How much longer are the Rockets going to just stockpile assets to use for bringing a superstar. We can not compete in the West with these players.

He missed it this summer and he missed it this trade deadline. If the Rockets don't get somebody that will actually make them a threat in the West this summer I'm hopping off the Morey bandwagon.

How you know he hasn't tried? It takes two sides to make a trade.

Everything was okay until all these other teams started trading trash for all-stars. Arias and Brooks would have been great starters on a loaded team but instead you had to downgrade to career backups to keep everyone happy

Ariza not arias

I was feeling the same way pretty much all day, then I came across this: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/justice/7441527.html

He's out there trying to get deals done, and apparently we put together the best offer for Carmelo, and he tried for DWill too, but there's not much you can do when these guys just want to play in NY.

I'm think he realized today that he's not getting a superstar this year, so you do the next best thing, which is stay flexible. He's still stockpiling picks and young talent. Calling Thabeet talented may be a stretch, but at least he's long and athletic, which is something we lack right now.

I look at it like this: traded a backup PG for a backup PG and a 1st rounder = win. Traded a starting role player for a backup which was sorely needed + 1st rounder = TBD depending on how Thabeet and the picks pan out.

Apply for the gm position then, dan. First, however, you should figure how this **** works.

[This message has been edited by Leonard Hofstadter (edited 2/24/2011 3:30p).]

agree with coop...all indications are morey was working the phones like crazy.

while i'm disappointed they didn't get any of the bigger names, i'm also glad they didn't panic and make a dumb deal.

and let's see how terrence williams does now that he finally gets some minutes. if he develops into a nice player, you have to give morey credit for acquiring him and then making room for him, right?

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I look at it like this: traded a backup PG for a backup PG and a 1st rounder = win. Traded a starting role player for a backup which was sorely needed + 1st rounder = TBD depending on how Thabeet and the picks pan out.

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not to mention, they shaved $3 million of salary for this year, which is effectively $6million since them come under the luxury tax

Aaron brooks didnt want to be here, didnt play defense, which we are seeing is a huge problem with this team. the first round picks will be 15-20th picks, not horrible, maybe in this draft they will be.

There are only so many superstars available in the nba, and i have yet to see a deal or draft pick where Morey has made a mistake

Good article thanks for posting

As several places stated, the superstars have not wanted to come here. Morey reportedly tried like heck to get Carmelo and D. Williams.

There is a chance we could get CP3 this offseason. Not a good chance, but a chance.

I think you'll have to fight the Knicks for him.

^
I know, that is why I said a chance, however, the Knicks won't have much money to offer. Amare and Carmelo will take up a ton of their salary cap room.

If I understand the trades correctly, the Rockets now have three first round picks in next years draft, all of which will likely fall somewhere between 12-18. I would be willing to bet that Houston does not use all of those picks in this upcoming draft. My guess instead is that they trade 2 (or maybe all 3) to a team looking to move down and they end up in the top of the draft. Who knows, maybe they can move up enough to get someone like Jared Sullinger. If not, nbadraft.net, have the Rockets, Grizz and Suns getting the following:

1. Rockets: Alec Burks
2. Grizz (now Rockets): Jordan Hamilton
3. Phoeniz (now Rockets): Marcus Morris

That is quite a Big XII theme, but it would give you a 2,3 and 4.

Anyways, I would say wait and see what the Rockets do with these three middle of the first round picks before giving up on Morey.

"Sports do not build character. They reveal it."
-John Wooden

uhhh there is zero chance that you get CP3. i assure you.

Your right Gradin, the Knicks will be short of cap space. I would think it would have to be a sign and trade situation for them.

With what I've said before, sticking up for Morey, you can compare what he's doing now to what the Knicks were doing preparing for the summer of Lebron.

Sometimes it seems like he's just stockpiling assets with no real goal in mind. At least the Knicks had a goal: landing 2 max FA's last summer. They only got one, Amare, but having him and the cleared cap space is what allowed them to get Melo.

So we'll have to see what happens with the picks, and how that pans out. If it doesn't lead to contention in the near future, I'll be off the Morey-wagon quick.

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but having him and the cleared cap space is what allowed them to get Melo.

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melo wanting to play in NY is what allowed them to get melo

How's the upcoming CBA negotiations going to affect the offseason acquisition/trade of current NBA players?

I read, somewhere, that the owners are going to fight like hell to have a hard salary cap. If there is one in place, does that mean that all teams can ONLY spend X amount of dollars on salary?

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melo wanting to play in NY is what allowed them to get melo

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True, but if NJ had Amare and the cap space he would have gone there. The Knicks don't just get players because it's NY.

