By Marshall Zweig on February 23, 2013
hen an NBA player's shot is falling, we say he's found his shooting touch.
Daryl Morey's shots are falling like Hans Gruber at the end of Die Hard. But in the Houston Rockets general manager's case, it's more accurate to say he's got the Midas touch.
How else could Daryl Morey have possibly packed so many brilliant moves into one season?
And how many brilliant moves in a season must one man make to win NBA Executive of the Year going away?
The man absolutely blew up the Rockets this summer, making 13 moves involving 31 players and four draft picks. Only small forward Chandler Parsons remained from last year's rotation. Few, if any, picked this team to get over the .500 mark.
Yet here the Rockets sit, a roster of young, energetic, hard-working, seemingly high-character guys, in eighth position for the playoffs, and fresh off beating one of the East's best teams, the Brooklyn Nets, two nights after beating one of the West's best teams, the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Oh, and they notched both victories while shorthanded—because of another brilliant Morey trade.
How do you impress me, Daryl? Let me count the ways—if I can count that high.
Morey (left) with Jeremy Lin and owner Les Alexander. (AP Photo/Dave Einsel) I've raved at length in other articles about the daring game of chicken Morey played with the Rockets' starting point guard position prior to the season—a game he won with a brilliantly constructed contract that stymied the mighty New York Knicks and netted the Rockets Jeremy Lin.
I've waxed rhapsodic about Morey's selection of Parsons. To say he was a steal as the 38th overall pick is to call Jesse James a small-time hood.
Granted, that was last season's brilliance. But as I mentioned, Parsons was the one guy he chose to keep from last year's rotation. He bet on his second round pick and won: the last man standing from last season has this season become one of the league's top 10 small forwards—at a price which makes one want to shout, "There's a sale at Penney's!"
In Parsons' case, Morey gets credit for his inaction rather than his action.
I've commended Morey for the statistical gold he mined in handing a minutes-deprived backup center a big contract and a starting job. The result: Omer Asik is perhaps the leading candidate for the NBA's Most Improved Player award.
And finally, I've lauded him for his relentless pursuit of James Harden and his guts in handing him the keys to the castle offensively. Harden is not just one of the league's top scorers—he's one of the very best players in the NBA.
Robinson will be another Morey success story, I predict. Jared Wickerham/Getty Images
Now Morey has wisely assessed his lack of defensive production at power forward and traded for a woefully underused but massively talented Thomas Robinson, while giving up only players who, Jeremy Lin's heavy heart notwithstanding, won't be missed on the court within a month's passing.
I'm shocked to have heard some critical comments about Robinson. I watched him play at Kansas, and there is a reason this guy led the nation in double-doubles the year he was drafted. He can not only rebound, but he can score around the rim.
Why the Kings had him playing so frequently on the perimeter is anybody's guess—heck, why the Kings do anything they do is anybody's guess. But again, Morey wins for picking such an inept franchise to make a trade with.
This deal wasn't as lopsided as the 2008 Pau Gasol trade, but to me it was reminiscent of it. And given time—and not much, mind you, just until the midway point of next season—I believe Robinson will be to the power forward position what Parsons is to the small forward position.
Will Daryl Morey win 2012-13 Executive Of The Year?
Yes
No
As long as he gets the chance, that is. For Morey did all of the above while, incredibly, positioning himself to be almost $20 million under the cap come summer. Which means Robinson might be coming off the bench, displaced this summer by a free-agent acquisition the likes of Josh Smith or Dwight Howard.
It's enough to make you forget the name Royce White.
It was a long, strange trip getting here, but Morey's bargain-basement Rockets are the stuff Brad Pitt movies are made of. This is general management almost too efficient and effective to be believed.
This is a job performance which cannot be ignored come NBA awards time.
For those voters who might be reading this article, one last note for your consideration: To pull off the Harden deal, Morey had to have two first-round draft picks to give up.
Where did he get those?
By cleaning up two of his increasingly rare misses.
Morey managed to finagle one in the Kyle Lowry trade, despite Lowry's oh-so-public disgruntlement in Houston, which lowered other teams' perception of him and thus his trade value. Sure enough, the talented but troubled Lowry has had trouble getting along with others in Toronto too, so much so that the Raptors couldn't trade him despite a concerted deadline effort.
