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What has been Daryl Morey’s Best Draft?

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by crash5179, Jun 28, 2015.

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Which was Daryl Morey's best Draft?

  1. 2007 - Aaron Brooks & Carl Landry

    32 vote(s)
    10.6%
  2. 2008 - Donte Green

    1 vote(s)
    0.3%
  3. 2009 - Chase Budinger & Sergio Llull

    2 vote(s)
    0.7%
  4. 2010 - Patrick Patterson

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  5. 2011 - Donatas Motiejunas & Chandler Parsons

    233 vote(s)
    76.9%
  6. 2012 - Jeremy Lamb & Terrence Jones

    12 vote(s)
    4.0%
  7. 2013 - Issiah Canaan

    0 vote(s)
    0.0%
  8. 2014 - Clint Capela & Nick Johnson

    2 vote(s)
    0.7%
  9. 2015 - Sam Dekker & Montrezl Harrell

    16 vote(s)
    5.3%
  10. Rudy Gay for Shane Battier......

    5 vote(s)
    1.7%
  1. crash5179

    crash5179 Contributing Member

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    I’m actually kind of excited about this year’s draft. Considering Daryl Morey’s draft record I’ve basically given in to the “In Morey We Trust” philosophy. The fact that Daryl drafted a small forward when there was a point guard on the board the fit the teams most dire need should come as no surprise. In Daryl’s very first official draft way back in 2007 he selected Aaron Brooks when the team appeared stacked at point guard with much bigger needs to fill. All of us around back then were certain that there was a trade in the works, why else would Daryl draft another point guard? But of course there was no trade and Aaron played for the Rockets several years before finally being traded to Phoenix.

    Sam Dekker is proof that Daryl has not changed his draft philosophy since his first day on the job. Daryl does not believe in taking the teams needs into consideration when drafting a player. Take the best player available, period. The Rockets have typically been far better off because of this philosophy. Aaron Brooks proved Daryl’s methodology is sound by becoming the Rockets starting point guard, being one of the truly instrumental players when the Rockets won their first play-off series in many years. And he was the Rockets main offensive weapon when the team took the Lakers to 7 games in round 2 of the play-offs. Furthermore Aaron won the NBA’s Most Improved Player when he averaged almost 20 points a game and 40% three point shooting. When Aaron had run his course with the Rockets, Daryl traded him for a 1st round pick and Goran Dragic. That was pretty damn successful for the 27th pick in the draft.

    So what has been his best draft? Here is a list of all of his drafts since he officially became GM for the Rockets. I’m including drafted players acquired in draft day trades. As far as I’m concerned the team that picked those players did it for the team that received those players.

    2007
    Pick 27 - Aaron Brooks – PF was the position of need and posters were screaming for Big Baby Davis or Nick Fezekas. Aaron was better than both early on winning MIP and eventually being traded for a 1st round pick and Goran Dragic.
    Pick 31 – Carl Landry – One of my all time favorites. Legit 6th man of the year candidate and flourished while in Houston. He was better most of the players in that draft.
    Pick 54 – Brad Newley – No impact.
    Summery – Both Aaron and Carl might be lottery draft picks if the draft were re-done today. This was an outstanding draft for Daryl. He could have drafted Tiago Splitter but he would have been zero help to Yao and TMac since he didn’t come over until years later. Glenn Davis turned into a very good reserve but personally I never thought he was as good as Landry or AB in his first 4 years.

    2008
    Pick 28 – Donte Green – After a great summer league game he was traded to Sacremento for Ron Artest. That alone made him a successful pick.
    Pick 33 – Joey Dorsey – No Impact
    Pick 54 – Marty Leunen – No Impact
    Summery – Considering the situation this was a successful draft. The Rockets were trying to surround Yao and TMac with another superstar and Ron Artest had played like one in the previous years. Without Ron Artest, the Rockets would not have beaten Portland in the 1st round of the play-offs or taken the Lakers to game 7 of the 2nd round. Daryl drafted Nick Batum with the intent of trading him to Portland so we don’t know who would have been drafted if Daryl intended to keep the pick. Having said that, Batum was easily better than either Green or Dorsey (the 2 players drafted as a result of the Batum trade). The other two players that jump out in this draft were DeAndre Jordan and Omer Asik, both drafted shortly after Dorsey.

    2009
    Pick 32 – Jermain Taylor – No Impact
    Pick 34 – Sergio Llull – Yet to be determined
    Pick 44 – Chase Budinger – good role player that played some quality starters minutes and eventually traded for a mid 1st round draft pick.
    Summery – very good draft for Daryl considering he had no 1st round picks. Chase would certainly have been a late lottery or mid 1st round pick if the draft were done over. Sergio Llull is the real question mark. If he comes over this year and lives up to billing this could turn into a very special draft.

