isn't important.
I don't remember. But really, that's beside the point. Hiring a new GM would be a crap shoot. We already know Morey is a good GM. Good GM's don't grow on trees. Canning him for one under-performing season is a huge overreaction. Especially when some people were picking the Rockets to possibly get to the Finals. The results of this season are an anomaly. This is on the players. Morey isn't the one bricking shot after shot and Morey isn't the one who is playing lazy defense. He can't make the players play. He built a strong team and it's up to the players to perform. If they decided to mail it in this season, that isn't on Morey. He did his job.
Besides Royce White (an admittedly high risk, high reward pick), how have Morey's first round picks been "lousy"? I'm at the front of the line of people who wanted Morey to pick Kawhi over Marcus Morris in 2011, but Marcus has turned into a decent NBA starter, which is about as much as one can reasonably hope for from the 14th pick. Daryl Morey's track record with first round picks: Aaron Brooks (26th, 2007) - Quality rotation player Donte Greene (28th, 2008) - Turned him into Ron Artest Patrick Patterson (14th, 2010) - Quality rotation player Marcus Morris (14th, 2011) - Quality rotation player Donatas Motiejunas (20th, 2011) - Quality rotation player Jeremy Lamb (12th, 2012) - Turning into quality rotation player Royce White (16th, 2012) - Complete bust Terrence Jones (18th, 2012) - Quality rotation player Clint Capela (25th, 2014) - Quality rotation player ALREADY Sam Dekker (18th, 2015) - Incomplete Morey's first round draft record is certainly not the league's best, but it's pretty freaking solid. Given his stellar record with second round picks, it's easy to view his first round picks as sub-par by comparison; but they're actually above average by league standards.
Nah. You don't need good 3 point shooters, you just don't need multiple players shooting at career lows. Obviously Morey went with players who were versatile on both ends and could guard multiple positions. Morey will always keep somewhat flexible, but it's funny how you are complaining Morey didn't build a solid team after reaching WCF last season and resigning most of the folks. It simply hasn't worked out and I imagine we will be looking towards next season/retooling at the deadline. It'll be interesting.
My complaint doesn't begin with this Offseason after the WCF. It begins with letting Parsons go and chasing after Bosh/Melo instead of Lowry. And you're wrong - you absolutely do need good 3PT Shooters if your entire offense is going to revolve around shooting 3s. By good I mean career average >35%. Lawson has been declining from range the past 4 seasons, and Brewer is a career 30% shooter!!!! I'm also not advocating for Morey to be let go - He's clearly done a great job overall, both in trades and the draft. However, he's not mistake free, and I think this season his mistakes have become glaring.
By my count, a grand total of 10 franchises have won a championship in the past 35 years. This is hard. Evaluating players is hard. Understanding cap is hard. Understanding new rules in the cap is hard. Knowing when to trade or not trade is hard. Knowing when to move on from a player or not move on is hard. Factoring in coaching, chemistry, personalities, your market as a FA destination, your owner preferences, etc, etc.... well, its obviously hard. 1 team wins every year. All of the rest fail. And in the NBA, more than any other major sport, that 1 team has a built in advantage to win repeatedly. Because great players, and a pair or 3 of great players will always win. On paper this roster looked really really good. Should DM have been able to predict Ty Lawson really isn't good, TJ's continuing decline, DMo's slow recovery and lack of production since, the Dwight issue (he's good, he adds a ton of value defensively, but its now a broken record that he just doesn't mesh with people seemingly), Brewer being completely useless, and most importantly Harden's decline? A couple of those things? Sure. All of them? No way. If half of the above things go the other way, the Rockets are probably a still disappointing 21-13 - HCA seeding, but obvious changes to be made. I give DM the opportunity to "fix it" one more time. The one thing I will say is that the Rockets are not a better team with Lowry and Parsons imo then they are currently. For one, obviously Parsons had/has continuing injury problems. For two, I think Lowry has become overrated. Great PG, but he has a tendency now to start strong and finish a bit weaker, and hasn't been able to get the Raptors anywhere in the playoffs. I'd say this, I'd MUCH MUCH MUCH rather have Bosh/Parsons (injury history aside) than Lowry/Parsons, with Harden on this team. Melo was ludicrous, agreed.
