Is Daryl Morey the best GM?

[zimpy27]

Yes he is. He makes the most moves to try get better. Some GMs may look good beause of luck, they don't make enough moves to tell otherwise though. Daryl and a few others are the only ones active enough to make an assessment and he looks like one of the best to me.

[Cactus Jack]

At the very least Buford, Myers, Ainge, and Olshey are in front of him.

Buford, Myers, Ainge = yes. All three have assembled championship squads. I would even throw Pat Riley in with them.

Olshey & Morey are kind of in the same boat. Both are good forward thinking GM's. But, neither has yet to build a championship caliber team.

[ATLTimekeeper]

He's one of the more competitive ones. Last I checked he hasn't drafted an all-star in a decade at the job, so I think he loses some points there. How is Buford not considered the head and shoulders above this guy? His teams are almost always better and they cycled out Tim Duncan and play in a smaller market. Buford is head and shoulders above everyone else. Morey is up there because of his influence on the game.

[RussellandFlow]

No, he is not. In the world of sports how many people (athletes, coaches, execs, owners) are considered the best, and are without at least one championship?

[Manute Lol]

The GB has been taken over by teenage homers today.

Morey is more a great 2k gm than real life gm, meaning he is super at acquiring talent, but not so super at assembling functional teams.

The dude literally just built a 55 win with 1 star. Over 2/3 of the league wishes they could get a superstar without tanking and build a roster around that superstar as balanced and deep as this past year's Rockets.

He's also had a number of expensive swings and misses from a chemistry perspective (whether on or off court) including Dwight, Lawson, and J Smoove just among the recent moves. Morey throws a lot of crap at the wall. Some of it sticks, and some of it doesn't.

[Mirotic12]

To answer the poll question - Is Daryl Morey the best Gm?

The answer is, absolutely not.

[Curmudgeon]

Let's wait until Morey's team wins a Western Conference final before we annoint him.

[Fico92]

Yes, with all the rings he brought them. Oh...

[melasdas]

One of the best, for sure. His team has never tanked, and they have been always competitive.

But the GOAT is HINKIE.

[BallerTalk]

This whole "what has he won though" line of thought is so incredibly dumb.

the league is decided by the decisions of a handful of players deciding where they want to play if you're lucky enough they choose you you're a genius but if they don't you suck no matter what you do.

Morey has turned very limited assets into Harden, Howard and now CP3.... pretty impressive.

Who has done more with less? Let us see their resume? Houston hasn't had a top 10 pick in 11 years (number 8). They haven't had a losing season in 11 years. They do it with intelligence and skill.

My thoughts exactly.

Some people point out championships and I guess that's fair since it is the ultimate goal.
To me, so much goes into winning a ring (front office, coaching, talent, chemistry, health) that it's too much to lay at the feet of one person or component.

I think a fairer way to judge a GM is how effective they are at fulfilling their duties which usually include:
1) Cap Management - salaries, negotiations...
2) Asset Accrual - picks, trades...
3) Talent Evaluation, Acquisition, and Retention - drafts, free agency....

I think Daryl Morey does exceptionally well in all of these areas, particularly the third.
Aside from the high profile moves for Harden, Howard, and Paul, Morey's ability to see the potential in future All-NBAers Kyle Lowry and Goran Dragic, drafting Chandler Parsons in the 2nd round, and finding Pat Beverley in Saint Petersburg, Russia are some of the moves that stand out to me.

[papidulo]

The most aggressive, or as a fan, hes a great GM.
But I dont think he will build a championship, bc he doesnt seem to value role players, and treats them as expendable assets

Why would a free agent whose coming in as a free agent, sign a long deal in Houston, if they know that they could be on the trading block by February if the team doesnt look like it will compete for a championship?

Lou Williams was there for 3 months... Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson just got picked up last season, and they're already on the
trading block for a possible upgrade.

IMO the best GMs build a team through continuity in its core (Spurs GM, Bob Myers in GS) and creating an environment for sustained success.
Cant say I dont like Morey, but it must suck as a non-max player knowing that I may have to uproot my family in a year as a piece in a trade for a marginal upgrade.

Is CP3's 20 and 10, along with possibly missing 10-20 games a yr, gonna replace the defense of Beverly and depth of having a guy like Lou Will off the bench?

