http://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/o...son-Zen-master-to-general-manager-4454897.php So, Phil Jackson spoke with the San Francisco Chronicle and told them that he's had talks with 3 or 4 teams about going into a non-coaching position, but that he'll return only if he can make a difference to a situation really grabs him. Is the Houston Rockets such a team? Morey has taken the team some ways from 9th place with an average age of 26.0 in 2009-10 to 8th place with an average age of 24.4 in 2012-13. He has makes some decent trades but can not recruit stars due to his lack of credibility. Now it's time for someone else to finish the job. Phil Jackson has the heft to recruit stars and the zen and 11 rings. Having Phil oversee Morey will make the Rockets a much more credible organization to players and improve decision making. Pat Riley was able to pull together the Miami group because he flashed his rings and smooth talked the stars while Morey only has iPad. If Morey wants to leave, that's fine, he doesn't personally crunch the numbers anyway and there are plenty of smart people in the front office who know how to.
Would rather have Morey tbh. We have no idea how good PJax would be running the FO whereas Morey seems to know what he's doing.
This is what Morey gets for trading Patterson. Carl Herrera's wrath will come down on him from now until the end of time.
Cleverly disguised "missing you Pat" thread Also the most dangerous people on CF will be coming out...the Morey Only Fans
By the way, I thought the "can't recruit stars" argument was over with finally? James Harden had no problem coming here. Unless I'm missing something, Morey's only been turned down by stars who were trying to get themselves into a bigger market. I don't recall any star refusing to sign here because they had doubts about the GM?
Phil Jackson may be unproven has a front office leader, but his success as a coach and his credibility show that his upside as a front office leader is very high. Morey, on the other hand, is already near or at his peak. In other words, winning a title is very hard. Hiring Phil Jackson will increase our variance. Harden got traded here, didn't come here because Morey is attractive as a GM or has built and attractive team. Getting traded here was what got him $80M rather than the $52M that OKC offered. Actually recruiting a free agent superstar will involve the reverse situation: Dwight Howard will have to take a pay cut to come to Houston and that's not happening without 11 rings.
His peak seems to be pretty good to me. Keeps the roster from getting bogged down with mediocre players on big money deals, maintains our flexibility, has gotten younger and better. I'd love Phil to be a coach, but I'm not interested in losing Morey to bring in Phil.
Morey is possibly the best GM in the league IMO. Phil is a rookie in that department, and I'm not willing to risk the first few years of Harden's tenure on finding out whether his success translates to management. If Phil wants to be coach though, I wouldn't mind if they gave him a blank check(sp?) for 5 years.
Phil Jackson as a coach? Sure. As a GM? No reason to think he would be anything special. I don't believe who the GM is plays that big a role in where star players decide to go in comparison to a bunch of other more important factors. Such as having a winning team, having other stars to team up with, the city itself, and how much money they can pay. We have a star player now, and we have the money and a city that is reasonably attractive to players (many spend their offseason here). The chances of landing the next star player we recruit is going to come down to their desire to play with Harden, whether we can pay them the max, and if there is another city that they feel has a better chance of winning. Way down the list of things they consider important will be whether our GM is Morey, or Phil Jackson, or Big Bird.
I think money, the city, the roster and the coach are what matters to potential free agents. McHale is probably an asset when it comes to recruiting players to be honest. He's well liked and respected by players and the media. It's hard to be both. Phil would be an obvious upgrade there though and would actually bring really good coaching to the table as well. (Not that I think McHale is terrible) I just can't recall a single player refusing to sign somewhere because of the GM, except for Terrel Owens who said Ozzie Newsome was racist.
