Reviewing Daryl Morey’s Record as Rockets GM

2007 - 2008

Drafts:
Aaron Brooks 26th pick
Carl Landry 31st pick
Brad Newly 54th pick

Trades:
July 13, 2007
- Traded Vassilis Spanoulis and a 2009 2nd round draft pick (Nando DeColo) to the San Antonio Spurs for Jackie Butler and Luis Scola.

February 21, 2008
- Traded Kirk Snyder and a 2010 2nd round draft pick (Paulao Prestes) to the Minnesota Timberwolves for Gerald Green.
- As part of a 3-team trade, the Houston Rockets traded Mike James and Bonzi Wells to the New Orleans Hornets; the Houston Rockets traded Malick Badiane to the Memphis Grizzlies; the Memphis Grizzlies traded Sergei Lishouk to the Houston Rockets; the New Orleans Hornets traded Bobby Jackson, Adam Haluska and a 2008 2nd round draft pick (Marty Leunen) to the Houston Rockets; and the New Orleans Hornets traded Marcus Vinicius to the Memphis Grizzlies.

In Retrospect:
- With the 26th pick in the draft the Rockets would have gotten better value with Arron Afflalo or Marc Gasol (the grade is still out on Tiago Splitter). With the 31st pick the Rockets could have gotten better value with only Marc Gasol. No way I would take Glen Davis over either Brooks or Landry. Aaron Gray 7-1 280 C, is also starting to look like a serviceable seven footer.

- Had the Rockets drafted Tiago Splitter, there is a question if San Antonio would have traded Luis Scola. Certainly if the Rockets have to choose between Scola or Splitter in the 2007 draft then you take Luis Scola every time.

- Between picks 15 and 26 of the 2007 draft only Rodney Stuckey 6-5 207 SG, Wilson Chandler 6-7 230 SF and Rudy Fernandez 6-6 172 SG would have been worth considering drafting ahead of Brooks. Further more about half of the lottery selections have not been as good as what the Rockets drafted with the 26th and 31st picks in the draft. Houston clearly had one of the better drafts in the league that year with LAL getting the best overall value with their 2nd round pick.

2008 - 2009

Drafts:
Donte Green 28th pick
Joey Dorsey 33rd pick
Maarty Leunen 54th pick

Trades:
August 14, 2008
- Traded Donte Greene, Bobby Jackson and a 2009 1st round draft pick (Omri Casspi) to the Sacramento Kings for Ron Artest, Patrick Ewing and Sean Singletary.

February 19, 2009
- As part of a 3-team trade, the Houston Rockets traded Rafer Alston to the Orlando Magic; the Memphis Grizzlies traded Kyle Lowry to the Houston Rockets; the Orlando Magic traded Brian Cook to the Houston Rockets; and the Orlando Magic traded Adonal Foyle, Mike Wilks and a 2009 1st round draft pick (DeMarre Carroll) to the Memphis Grizzlies.

In Retrospect:
- The Rockets actually had started out with the 25th pick so this is the pick I will start looking at quality players left in the draft. Nicolas Batum 6-8 210 SG 25th pick, George Hill 6-2 180 PG 26th pick, Darrell Arthur 6-9 216 PF 27th pick, DeAndre Jordan 6-11 250 C 35th pick, Omer Asik 7-0 220 PF/C 36th pick, Goran Dragic 6-4 180 PG 45th pick were the real quality picks from picks after pick 25. I have no problem with the trade of the Rockets 25th pick for the 28th and 33rd picks. Donte Green was eventually parlayed into Ron Artest and the 33rd pick could have gotten the Rockets a quality seven foot center.

- This is clearly Daryl Morey’s worst draft with several quality players (including both DeAndre Jordan 6-11 250 C and Omer Asik 7-0 220 PF/C) left on the board. Joey Dorsey clearly came into the league with some serious NBA talent on defense but did not have much between the ears. The Rockets would have done themselves a huge favor by either trying to leap frog Seattle (who picked directly in front of the Rockets at 25) and grab Serge Ibaka 6-10 228 PF or drafting Omar Asik instead of Dorsey.

- Daryl Morey’s best move during this season was clearly the Rafer Alston for Kyle Lowry trade. Kyle is looking more and more like a future all-star. He is a 1st team all defensive point guard and is showing that he is a clutch performer on offense and runs both the fast break / half court offense equally well.

2009- 2010

Drafts:
Jermaine Taylor 32nd pick
Sergio Llull 34th pick
Chase Budinger 44th pick

Trades:
February 18, 2010
- Traded Tracy McGrady to the New York Knickerbockers for Jordan Hill, Jared Jeffries, a 2011 1st round draft pick and a 2012 1st round draft pick. Traded Joey Dorsey and Carl Landry to the Sacramento Kings for Hilton Armstrong and Kevin Martin.

In Retrospect:
- The Rockets came into this draft with no picks and purchased 3 second rounders starting with the 32nd pick. Other players with value the Rockets could have gotten are DeJuan Blair, 6-6 277 PF Jonas Jerebko 6-9 220 SF, Jodie Meeks 6-4 211 SG and Marcus Thornton 6-4 194 SG.

- Daryl Morey managed to get 1st round talent in the 2nd round with Chase Budinger while Jermain Taylor and Sergio Lull have both been non-factors.

- There were no defensive minded seven footers in this draft available to the Rockets. DeJuan Blair was the best big on the board but not what the Rockets need as far as a rim protecting center that can move Chuck Hayes back to the bench.

- DM’s signature move during the season, was the trade that landed the Rockets Kevin Martin. He has been nothing short of spectacular on the offensive end of the court and is the most efficient scorer in the league.

