Morey reiterates team plans on more player acquisitions
Although he did not name anyone specifically in accordance with NBA tampering rules, general manager Daryl Morey said the team is not done acquiring players.
With the trade deadline passed, Morey plans to aggressively pursue signing whoever winds up being the most talented guard or forward available on the buyout market.
“We’re having multiple conversations,” Morey said. “We have a couple players at the top of the list. Until they clear waivers, it’s not something — we can’t really talk to them.”
The most alluring candidate, after his release from the New Orleans Pelicans, seems to be forward Markieff Morris. Signing Austin Rivers and Kenneth Faried — above-average talents for the kind of players who typically get bought out in January — evinced Morey’s reliance on improving roster depth by signing players off the buyout market.
“Historically we’ve done very well there,” Morey said. Danuel House Jr., currently on the Rio Grande Vipers of the GLeague, would suit the team’s needs for an athletic roster addition, but Morey did not suggest the Rockets have made headway on reaching a deal that would sign the twoway player for the rest of the season.
“(House is) somebody we think would be good to work something out with, but you have to work out a contract with him,” Moray said. James Harden seemed optimistic about House being in the mix.
“They’ll figure that out. That’s out of my control,” Harden said of House’s negotiations with the front office. “We know how important Danuel is. We know how good he is, especially for our team, so I’m sure they’ll (figure) something out.”
Last season, buyout players Marco Belinelli and Ersan Ilyasova flourished in prominent roles for the 76ers during their playoff run.
Morey had signed forwards Josh Smith and
Corey Brewer in recent seasons that resulted in deep playoff runs.
Bearing the fruits of the buyout market was part of Morey’s plan heading into this season.
“You’re going to have multiple teams throughout the year, but you want your best team in April,” he said. “Even though there’s a bit of pressure in July, we try not to do anything that doesn’t stay flexible, so that we can have the best team going into the first, second, third round of the playoffs.”
Harden won’t rest on laurels
It never ceases to astound Daryl Morey that guard James Harden, the reigning Most Valuable Player who revitalized the franchise and made Morey’s career, continues to defy expectations.
Harden’s streak of 28 consecutive games with 30 or more points is his latest feat to delight his general manager.
“Honestly, he does amaze me,” Morey said. “It’s so rare. You can’t find in NBA history where a player has improved every year through age 29.”
The mathematically minded executive sounded hyperbolic — LeBron
James and Kobe Bryant might object — but Morey was speaking more to how Harden has enhanced his talent by increasing his work ethic.
“Every year he adds something to his game,” Morey said. “It’s astonishing. Most guys they get the success, they get the MVP. James has been to the playoffs every year of his career. He’s been to the conference finals three or four times. That success often times gets to you and you relax to it. It’s human nature.”
Harden traces his success to his passion for the sport.
“Most players don’t really love basketball,” he said. “They just do it because he can jump high or shoot the ball well, but it’s been like that way since high school. Every year you’ve got to find ways to get better and to come back with something different, something new—a game-changer.”
Morey compared his trading for Harden in 2012 to Warren Buffett investing in Berkshire Hathaway in 1972. The profits have vastly exceeded the projections.
“To get MVP again this year is just astonishing,” Morey said, as if the winner of this year’s award is a foregone conclusion.
Harden was less presumptuous. He suggested he did not care about the All-Star Game lineups, which were televised Thursday night in a draft of the players between captains James and Giannis Antetokounmpo. James selected Harden as the final pick for his starting five, perhaps not so flattering to the league’s leading scorer and candidate for MVP.
Harden shrugged and said, “I didn’t see it.”