Wed Nov 04, 2009 4:05 pm EST
Daryl Morey's hidden gems
Before I hit you with this fun little nugget, I want to reiterate something Dwyer wrote in April:
"Houston Rockets' general manager Daryl Morey isn't a genius. He's not a step and a half ahead of his colleagues. He's just better at being a GM than anyone else, right now."
Now, with that said, would I be surprised to learn that Morey is a chess Grandmaster, or that he can sketch the entire New York skyline — from memory — after just one twenty-minute helicopter ride over Manhattan? No. No I would not. "Dork Elvis" is a smart dude who likely owns many leather-bound books.
Which brings us to our nugget, courtesy of Clutch BBS. With Yao Ming(notes) and Tracy McGrady(notes) still sidelined nursing serious injuries, the Rockets' current nine/10-man rotation is made up almost entirely of late first-rounders, second-rounders and undrafted free agents. Seriously. Check out their depth chart ...
Starters:
Aaron Brooks(notes) — Drafted by the Rockets in the 1st round (26th overall)
Trevor Ariza(notes) — Drafted by the Knicks in the 2nd round (43rd overall)
Shane Battier(notes) — Drafted by the Grizzlies in the 1st round (6th overall)
Luis Scola(notes) — Drafted by the Spurs in the 2nd round (55th overall)
Chuck Hayes(notes) — Undrafted
Reserves:
Kyle Lowry(notes) — Drafted by the Grizzlies in the 1st round (24th overall)
Jermaine Taylor(notes) — Drafted by the Wizards in the 2nd round (32nd overall)
Chase Budinger(notes) — Drafted by the Pistons in the 2nd round (44th overall)
Carl Landry(notes) — Drafted by the Supersonics in the 2nd round (31st overall)
David Andersen(notes) — Drafted by the Hawks in the 2nd round (37th overall)
What's that one saying? Another man's trash is Daryl Morey's treasure? Incredible.
Cheers, @spygrl.
Ball Don't Lie
J.E. Skeets
Ball Don't Lie is an NBA blog edited by J.E. Skeets. Email him, and follow him on Twitter.
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74 Comments
1 - 25 of 74
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Go Rockets!
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This is NOT a good team. I commend them for playing their butts off and admire their chemistry but this article would make more sense if the Rockets were actually contending for a playoff spot. Fact is, despite their start, they're going to lose 50+ games and end up in the lottery.
Also, I dispute the idea that these were "another man's trash". Aaron Brooks and Chuck Hayes are the only real "treasures" that Morey has found. Battier is an underachiever (relative to his draft position) and was acquired by the previous GM (for a draft pick that ended up becoming Rudy Gay). Ariza was a high priced free agent pickup (whom had already displayed his talent/value for a DIFFERENT team), the Spurs were forced to trade Scola because of their inability to secure a buyout of his contract (and he ended up costing Houston a good sum of money to acquire). Kyle Lowry is a nice find, but the Rockets were also forced to take on Brian Cook's bloated contract as part of the deal. We have yet to see anything from Budinger or Anderson.
So again, Morey's a good GM, but to proclaim this a "team of hidden gems" is misleading.
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Go read a book or something
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Too bad your team still sucks and is headed to the lottery, You may win tonight, you may even take the season series, but you ain't ever getting another shot at a ring. Yao and T-Mac are broken and you're playing with a bunch of scrubs. The only reason you win is because better teams don't get excited to play against a bunch of rejects.
Nobody cares about your inane thoughts about lineups facing off without their star players.
WHoa congratulations your team could beat my team if X players were out. What a moron. Artest, Lamar and Bynum would still destroy your team becasue they would be forced to actually play seriously.
Enjoy your seat on the couch when your watching the lakers in the playoffs.
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Lakers didn't give those games up to the rockets because the rockets were better, they gave them up because they lost interest when your star player went down.
Lakers lost to Charlotte Sacramento and Orlando.
They swept Boston and Cleveland.
The Lakers did what they had to do when it mattered and that's why they have another ring and the Rockets have nothing.
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Good argument
What else would i expect from a Rocket fan. name calling and other idiotic statements.
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- Not a Rockets fan
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Basketball is business. Fans want win and title, but owners want to make money. As a businessman, so far Morey did a hell of job to satisfy both fans and owner. With minimum money spent to get as many win as other “way over cap" teams.
Being said, I feel Spurs GM R.C. Buford is the best GM in the past 10 years. His team did win championship"S" and did not spend crazy money like Cavs and Mavs. (How similar they are).
I am looking forward to see How Morey will turn out in 2 years when he can go full throttle with full cap room to go.
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call it "lack of interest" call it "lack of skill". Whatever. Lakers get it done when it matters.
Rockets hadn't been out of the first round in god knows how long, talk smack when you actually achieve something.
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Basketball is business. Fans want win and title, owners want to make money. As a businessman, so far Morey did a hell of job to satisfy both fans and owner. With minimum money spent to get as many win as other “way over cap" team.
Being said, I feel Spurs GM R.C. Buford is the best GM in past 1- years. His team did win championship and did not spend crazy money like Cavs and Mavs. (How similar they are).
I am looking forward to see How Morey will turn out in 2 years when he can go full throttle with full cap room to go.
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laker fans are not intelligent because they base their arguments on fact and logic?
Sometimes matchups come into play but how else would one explain a championship caliber team falling to sub .500 teams and sweeping through legitimate title contenders?
It seems your just jealous that you don't root for a winning franchise like the Lakers
1 - 25 of 74