Fairview4Life wrote:I like Morey.
On the other hand, he just traded Marcus Morris, the 14th pick from 2 years ago, for a 2nd rounder. He traded a lotto protected 1st round pick for Terrence Williams. He signed Luis Scola to a ~50 million dollar deal just to amnesty him 2 years later. I kind of wonder how we'd all feel about BC doing these things while the team sits in 1st round fodder range for 4-5 years or whatever.
He is good at roster churn, 2nd round picks, and making things happen. His 1st round picks have left a lot to be desired, his free agency signings have been good with Asik, and pretty mediocre for everyone else, and he makes a lot of trades. He is very good at keeping financial flexibility so he can retool whenever he wants without worrying about convincing his owner to pay luxury tax, which is what really distinguishes him from BC (and also not punting 2nd round picks, obviously).
You just have to look at the final result of all the moves. Nobody is perfect and nobody ever said Morey was. Mistakes? Definitely. But if it's a mistake to trade Morris in order to make way for Robinson, while also cutting guaranteed salary for next year, then sign me up for those kinds of "mistakes". And forward it to Clownangelo.
The Scola signing was just about right at the time. Amnestying him was undoubtedly tough, but Morey did it for a reason and with a plan in mind. Something Clownangelo rarely has. He cleared cap space and, unlike Colangelo, didn't waste it: he made two extremely creative FA signings with Asik and Lin. You can question Lin over Dragic, but Asik was a fantastic deal. Amnestying Scola also freed up playing time for all their young forwards.
I would add that back when Scola was amnestied I hoped we might take a shot at getting him, as that would've made trading Andrea a bit easier, while taking pressure off Jonas. But our GM was who knows where. We could also draw a parallel to amnestying, say, Andrea last summer, rather than prolonging the long drawn out and painful trade/non-trade embarrassment that the situation has become. I'm sure a lot of us would've been upset, but if our GM then turned around and used that cap space to grab, say, a Harden (looking forward to his max contract) and an Asik (a starting C leading the league in D rebounding) and a Dragic (signing him, rather than dealing a lotto pick for Lowry), then I would've given him his due.
But our GM does nothing of the kind. Or, basically does close to nothing.
As to what Morey has done - and yes, you're only as good as your last rebuild - he has done wonders. Seriously, to suggest otherwise, and to compare the Rockets situation to ours, and to compare him to Colangelo, is ridiculous. They have their All-NBA player and scoring title contender. They have the top D rebounder in the middle and a solid shot-blocker/changer. They have a horde of young prospects and trade assets. They have a ton of cap space next off-season. They are 30-26 in the tougher West, despite a huge roster overhaul. Most of their players are young or very young. They are in a position to move forward with their franchise superstar and add 2 stars next year either thru free agency (20+ in cap space) or trade (several good young prospects).
What do we have in comparison?
