Note to Dan Gilbert and the Cleveland Cavaliers: This is what you do with a successful GM.
Last season the Houston Rockets made a huge leap forward and it all started with shrewd moves by Daryl Morey: He jettisoned Dwight Howard, brought in Mike D’Antoni and told him to coach the system he is known for, James Harden was moved to point guard, and he went out and got shooters to go around the Beard such as Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon, who had fantastic seasons. It worked with the Rockets having the third best record in the NBA last season.
Rockets ownership decided to lock GM Morey up as he started to head into the last year of his deal, reports Marc Berman of Fox Sports 26 in Houston (and since confirmed by others).Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey signed a four-year contact extension according to NBA sources. Morey had one year left on his contract.
He is now tied to the organization through the 2021-2022 season.
Morey is not resting on what worked last year, he reportedly is aggressively looking to make trades at the deadline to clear up cap space so he can chase Chris Paul, Blake Griffin, Paul Millsap or Kyle Lowry — another star.
Morey is the poster child for the anti-analytics holdout fans of the NBA. He’s an early adaptor and front and center promoting the ideas, but at this point bashing him is all but yelling “get off my lawn.” For one, every team uses advanced stats/analytics to varying degrees, and the heavy users include San Antonio, Golden State, and Miami — a lot of rings right there. More importantly, what do the numbers tell Morey? Get multiple
More importantly, what do the numbers tell Morey? Get multiple star players, surround them with other good players. How you get there may be different, but the end result is the same. But if it makes you feel good to be a bitter person, go at it in the comments.