[Heat3]

morey is #1 at self promotion

[TinmanZBoy]

probably the most active trader... one of the best GMs

[CptCrunch]

Morey is by far the best GM in the league.

Some GM draft franchise players with lotto picks.

And for those skilled/lucky enough to draft well enough, they trade away their assets or fail to keep their teams together.

Other GMs fail at drafting year after year, and some others tank their franchise year after year.

Morey has kept the Rockets in the playoffs year after year while never missing an opportunity to make the team better. He makes bold moves that others GM won't make or are even aware of. Have all of his paid off? Nope, but most of them are justifiable and never once has one of his trade destroyed the Rockets the same way Billy King has destroyed the Nets.

Just look at the Rockets roster year after year. A constant shuffle to get better. It is tough to win the championship in the NBA, but Morey is doing as good a job as he can with the circumstances and resources that he has.

[Rednation91]

He's one of the more competitive ones. Last I checked he hasn't drafted an all-star in a decade at the job, so I think he loses some points there. How is Buford not considered the head and shoulders above this guy? His teams are almost always better and they cycled out Tim Duncan and play in a smaller market. Buford is head and shoulders above everyone else. Morey is up there because of his influence on the game.

Its a bit harder to draft an allstar when u consistently end up with 14th-18th pick in the draft because u dont tank. Even after tmac/yao fell apart, they never tanked. Remember those teams with lowry, kmart, air buddinger, scola, chuck hayes starting? They were the definition of a treadmill team. Consistently 8 seed or barely missing playoffs. Then he turned that into harden and howard.

[Da ThRONe]

I really like Morey, but I don't think this trade puts them very much closer to the Warriors. At this point that's all that matters. I get the logic add add top end talent but IMO James and Paul are too redundant at a skill where redundancy doesn't help much.

[zimpy27]

It's not only that he gets things done, it's how he gets it done too. There was quite a bit of shennanigans that went on behind the scenes to get the CP3 trade done. 11 players were involved to get this trade done. Count 'em, 11 people plus a pick and cash. Even I don't quite understand what happened in totality.

Chris Paul
Patrick Beverley
Sam Dekker
Lou Williams
Montrezl Harrell
Kyle Wiltjer
DeAndre Liggins (from CLE)
Darrun Hillard (from DET)
Houston’s 2018 first round pick, top 3 protected
And $661K in cash to cover Paul’s trade bonus
Ryan Kelly (from ATL)
Tim Quarterman (from POR)
Shawn Long (from PHI)


https://www.thedreamshake.com/2017/6/28/15888292/houston-rockets-will-consummate-chris-paul-trade-with-clippers-now-james-harden

All of these players have non-guaranteed contracts for the 2017 - 2018 season. Meaning they can be traded to the Clippers as a half-a-million cap filler to make the trade work. Then L.A. can unceremoniously cut the players they receive.

To make the trade work from a salary and roster perspective Houston included Harrell and Wiltjer, who were not discussed in original trade outlines. Dropping Wiltjer in at the last minute likely avoids a roster hangup. Any NBA team can only hold 20 contracts at this time. Sending Kelly and Quarterman may have put LA over that threshold.

On the whole this is a Bond-villain level of shrewdness from Morey because starting July 1st non-guaranteed contracts will have no cap value in future trades under the new collective bargaining agreement. Using Liggins and Hillard to get this done is an exploitation, plain and simple. The rules will forbid him from doing exactly what he’s doing in a few days.

Yeah the trade exceptions he's generated should allow Houston to remain quite active in the free agency period.

People think he gutted the roster but only Beverley and Lou played more than 3 minutes a game in the playoffs.

He essentially turned Beverley and Williams into CP3 and a trade exception at 10m+ to get another piece in free agency (I'd laugh if it's Redick). Incredible dealing.

[sacking123]

The GB has been taken over by teenage homers today.

Morey is more a great 2k gm than real life gm, meaning he is super at acquiring talent, but not so super at assembling functional teams.

I would have to agree to some extent there. I can't see Harden and CP3 playing together effectively. Fantastic talents but is Harden ready to give up handling the ball that much? Because you know CP3 isn't.


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[Manute Lol]

For better or worse, Morey is in many ways the Billy Beane of basketball.

[inquisitive]

one of the best...certainly a capologist genius.