    2010
    Pick 14 – Patrick Patterson – Low Impact
    Summery – This was one very underwhelming draft. Patrick is a decent role player but he doesn’t move the needle much regardless of the team he is playing for. He started a short while for the Rockets but was eventually traded 2013 for Thomas Robinson and a couple of Euros (KPapp was one). Robinson was never seen as a future piece in Houston. Daryl traded for him because he felt like he would be easier to move for cap space in the summer than Patrick Patterson. This was a very week draft but Avery Bradley, Eric Bledsoe, Greivis Vasquez or Lance Stephenson would have been better picks.

    2011
    Pick 14 – Marcus Morris – He is a solid role player but will forever be remembered as the guy picked before Kawhi Leonard.
    Pick 20 – Donatas Motiejunas – He has turned into one of the better post players in the league. Great back to the basket game, solid post defender and a much-improved three point shot.
    Pick 38 – Chandler Parsons – One of the better offensive small forwards in the game. He went from a 2nd round pick to a max contract player. Probably Daryl’s most famous draft pick.
    Pick 51 – John Diebler – No Impact.
    Summery – Daryl probably gets criticized for not drafting Kahwi Leonard in this draft. But if you look at who he drafted it was an outstanding draft. If the draft were re-done today, both Chandler and Donatas would be lottery picks and Marcus would very likely still be a mid to late 1st round pick. This was a very deep draft for the league as a whole with guys like Jimmy Butler and Kenneth Faried drafted late in the 1st round. To me it looks like there were about 18 really high quality players in this draft and all of them would have a chance to go in the lottery if this draft was re-done.

    2012
    Pick 12 – Jeremy Lamb – The Rockets probably would not have James Harden without him. He hasn’t exactly produced in the league yet though.
    Pick 16 – Royce White – Provided comic relief for a year with his tweets. Other than that a waste of a pick.
    Pick 18 – Terrence Jones – He has been a very good player, good handles, nice developing 3pt shot, improved defense that still needs improving, good shot blocker and good scorer. He has been a very good starter during the regular season when healthy.
    Pick 53 – Furkan Aldemir – No Impact
    Summery – This turned out to be an incredibly important draft for Daryl. Jeremy Lamb was one of the key pieces in the James Harden trade. Terrence Jones looked to have taken the next step in his career this season. Even after the nerve issue that kept him out, he came back strong and aggressive until he suffered a collapsed lung. If they did a do over on this draft Terrence would have gone off the board much sooner but Lamb would have been drafted much later. Royce is another story all together.

    2013
    Pick 34 – Issiah Canaan – Low Impact
    Summery – If I’m ranking drafts then this one is Daryl’s 2nd worst effort after the Patrick Patterson draft. The only reason this draft is not last is because Canaan was a 2nd round pick while Pat was a lottery pick. Patrick is the better player but more should have been expected from a lottery pick.

    2014
    Pick 25 – Clint Capela – To be determined but outlook is good
    Pick 42 – Nick Johnson – To be determined
    Summery – It’s too early to tell with this group but Capela looks like he might be one of the steals of the draft. If Nick develops a jumper he should find solid rotation minutes.

    2015
    Pick 18 – Sam Dekker
    Pick 32 – Montrezl Harrell


    How I rank them (minus the 2015):
    2011
    2007
    2012
    2009 – depending on Llull this one could move up
    2014
    2008
    2013
    2010

    2nd Round Draft Genius?
    If Nick Johnson turns into a solid role player, and I think he will just based on his defense, Daryl would have drafted 4 quality to high quality players in the 2nd round over the course of 7 drafts. If Montrezl Harrell works out that would be 5 quality to high quality 2nd round picks over 8 drafts. I think a teams chances of finding a player that makes any sort of impact at all is remote to say the least.

    There may be 3 or 4 players total in any given year drafted in the 2nd round that ever makes any type of impact. Looking through the drafts since Daryl has been GM here are the number of 2nd round impact players found.

    2007 – 5 - Carl Landry, Glenn Davis, Josh McRoberts, Marc Gasol, Aaron Gray
    2008 – 5 – Nikoa Pekovic, Mario Chalmers, DeAndre Jordan, Omer Asik, Goran Dragic
    2009 – 7 – DuJuan Blair, Jodi Meeks, Patrick Beverly, Marcus Thorton, Chase Budinger, Danny Green, Patti Mills
    2010 – 3 – Hassan Whiteside, Landry Fields, Lance Stephenson
    2011 – 2 – Chandler Parsons, Isaiah Thomas
    2012 – 4 – Jay Crowder, Draymond Green, Quincy Acy, Mike Scott

    I didn’t include 2013 or 2014 because I think it’s too early to try and say those guys made any type of impact or not. But over the course of 6 drafts and 180 drafted players in the 2nd round, only 26 did enough to stand out. That is only about 15% of the players drafted in the 2nd round that makes any sort of meaningful impact. I’m sure I missed someone but I think you get the point.