2010 - 2011

Drafts:
Patrick Patterson 14th pick

Trades:
August 11, 2010
- As part of a 4-team trade, the Houston Rockets traded Trevor Ariza to the New Orleans Hornets; the Indiana Pacers traded Troy Murphy to the New Jersey Nets; the New Jersey Nets traded Courtney Lee to the Houston Rockets; and the New Orleans Hornets traded Darren Collison and James Posey to the Indiana Pacers.

December 15, 2010
- As part of a 3-team trade, the Houston Rockets traded a 2012 1st round draft pick to the New Jersey Nets; the Houston Rockets traded Sergei Lishouk to the Los Angeles Lakers; the Los Angeles Lakers traded Sasha Vujacic and a 2011 1st round draft pick to the New Jersey Nets; the New Jersey Nets traded Terrence Williams to the Houston Rockets; and the New Jersey Nets traded Joe Smith, a 2011 2nd round draft pick and a 2012 2nd round draft pick to the Los Angeles Lakers.

February 24, 2011
- Traded Aaron Brooks to the Phoenix Suns for Goran Dragic and a future 1st round draft pick.
- Traded Shane Battier and Ishmael Smith to the Memphis Grizzlies for DeMarre Carroll, Hasheem Thabeet and a future 1st round draft pick.

In Retrospect:
- This is the 1st draft that Daryl Morey had anything higher than the 25th overall pick and early returns are that he nailed this one. Patrick Patterson 6-9 240 PF, looks like the complete package with both offense and defense. I would like to see him get more consistent on the boards though.

- It’s too early to actually tell who all the quality picks after the 14th pick are. The names of Omar Asik and Marc Gasol did not pop up as legit bigs until a few years after they were drafted. Neither even play for the teams that drafted them. Could Hasaan Whiteside turn into the next Marc Gasol? How about our own Hasheem Thabeet? As of now it looks like Larry Sanders 6-10 222 PF/C as of now looks like the only player that I would have considered over Patrick Patterson but both look like the best picks at the spots they were picked and probably better than many of the players drafted before them.

- Trading Trevor Ariza for Courtney Lee turned into a great trade for Houston on the floor as well as for Salary Cap reasons. Trevor was just awful on the offensive end of the floor while Courtney is an elite defender and very good on the offensive end as well.

- Obviously the trades of Aaron Brooks and Shane Battier were the most controversial but early returns on those trades look to have improved the teams play on the court now as well as netting two more 1st round picks. While those picks pissed off Adelman, his team played much better after the trades. Shane Battier may have been a favorite of Adelman but really hurt the Rockets on the offensive end and bringing Chase Budinger as the new starter really helped the team. I’m sure the fans in Phoenix are wondering why they had to give the Rockets a 1st round pick to take Aaron Brooks who is currently not playing as well as Goran Dragic.



Review

Draft Hits
- Aaron Brooks 26th pick 2007
- Carl Landry 31st pick 2007
- Chase Budinger 44th pick 2009
- Patrick Patterson 14th pick2010

Trade Hits
- Vassilis Spanoulis and a 2009 2nd round draft pick for Luis Scola.
- Donte Greene, Bobby Jackson and a 2009 1st round draft pick for Ron Artest
- Rafer Alston for Kyle Lowry
- Tracy McGrady and Carl Landry for Jordan Hill, 2012 1st round draft pick and Kevin Martin
- Trevor Ariza for Courtney Lee
- Aaron Brooks for Goran Dragic and a 2010 1st round draft pick.
- Shane Battier for Hasheem Thabeet and a future 1st round draft pick.

Misses
- Marc Gasol
- Omar Asik
- Aaron Gray
- 2012 1st round draft pick for Terrence Williams

Overall the biggest failure of Daryl Morey has been his ability to get a quality seven footer that can guard the basket and un-seat Chuck Hayes as the starter. He has had some very good Centers available to him but he missed. This is an undisputable fact, having said that he has done an exemplary job in just about every other category.

When Daryl Morey took over as GM of the Rockets the roster was made up of:
Yao Ming
Tracy McGrady
Juwan Howard
Luther Head
Chuck Hayes
Rafer Alston
Shane Battier
Kirk Snyder
John Lucas
Vassilis Spanoulis
Jake Tsakalidis
Dikembe Mutombo

That team should not awe anyone with talent outside of Yao, TMac and Deke and we know what has become of those three. Chuck and Yao are the only ones left over that may or may not be on the team next season.

The Current Rockets roster looks like this:
Chase Budinger
Marcus Cousin
Goran Dragic
Chuck Hayes
Jordan Hill
Courtney Lee
Kyle Lowry
Kevin Martin
Brad Miller
Yao Ming
Patrick Patterson
Luis Scola
Hasheem Thabeet
Terrence Williams


I don’t believe any other GM could have done better adding talent to a roster with what Daryl Morey had to work with. With the exception of Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady I think that top to bottom this roster has much more talent than the one Daryl Morey started with. No superstars like Tracy McGrady or Yao Ming of a few years ago but he cannot control injuries.

With the exception of drafting Omar Asik or Marc Gasol I’m not sure what else he could have done. Hopefully in the upcoming draft he can get either Biyombo or Kanter and that they will live up to the hype.

 

I'm hoping TWill eventually works out. He is uber talented IMO and worth the risk but up to this point all signs point to fail.

The Rockets had a chance to draft Gasol with the pick they used to draft Carl Landry had they wanted.

 

They are hits because they were good draft choices particularly when other teams were not hitting on those choices. Gasol was a missed opportunity to draft a 7 foot all star caliber center.