I agree with a logic in a previous post. Lets list players drafted from every GM, then find average number of years an average NBA player has, and then you count how many of those (percentage) draftees are over the average. Do we have a source for this or it has to be done from wikipedia?
Typical clutchfans. Only sees the negatives and never the positives. Did you miss the part where I said I thought he had potential be a better Clint Capela? Obviously not. What's outlandish? Saying that a guy who has barely played 12 minutes in the NBA would be better than Clint or Joey? Obviously saying he will be a better Joey Dorsey (which was mostly a joking statement...) is much more outlandish. Obviously! Some people on clutchfans are such weirdos. Always serious and always look at stuff negatively.
I don't disagree that Morey drafts to trade. In fact, I made that point in an earlier post. But then that makes this whole "All players drafted by Morey are good players" argument meaningless. Do you want to argue that Morey is great at drafting good players (meaning having a successful NBA career) or do you want to argue that Morey is great at drafting good trade baits? You can't have both. When you judge something, you have to have clear criteria. You can't change the criteria in the middle of the argument because something doesn't fit your theory.
I wasn't the one making the assertion you were responding to, so I'm not sure what the criteria is. You'd be best off asking that poster. Nor am I changing the criteria (which I don't know) or my theory (which I do know). Morey is good at drafting. I disagree with what you said above that you can't have both. It's a dynamic system. He drafts in reference to the team's needs. When we've been in win now mode he's drafted players who can contribute right away or be an attractive piece to be traded right away for someone who can. Examples include: Donte Greene who was traded for Artest. Carl Landry who came in to contribute right away to a contending team. When the team has been "rebuilding" he drafts players who have a chance to become really good players or project (with stat potential) type picks to trade for star level players. Examples include: Jeremy Lamb who was traded for James Harden. Donatas Motiejunas who was on his way to becoming a higher tier big man before injury. Even with that, most of the picks he's made have been highly contributing players in the NBA for many years. Our franchise is great in that regard. We produce NBA level talent at an above average pace. Yes, Morey has had some misses. The draft can never be perfect though. Relative to his peers, Morey is in the upmost tier of drafters.
If I could have one five minute discussion with Morey, I would ask about the Kawhi/Morris draft. I would love to know what he thought Kawhi didn't have or what he thought that Morris had that would make him better. That said, Morris is a solid NBA player. He isn't trash. He will play for 10-12 years and contribute in most of them. It doesn't mean that it was the right pick, but it means that when he screws up, it's not a disaster. He also has the ability to cut bait quickly. He doesn't fall in love with his own picks. He pivots to the next move, which usually is a small step up. I also understand that many don't like PPat, but he is really good. He is going to make a ton of money. He is not great at anything, but he can do a little of everything, and he doesn't make mistakes. It's why coaches love him. Donte Green was a monster in his first Summer League. Enough so that all of the beat writers were talking him up as one of the biggest positive surprises. Morey wasn't swayed and still traded him for Artest. That makes Green a great pick, not matter how his career turned out.
OKC drafted Harden. Orlando drafted the infamous Dwight. Someone else drafted Ariza, Gordon and Anderson. We drafted Capela, Harrell.... (drafted Mr. Douche Parsons) Morey is alright, nothing special in the first round of a draft.
Sam Dekker, Patrick Patterson, Marcus Morris, Jeremy Lamb, Batum and Terrance Jones all in the first round and all are still in the NBA. I would say Morey is great at evaluating talent when you look at drafting and acquisitions.
Can't tell...if serious. You chose Harden and Dwight and Eric Gordon, who were all top 10 picks in their respective years. Morey has never had a single digit pick in any draft from 2007+. If you are then comparing Ariza and Anderson, then okay, guess we'll see since Capela and Harrell are pretty darn young. I've liked what I've seen so far. Will they be Ariza or Anderson good? Who knows -- Ariza and Anderson are above average NBA players, but neither are All Stars. Are you saying Capela and Harrel, approx. a decade from now, would not have been seen as above average NBA players in their career at some point?
This is almost impossible to evaluate , so many counter-factual scenarios in play ( i.e. Would kawhi be as good if he didn't develop under POP and TD etc.. ) All indications point that Morey has been very good especially given his picking position . And scenarios at the time . 06-09 trying to contend and I would say he definitely maximized the value of a draft pick towards winning in the present . AB , Landry , arrest trade all helped us during those years . 09-12 was a difficult period considering the mandate to rebuild without tanking . He drafted players that produced and could be flipped not projects with higher upside. 13-present ... Contend again . We never had high pick positions yet he has managed almost unequivocally to avoid busts .. Something that creates a negative asset. Recently I think his drafting has even improved though it is still uncertain . Capela looks damn good .. But he is playing next to James . Dekker and Harrell are looking like solid contributors for many years and were picked after the first half of round 1 . The 2016 draft may be the biggest swing for upside I've ever seen Morey take ( since Dmo and the 3 picks in 2012) We can laugh all we want at chinanu' underhanded FT's and joe shee for being an Asian connection for Les ... But those dudes have SIZE and have skills that can transfer over to the "modern" NBA . Of course all of our picks now have the benefit of playing with a superstar in Harden that our previous picks did not have the advantage of . For the sake of argument we will say that harden became a full fledged superstar in 14-15
This is what I was arguing with DudeWah. You guys are changing the criteria in the middle of the argument. You just said that Patterson was a good player even though he didn't contribute as well as he could for the Rockets. Now when you talk about Greene, you said he's looked like a good player even though he didn't have a good career. So how is Morey a good drafter? Picking a guy who looked good at the draft even though he turned out to be a bust, or picking a player who didn't look as good but turned out to have a good career? Also, while Morris isn't trash, do you remember what Morey traded him for? Yep, a second round pick. To borrow the flawed logic a lot of people use, he essentially gave up Leonard and chose a second round pick for the future.
Morey's draft record fom the middle of 1st to middle of 2nd is probably at least top 3 to 5 in the NBA. No concerns there. What I would be worried about is if for some unforeseen circumstance Morey gets hold of a #1 draft pick in a year a can't miss one and done Lebron James declares, only for his model to favor a 6-9 tweener PF that may develop a 3pt shot down the line like a Jabari Parker. No offense to Jabari, he's probably close to a top 25 player now, but I can just see Maury making one of these picks based on his model if he had a #1 draft pick.
