Quote:
Originally Posted by KevB
No plan? What are you talking about? Morey has been collecting cheap assets along the way with the hope of trading for or signing top 20 players. They lost Yao Ming long before they expected. They signed Lin and Asik away from teams that wanted to keep them. Lin looks a bit expensive now, but he only has 2 years left and he could still improve (24 years old). Asik was a really nice find, and he's only 23 and still improving. He's also a very nice trade chip at this point. After signing those guys, Harden fell into their lap. You going to tell me they shouldn't have traded for Harden because he and Lin weren't a fit? Morey had no idea he was going to get Harden when he signed Lin. Meanwhile, he created space to sign the best free agent available this season, a guy who is a nice match with Harden and Parsons. If Howard is healthy and becomes what he was with Orlando, it's a great signing.
As for Houston and Royce White.....Morey doesn't seem like the type of GM who doesn't do his homework. He understood what he was getting into in terms of special circumstances; what he didn't understand was how difficult White was to deal with.
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In Lin and Asik, you have $16M per year to guys who are now deadweight and will be more difficult to deal at that price tag. Howard is a big signing, but he's also a head case. Royce White was a head case. They don't seem to care about draft picks and while they've been surprisingly successful in the second rounds, their first round recent track record is beyond lousy and most of them have been dealt away. While they got a great deal on Thomas Robinson, he'll be a so-so NBA player. And in 2 years, Parsons has a contract that's going to make him more difficult to sign.
I think you give way too much credit to Morey. He seems like a guy more interested in proving how clever he is versus building a blueprint for a team.