What has been Daryl Morey’s Best Draft?

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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.