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childress22 said:
Morey seems smart, but does occasionally do some weird things. I feel like he's been obsessed with having a three-star team for the last five years, and that could end up leading to him paying a 36- or 37-year-old Chris Paul something like 35 million dollars a year.

I think R.C. Buford deserves the smartest GM in the league award. Full stop. But Morey and Dennis Lindsey are probably competing for second.
Click to expand...

I'd say the Spurs have far and away the best organization in the NBA. However, (1) RC Buford purportedly shares a lot of the responsibilities of his office with Pop, (2) the Spurs' strength has always been player and system development. I might put Buford at #1 for the skill of draft night acquisitions, but Pop just deserves most of the praise for what those teams have turned into.

Regarding the Rockets paying a ton for CP3 as an old man--you absolutely sign him to that deal 100% of the time. You have an MVP-caliber player in his prime (runner up MVP 2 of the last 3 years) on a longish term contract, so you aren't bottoming out under any circumstances. Meanwhile, the Warriors are the best team in NBA history. What choice do you have but to take some swings with heavy downside? As Morey said a month or so ago when asked about teams waiting out the Warriors--Houston is in a position that requires them to raise their risk profile.

Now they have 2 of 3 active NBA players that have led the league in assists (2 All-NBA guards) and decent cap flexibility. You just have to take a shot, and they did with the most spectacular CBA-manipulating trade I've ever seen.
 
With a bunch of teams trying to wait out the Warriors instead of trying to contend with the Warriors, the market swung so much toward a buyer's market that you have to take the shot now. There is no competition except for the Warriors. That's one team, which is one injury away from being extremely vulnerable. If Durant gets injured one month later than last season, Paul/Harden/Melo can absolutely beat the Warriors.

So many teams went into hibernation waiting for the Warriors window to close that it became the inefficient thing to do even though it seems right. First of all, the window may not close for another 5-10 years, and it's impossible to plan that far out. By then, the game might be all about "which team has Giannis on it?" like it was all about "which team has LeBron on it?" for the past ten years. Secondly, you're going to be competing with so many other teams planning to wake up from hibernation at the same time that it's even more difficult to win a title than it is right now, just relying on one juggernaut to suffer bad injury luck.

Zach Lowe's latest article is on point. It even has the undertones of how a relatively inefficient shot in Houston's offense - Paul's midrange jumper - is actually going to make Houston more efficient for the playoffs because defenses have been warped so much that it's a midrange jumpshooter's market (if you're one of the best midrange jumpshootets ever).
 
Also, I don't think the Rockets are afraid of any teams in the Western Conference rearview. Jazz will lose Hayward. Clips are gone. Memphis is aging and hamstrung by certain contracts.

It's really just three teams next year and is San Antonio going to get better? Tony Parker is constantly declining, Manu is done, Patty Mills is leaving. Their best chance for making roster upgrades is through an LMA trade. We'll see...

If the Rockets can find a way to the #2 seed, they will feel pretty darn good. This was the time to swing away and take big risks.
 
I know the Ryan Kelly-for-cash deal yesterday is pretty universally seen as the Rockets loading up on another guy with a non-guaranteed contract for next year as a trade piece, but it would be nice to see the Rockets bring him into camp. Ryan had by far his best year in the league when he played under D'Antoni as a rookie (8 ppg, 3.7 rpg).
 



Can't argue with that. No wonder former players make the best GMs. They know who "wants it more"
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Sounds like the Rockets will end up with Paul/Harden/Melo/Griffin/Capela as their lineup, according to a random Houston source who has a good track record.
 
If the Knicks snag David Griffin that would be one of the first good things they've done.
 
It must be fun to be a good GM in the NBA when there are a few marks you can fleece when you need a piece or need to dump a contract.
 
Do the Cavs now have the 3 best players in the entire Eastern Conference? Only Giannis and John Wall would even be in consideration.
 
1) Lebron
2) Giannis
3) Kyrie
4) Wall
5) Lowry
6) Derozan
7) Thomas
8) Who cares

3-8 interchangable though.
 
The LeBatard show talked about during the Eastern Conference playoffs that the Cavs would probably be favored in a series against the rest of the Eastern Conference All stars. I now think the Cavs would win in 5 or less.
 
Also Adrian Wojnarowski's ESPN debut is tonight after the boxing match on ESPN2.
 
and Kyle Lowry is no lock to be in the East next season either.

Also: I feel like Redick could be a good fit on the Thunder.
 
Westbrook
Redick
George
Griffin
Adams

Not sure how they get the cap space to make this work but this would be competitive, and it's just a matter of clearing the space and convincing Griffin to come home and bring Redick with him.
 
I think Griffin re-signing with the Clippers is a done deal now. 5 years, 173 million, per ESPN.
 
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