General manager’s exit makes Rockets’ task harder.
Is Russell Westbrook next? James Harden?
Or the unthinkable: A Rockets rebuild.
Daryl Morey stunned the NBA on Thursday, just like Mike D’antoni stunned the Rockets last month.
Now Tilman Fertitta’s franchise is searching for the first head coach who can finally get the absolute most out of Harden while trying to replace a 13-year general manager who wasn’t expected to walk away.
“From a basketball standpoint, it is what it is. We had a great four years with Mike, and we had good years before Mike, and we’ll have good years after Mike. I’m not worried,” Fertitta said Thursday. “I have James Harden and Russell Westbrook. ... We feel like we’ve got a great starting five and we’re going to compete. Sometimes change is good, and let’s just see what happens. We’re going all in this year and next year on whatever we can do to try to win a championship.” That sounds great.
But I’m just like every Rockets fan in the world right now: I’m having an increasingly hard time believing it’s true.
Add in Morey following D’antoni out the door, and new Gmrafael Stone must be the living combination of Bob Myers and Rob Pelinka to actually back up the owner’s bold words and push the Rockets past the hard ceiling that Morey’s creations always hit.
“The ultimate prize has come up short,” Morey said. “Unless you’re Golden State or you have a certain player on your team, you probably haven’t won the title in the last few years.”
In a reassuring sign that the always witty Morey will be OK in his post-rockets life, he sarcastically thanked me for asking him about falling short before the above answer.
Maybe this doesn’t happen if Paul stays healthy and leads the Rockets to the 2018 NBA Finals.
Maybe this doesn’t happen if CP3 remains in local red, the Rockets don’t give in to Harden’s private demands, and Westbrook stays in Oklahoma City.
But this is the path the Rockets have ultimately chosen, and a tension-filled road has brought them here.
You thought they were quietly trying to replace D’antoni the offseason after another playoff disappointment.
Please.
These are the Rockets.
Drama. More drama. Even dysfunction. All on the down low. All simmering just below the surface.
On a day when we were supposed to be watching Dusty Baker’s Astros try to stay alive in Game 5 of the American League Championship Series, Houston’s NBA team outdid the dysfunctional Texans.
There had been off-and-on tension with Morey since Fertitta bought the team in 2017 and replaced Les Alexander as the Rockets’ owner.
There was off-and-on tension between Harden and Westbrook last season, a year after the Rockets gave in to Harden’s push to be rid of Paul.
But that doesn’t fully explain Morey walking away from an unfinished job.
It does, however, help explain the Rockets going backward or, at best, sideways while the Western Conference only gets tougher and the Warriors prepare for their 2021 return.
The Rockets never could beat Golden State’s dynasty. This season, they dropped four consecutive second-round games to Lebron James’ Lakers, with Harden randomly disappearing again and Westbrook highly disappointing.
Yet Fertitta had been adamant that Morey — who recently signed a long-term extension — would remain with the Rockets. And Morey long had been adamant that his primary professional goal in life was to help Harden win a title. So much for all that. Technically, I’m not shocked, because this was the perfect time for Morey to go. He had worn out win-now, and the often-frustrating Rockets were still falling short.
But Harden isn’t a Rocket without Morey. The same for Dwight Howard, Paul, D’antoni and Westbrook.
Morey partially invented the crazy idea of shooting as many 3-pointers as humanly possible. He also led the ridiculous (OK, absurd) charge for 48 minutes of small ball.
But are the Rockets going to win 65 games next season, finally get the best out of Harden, and return to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1995?
All of the above will be even more difficult when Morey officially checks out of Toyota Center on Nov. 1.
It’s crazy, dramatic and highly entertaining from afar.
Like a packed chain restaurant inside a circus.
But if the post-morey and D’ANtoni Rockets don’t win a world title with Harden in the next couple years?
You know what’s really waiting: The hard, painful rebuild that Fertitta, Alexander and Morey always avoided.