Luck is when preparation meets opportunity. There are obviously degrees of preparation, and degrees of opportunity. The Spurs didn't prepare that much to get Duncan, he just happened to fall in their laps the year Robinson got hurt, for example. Same with Seattle drafting Durant in the midst of a franchise fire sale after Portland went for Oden. On the other end of the spectrum, the Heat worked long and hard behind the scenes to assemble their big 3 (basically since the 2008 Olympics...) To say that the Rockets hadn't invested patiently & prudently in being able to pounce on a Harden or Howard being available is just being an idiot. By your measure, every acquisition is luck.
I guess you don't believe in making your own luck? Yes, it is lucky that OKC was offering up Harden for trade, but it is hardly luck that allowed DM and the Rockets to be in the position to complete such a trade at a moment's notice. Pulling the trigger and handing over a max deal, anyone could have done that, even MJ. Investing in your team's assets and intelligently managing the cap so that we WOULD be in the position to make any deal or signing? That was not luck. That was great and hard work by a top tier GM to make sure that if any such deal comes up, we would be ready to pounce. Were we lucky that Harden was up for grabs? Absolutely! Was the trade a simple matter of luck? Hell no! DM made his own luck and cashed in on it. It is like getting dealt a royal flush, but managing to slow play your hand and sucker in your opponents for an all in bet. It takes luck to get dealt a good hand, but how you go with the hand is all skill.
Harden's availability wasn't luck. I remember looking at their salaries last year knowing they couldn't afford all 5 of their best players.
It was drumstick. We would have the beginnings of a dynasty and already be securely in the play-offs had we drafted him.
Who said you have to get rid of Martin and/or Lowry to tank. Those guys were hurt half of the year last year. It was holding on to guys like Scola and adding Dalembert that didn't make sense and just caused us to float.
Nobody said the Rockets didn't invest patiently and prudently but I did say that even with all that waiting and investing they didn't end up with Harden because they had the best available package of youth/experience etc. What do you believe my measure is btw?
I'm not really sure how what you are saying contradicts what I was saying. I think Morey deserves all the credit in the world for pulling the trigger and giving up max money to Harden. However, I also don't see what we gained by floating around the 8th seed last year. Getting a higher pick last year would not have prevented us from making the Harden trade.
I still break into a cold sweat whenever I think of us dodging that near-miss bullet. (Actually, Stern took that bullet for us. LOL.) Thank you, Stern.
Nobody is saying that Harden's availability was luck, or at least they shouldn't. That's an example of preparation meets opportunity. However...it most certainly is luck that we were available for Harden. Without the vetoed CP3 trade, we'd most likely have Gasol and Nene, which would be horrible. If the Dwight Howard trade worked out, we would have lost significant assets in that as well, which would have prevented a Harden trade. Morey's not lucky that Harden was available, he was just lucky that his previous plans didn't work out.
Morey has been pretty vocal about the easiest way to build a contender is through the draft; however, Les' desire to remain a competitive business did not make bottoming out an option. My point, just because Morey has found success without tanking, doesn't mean it was his preferred path.
I was a pro tanker. I didn't expect OKC to be dumb and give up Harden, or SAC to be dumb and give up a #5 pick in a few months. Tanking is the best way to acquire young star talent. I am happy Morey found a way to acquire that talent without having to tank. He managed to finally pull it off this summer, after multiple seasons of failure. But now he has us in a great position.