Les firing Daryl would be a huge mistake, in my humble opinion. What he's done under the constraints Alexander placed him under is remarkable. The "easiest" way to rebuild is to have a god-awful season and get a top 3 pick. Les wouldn't allow anything remotely like that. His edict is to win while rebuilding, a very tough nut to crack for any GM. Something the folks who want Morey on the first flight out of Houston to remember. Be careful of what you wish for. What you get could wind up biting you on the arse.
Morey's first round record is not bad and not great. It's pretty much average, not the "genius" of analytics he is supposed to be. His genius, in my opinion, lies in picking other people's leftover: in the second round and trading for undervalued players. He is also great at managing assets where he can pounce on big fish FAs when they are available. I think he did underestimate some important elements for winning. I've been saying that last year's success probably fooled him into overlooking some fatal issues in the team he built. This I am sure he will learn and correct, as he has shown the ability and willingness to correct his own mistakes. So yeah, I am with the crowd that believe firing him would be a big kneejerking mistake. I'd estimate 95% we would not be able to find another GM better than him.
I agree with most of what you're saying - where his value is, how he was fooled (specifically w/regards to Brewer - and yet, we needed a larger contract from a cap management/asset managment standpoint so resigning him was our only way to get there). However, to me his biggest flaw is in filling out teams around stars. I'm not sure he knows how to do that very well. He created similar problems around Yao and McGrady. I do think he's taken steps to maintain escape routes from being locked in, but I would still judge him by the remainder of the season. He's got a trade deadline to utilize Brewer's contract, Lawson's expiring, Tjones, DMO and next years first round pick. It's time he looks to bring on a good long term fit and if he kicks the can down the curb until next season, I think it's time for the next GM up. Hopefully of San Antonio ilk.
Very fair and objective post. Morey's strengths in the past have been (like some other notable analytic heavy sports franchises) finding undervalued players and finding gems late in the draft. While Morey has been somewhere between okay to good in drafting in the first round, he's been exceptional in the 2nd round. He's also never had the chance to draft high enough in the first round to have any opinion on how record drafting true lottery talent. The 14th pick in the draft is hardly ever a place you can expect to get anything greater than a rotation player. I'm also positive that Morey will correct his mistakes from this past Summer. Even when they have signed someone to a contract they probably shouldn't have (thinking of Ariza's first deal notably and now Brewer's deal) he often finds a way to get out from it fairly quick. The part that I'm not feeling great about (if the rumors are true) are where you mentioned how Morey underestimated some elements of winning, and you hear about some deals (like the Markieff Morris trade) that kind of seems like a deal he would have made last Summer. I think its important to judge Morey based on what happens between January 15th and the trade deadline, and then again this June. The mistakes Morey made this Summer were the same mistakes that 99% of us would have made as well, and not sure Morey can be 100% responsible for what Harden and some of the others have the free will to do or not do for the betterment of the team.
Hindsight is 20/20, but I don't agree with those moves, especially Lowry. Lowry would be great if we didn't have Harden, but I don't think those two would mesh well. Well the mathematics that make a 3point shoot so efficient aren't absolute, but having a guy like Ariza (who is the main 3 point shooter off the ball) at a career 34.6% 3 pt and is a versatile defender is a good thing. Brewer is just a good that plays into the Rockets pace while being a versatile defender (not good or great defender). I think folks are turning Morey's philosophies into absolutes when they aren't. Well in sports, sometimes you can make good moves and still have blow up in your face. I don't think anyone here actually could foresee such an overall decline.
We may never know how Morey would draft with a top 5 pick(s). Morey isn't perfect but he seems to be correct his mistakes quickly.