Without the first-round pick Morey got for Jordan Hill, the Harden trade wouldn't have happened. Harry How/Getty Images
Morey snagged the other plus Derek Fisher in exchange for Jordan Hill, who was already wearing the bust moniker at the time of the trade. Hill has actually managed to improve his per-36-minute numbers and his PER during his time with the Lakers, but has trouble both hitting a jumper and staying healthy.
Without those two quiet masterstrokes, I say the Harden deal never gets made.
I also say Morey better have space on his office mantle come May. He will be the unquestioned Executive of the Year.
And Daryl, while you're at it, dust off two spaces.
I think you'll need one more for the Larry O'Brien Trophy by the 2014-15 season.
莫雷称火箭交易一箭4雕 狂送人只因要为3将让路
莫雷一箭四雕
北京时间2013年2月22日，在NBA的交易截止日到来之前，火箭和国王、太阳分别进行了交易，送出了帕特森等四名球员，得到了托马斯-罗宾 逊等三名球员。火箭的总经理达雷尔-莫雷认为，这次操作可以实现多个不同的目的，包括腾出薪水空间，得到潜力新人，为现有球员让路，坚持小个阵容等。
腾出薪水空间
莫雷表示，他希望在今年夏天火箭能够有1500万美元到2000万美元的空间，用来开出顶薪合同追逐大牌球星。在这次交易中，火箭得到的加西亚在今夏可以终止合同，这次4换3的交易让火箭多腾出了160万美元左右的空间。
为现有球员让路
“帕特里克-贝弗利是一个球迷很喜欢的球员，他打球有激情，防守好，能够推快节奏，所以我们希望他进入轮换阵容，看看他有多么出色，我们喜欢他的比赛。”莫雷说。
除了贝弗利之外，莫雷还提到了莫泰尤纳斯和格雷格-史密斯，他说：“我们也喜欢史密斯的表演，我们同样觉得莫泰尤纳斯应该进入轮换阵容，得到出场时间。”
坚持小个阵容冲季后赛
“就像你在和雷霆的比赛中看到的那样，我们打小个阵容的时候表现很好，我觉得我们这样做能够赢球。”莫雷谈到了球队接下来的风格。
“小个阵容是可以接受的，看看现在这个联盟中坚持小个阵容的球队就知道了。”莫雷说，“小个阵容的进攻是提升的，虽然防守有些下降，但是进攻提升的幅度大于防守下降的幅度，很多球队都在打小阵容，我们必须坚持这样做。”
莫雷称火箭的目标仍然是季后赛：“我们的目标并没有随着交易而改变，罗宾逊会帮助我们争夺季后赛，我们还是一个很有力的竞争者，如果说变困难的话，也只有那么一点点。”
得到潜力新人
莫雷表示这笔交易让火箭失去了帕特森的防守，不过他相信罗宾逊的能力。“一旦教练松开他的缰绳，他就会表现出自己的优秀来，他能够挡拆，能够在篮下进球，运动力很出色，打球激情十足，我非常兴奋能够获得他。”莫雷说，同时他也称赞了加西亚和哈尼卡特。
"奴隶组合"?休城新匪帮! 莫雷底薪挖来多少宝贝
四大替补安德森，贝弗利，莫泰尤纳斯与史密斯合计拿下了33分，表现相当不俗。