    So how did Daryl Morey do in those 6 seasons drafting in the 2nd round? Daryl had 10 picks and hit on 3. If Sergio Llull comes over this season and shows that he is an NBA player then he will have hit on 4. So based on Llull, Daryl Morey is finding NBA talent in the 2nd rounds with 30% or 40% of his draft picks. Either way that is an exceptionally good number.
     
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  2. NotChandlerParsons

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    Eh, probably the Mook/Motiejunas/Parsons. People can cry about not drafting Leonard/Faried till the cows come home, but pulling three rotation players out of one of the worst drafts in recent memory was some real wizardry.
     
  3. heypartner

    heypartner Contributing Member

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    Here's to hoping Clint Capela becomes his unquestioned best pick ever.
     
  4. DudeWah

    DudeWah Member

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    y u spell summary wrong doe?
     
  5. Easy

    Easy Boban Only Fan
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    If you want to judge a draft performance from hindsight, you have to not just look at who was drafted but also who was overlooked.

    2011 would have been the clear choice for now if only he didn't pick Morris over Leonard. That was IMO Morey's second biggest draft blunder after Royce White.

    Capela is too early to tell. If he turns out to be a stud, that could be Morey's crowning draft.
     
  6. crash5179

    crash5179 Contributing Member

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    I was just curious if there were any English teachers on the bbs. You fell right into my trap. Now I can put my eval plan into action. Carry on.
     
  7. crash5179

    crash5179 Contributing Member

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    I disagree. You have to judge it based on who drafted. Was the SAS pick of Kawhi better than Morris? Absolutely. If you get a rotational player with the 14th pick though, it is a success. Houstons draft haul that year was outstanding.
     
  8. FTW Rockets FTW

    FTW Rockets FTW Contributing Member

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    Like I have always said, his 1st round draft record has been meh leaving a lot to be desired. His 2nd round draft history has been pretty much top notch

    Picking Mook busty Morris ahead of Kawhi Leanoard and even Kenneth Faried was dumb. I always had Mook as a tweener role player at best while Kawhi had the makings of a top quality stud. Likewise Dorsey over DeAndre Jordan and drafting Royce Anxiety White to name a few.
     
  9. crash5179

    crash5179 Contributing Member

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    I agree with some of this but Mook is far from a bust. He is a solid role player. Certainly not close to Kawhi's level but still not a bust. Absolutely 0% of GMs hit on every draft pick or even close to it.
     
  10. the shark

    the shark Member

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    Morey has really found some gems in the 2nd rd.
     
  11. Carl Herrera

    Carl Herrera Contributing Member

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    So, "Morey's best draft" according to the poll is the one year when he passed up Kawhi Leonard for Marcus Morris.
     
  12. Marteen

    Marteen Member

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    Putting Parsons signing with Dallas aside, I still had more fond memories of Landy and Brooks than any other draft class under Morey.
     
  13. TheRealAllpro

    TheRealAllpro Morey only fan

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    Morey doesn't get credit for drafting Scola?
     
  14. heypartner

    heypartner Contributing Member

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    Well, we can at least agree upon that 2009 was Morey's favorite draft class.

    Morey has signed 13 different players from that draft, and he's still going strong for another (Ty Lawson, and maybe Rubio)

    That's got to be some sort of record.
     
  15. thedude077

    thedude077 Member

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    Marcus Morris, Patrick Patterson and Royc White were Darryl Morey's worst picks. Let's just hope those were his last worst picks.
     
  16. TheFreak

    TheFreak Contributing Member

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    Brooks and Landry. Two immediate contributors on a very good team that overachieved relative to their draft position.
     
  17. thedude077

    thedude077 Member

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    Daryl Morey did not drafted Scola he traded for him. Scola was drafted by San Antonio in the 2002 second round 56th pick.
     
  18. Nimo

    Nimo Member

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    I would say 07 or 12. That Jeremy Lamb pick helped turn into James Harden.
     
  19. AirBud#10

    AirBud#10 Member

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    You can't call 2011 his best draft when he picked Marcus Morris over Kawhi Leonard.
     
  20. Shroopy2

    Shroopy2 Contributing Member

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    Good overview and writeup

    May too much dumping on Patrick Patterson, considering the criteria used.
    Cites Marcus Morris and Chase Budinger as good role players regardless of others in draft.
    Then Patterson as a disappointment in his draft position, while saying it was a weak draft anyway.

    Patterson had McHale's trust as much as D-Mo, Caanan lost McHale's trust, and Rockets needed HELP at guard. 2010 is probably still last, but the criteria again was inconsistent.

    Its good that its using "Flip Rating" on who picks got back in return. Cuz if Donte Greene didnt have fluke summer league stardom, 2008 woulda been TERRIBLE with MULTIPLE blown chances at good players. (Also, maybe "Undrafted rookies" can figure into things)
     

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