Morey is vastly over-rated. Has this teflon reputation for being a "genius" of some kind

I am not a Morey homer, but seriously what did you want him to do? The stars flat out did not want to come here. It's been that way for a few years. IMO our best shot is in the draft, hopefully we find a star, get something going, start winning, then maybe a superstar would want to become that final piece. We're looking at best case a 2-3 year window to make something like this happen. If you expect anything more you're really not being realistic.

duh, he obviously should have traded battier to denver for melo and then brooks to utah for deron williams. right?

apparently that's what rockets fans expected

I wonder if Rockets fans have slightly unrealistic expectations because of the dominance of the nearby Spurs and Mavs this regular season, and the Spurs over the past decade. It takes a lot of time, work, and luck to get a great team together. The Rockets are better than a lot of teams in the NBA over long- and short-term time periods. Many teams are consistently bottom of the pack or alternate years of terrible teams with 1-2 great regular seasons and no trophies. It could be worse.

[This message has been edited by Ulrich (edited 2/24/2011 8:28p).]

All summer and into this season, Morey would come on 610 talking about how well the Rockets were positioned to make a splash. I guess I expected more.

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he tried for DWill too, but there's not much you can do when these guys just want to play in NY.

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if you think deron williams, who found out about the trade via sportscenter, wanted to go to new jersey, you need help

Listen

I'm as dissappointed as the next guy that he hasn't landed a superstar yet. But seriously, WTF could he do?

Besides, It looks like a key part of the next CBA will be a much more rigid cap, do you want to sign or trade for a bunch of Joe Johnson, Iguodala, Rudy Gay type guys who get superstar money and don't play at that level right before something like this happens?

I feel much better with what he did than going out and making a dumb move, just to make a move. If you don't have 1-2 superstars you are best off just rebuilding by stockpiling draft picks and playing young players. Let's see what Patterson, Budinger, Hill, Williams, and hell even Thabeet can do. F*** it, it can't be worse than watching the mediocre sh** that we've become accustomed to.

And to those who say we should have traded Martin and Scola, well they have two of the best contracts in the league for their production levels. You don't just give that away. There's always a ton of players available around the draft. You wait, and use these assets then. It's not like with Battier where you had to pull the trigger now or lose the opportunity, they are still under contract and valuable pieces.

I'm more frustrated with Adelman. I want him gone more than Morey. Morey took over a team with $40M tied up in players that were injured the majority of the last 4 seasons. The only way to improve the team going forward is through the draft. As much as NBA players love living in Houston in the offseason, they don't want to play here. Of course, the same thing can be said with a grea majority of teams in the NBA. Basically once Dirk and Duncan retire, those 2 teams will be in the same boat. The NBA is quickly becoming a 5-6 team league, due to the fact that today's superstars are gigantic *******.

Dragic is 2 years younger than Brooks has + size for a PG, and might be a better player. Who knows what the Rockets really have in Hill, Patterson, or Williams because dumb ass Adelman will not play them.

As others have said, a new collective bargaining agreement might alter other team's and stars views on where they can go.

[This message has been edited by GKFUBA (edited 2/24/2011 9:46p).]

[This message has been edited by GKFUBA (edited 2/24/2011 11:55p).]

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You knows what the Rockets really have in Hill, Patterson, or Williams because dumb ass Adelman will not play them

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Agreed. Aldeman annoys me how set in stone his rotation seem to be.

I understand the fans frustration with Morey/Adelman.

20 games behind the Spurs
14 games behind the Mavs
6 games behind a team owned by the NBA
4 games behind a team with Chris Wallace at GM.


The Rockets should have been a 40-44 win team this year, even with the Yao injury. They can beat Boston, but lose to Toronto and T-Wolves?

Shouldn't have happened.

the rockets can easily still win 40 games

I think you guys aren't giving Morey enough credit.

He comes in with two perennial all stars in Yao and Tracy- only to lose them to not a quick injury plague- but something that brought this franchise down slowly and painfully. His send off of Tracy and several acquisitions of Scola, Courtney Lee, and several others have proved to me he knows what he's doing.

This is a perfect example of Morey not choosing to "overpay". Let's take our chances in the draft in landing a franchise changing type of player- or at least use our picks to piece together a package in the draft.

So please- stfu about Morey being a ****ty GM. I'm tired of hearing it.

i agree Crow. I believe he is a good GM but we are having trouble luring a top flight player. We either need an elite player to come to us or get lucky in the draft.

I think Morey has become almost a victim of Bill Simmons boner syndrome in that he became extremely overrated by internet fans and now he's being labeled as a crappy GM. In my opinion, he's good, not great.

The pro's to Morey is that he's definitely a 'system' GM. He's going to build his personnel and coaching unit around a particular system of basketball. That's important and probably needed at this point to be a contender against the flashy market teams. He's not going to deviate from the type of ball he wants to play for any one particular player. That's also why he's been so great at finding players in the draft who have been successful, similar to San Antonio.

The cons is that he doesn't strike me as a risk taker. I don't think he'll ever be the type to trade 3 first rd draft picks and a some young role players for a superstar. That's fine too... but that means in order for the Rockets to ever be a real contending team, we'll just have to wait for them to get lucky.