除了得分不少外，这四个哥们效率还极高。史密斯全场5投全中拿到10分4个篮板，莫泰尤纳斯5投4中贡献9分，贝弗利5投3中贡献9分2次助攻，安德森5 投2中命中率稍低，但也有5分3个篮板3次助攻入账。合计算起来便是，火箭的替补们20投14中，命中率高达7成！再看看篮网的替补们……25投11中， 合计拿到28分。别忘了篮网的替补阵营里，可是有年薪高达1200万的亨弗里斯。
至于火箭这几个替补哥们的年薪是多少？说起来不怕寒 酸，安德森，贝弗利与史密斯都是清一色的底薪男，莫雷从一堆待业青年里淘出来的宝贝。其中安德森与贝弗利还都是本赛季中途才加盟的临时工，史密斯则在本赛 季刚刚转正。至于莫泰尤纳斯，已是今天上场的四位替补里最"高贵"的一位，年薪达到136万，相对年薪只有76万的史密斯来说已是"高帅富"般的存在。
因此不妨做一下计算，贝弗利，安德森，史密斯以及莫泰尤纳斯，这四位老兄的年薪加一块儿肯定不到400万，但却打出了比篮网替补更劲爆的水准。不得不感 慨，这就是莫雷识人的本事了。令球迷同情的是，无论是贝弗利，安德森还是史密斯，都与球队签下了"奴隶合同"，也就是所谓的1+2，无保障的合同。如果他 们能在火箭打出来，那么后两年火箭都会执行他们的底薪合同；如果他们打不出来，那么很抱歉，直接裁掉便是。
更夸张的是，这四位还不是 火箭替补的全部。在休城的替补席上，还有今年第5顺位的新秀托马斯-罗宾逊，这位身体条件劲爆的天才大前锋将肯定先得从替补做起。此外在休城的替补席上， 还有经验丰富的老将加西亚，可能会被球队从发展联盟招回来的今年第18顺位新秀泰伦斯-琼斯。当然了，我们也别忘了目前在发展联盟里边打球边治病，神经兮 兮的罗伊斯-怀特……一旦当火箭将这些球员也整合成为实实在在的战力，那么无疑将组成一支如同当年国王式的板凳匪帮。
一支花费更少，但效率出众的板凳匪帮。
曝火箭追史密斯失败内幕 莫雷拒弃阿西克帕森斯
北京时间2月22日美媒体消息：交易截止日在相对沉闷的气氛中度过，老鹰最终还是留下了约什-史密斯。在平静的背后，却有着很多鲜为人知的故事。火箭总经理莫雷，在交易截止日前几小时突然发动“闪电战”，试图突袭老鹰，但没能成功。
在距离交易截止日还剩下5个小时左右时，《雅虎体育》的著名篮球专家沃伊纳罗夫斯基率先曝料称，火箭正在和老鹰进行交易史密斯的谈判，随后另一名内幕专家肯-伯杰、著名火箭跟队记者乔纳森-费根等人也在微博上证实了这则消息。
“火箭仍然没有放弃对史密斯的追逐，他们在和老鹰进行谈判，亚特兰大人渴望得到阿西克和帕森斯作为筹码回报，这显然会让火箭陷入没有首发的境地。”沃伊纳罗夫斯基在微博上如是写道。
昨天上午，火箭与国王、太阳做了一个三方交易，送走了两名大前锋帕特森和莫里斯，换来了潜力股托马斯-罗宾逊。罗宾逊运动力强、篮板球和低位进攻都很不错，因为在国王无法获得太多机会，因此被莫雷盯上，他有可能在接下来的比赛中出任火箭的首发大前锋。
得到了罗宾逊后，火箭追求史密斯的紧迫感大大缓解，由于他们是重建期的球队，所以管理层在引援问题上进退自如，并不急着锁定意中人约什-史密斯。在此背景下，莫雷在谈判中并不被动，他果断拒绝了老鹰的筹码要求。
“请明白一点，火箭手握巨大的薪资空间，他们完全可以在今夏与变成自由身的史密斯签约。所以，莫雷现在不会为史密斯而出高价的。”沃伊纳罗夫斯基说。
多个消息源证实，老鹰管理层与史密斯在续约报价上存在不可调和的分歧，分手只是时间问题。虽然老鹰在交易截止日前留下了史密斯，但这并不代表他们今夏将会给后者提供顶薪续约合同。届时，亚特兰大人可以先签后换送走“鹰王”。
对于火箭来说，莫雷追逐史密斯还有B计划。毋庸置疑，如果老鹰无意续约史密斯，那他们到今年夏天谈判时将会处于被动，届时火箭可以压价，否则对方很可能白白失去史密斯，以至于竹篮打水一场空。如果真的是这样，那火箭将可以与史密斯直接签约。
