When word broke on Thursday that Daryl Morey was stepping down from his position as the Rockets’ general manager, an ESPN report suggested that Morey seems unlikely to seek a new NBA job immediately. According to that report, the veteran executive prefers to spend some time with his family and explore what else might interest him professionally.
However, that doesn’t mean that Morey won’t be back in an NBA front office at some point. In his look back at Morey’s tenure in Houston, Zach Lowe of ESPN cited a source who said the 48-year-old does want another NBA job. And Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta provided a clue this week about where Morey might be headed if and when he does pursue a new position, as Tim MacMahon of ESPN writes.
“He had always said, ‘I’m not going to be here forever,’ and, ‘At some point, I might want to go back to the East Coast,'” Fertitta said. “… If he ends up back in the league, I think that he’ll probably end up in the East Coast. That’s where he always told me he wanted to end up, so I think that he’ll tell me anything (if I ask him for advice), because he knows that he won’t have to face me until the Finals.”
Having previously hired a Morey lieutenant (Sam Hinkie) to run their front office, the Sixers reportedly made a run at Morey himself in 2018 following Bryan Colangelo‘s sudden exit. As such, Philadelphia would be a team to watch if Morey seeks a job on the East Coast. For now though, the 76ers appear content with letting Elton Brand run the show, as they hire veteran executives to fill out Brand’s basketball operations staff.
Of course, Morey’s potential options will hinge on part on the timeline for his return to the NBA. If he doesn’t seek a new job for two or three years, the landscape of the Eastern Conference could look a whole lot different than it does now, creating new opportunities for the longtime Rockets executive.
What has he done in his entire career? Mediocre gm that literally ruined the rockets. Someone will pay him, but don’t expect to win a ring.
You are such a troll. His teams have done well for a very long time remaining competitive. He transitioned from Yao and McGrady to the Harden era with no rebuild. There is a good chance they win at least 1 title if it wasn’t for the bad luck peaking at the same time as the Warriors and still they got close to beating them.
If you just want to be negative about everything and assume that you are only successful if you get a ring then you can choose to be miserable.
He’s just bitter about his Dodgers.
2010-2012 was a rebuild and even when they traded for Harden it wasn’t known that would be an “era”. They lucked out OKC was made a horrible mistake. Morey lived off the glory of that trade for 8 years without capitalizing on it.
Maybe it was a rebuild, but for 13 years in a row he had a winning team, so if you can rebuild while winning (like OKC) why would you wanna do it loosing?
Picking on “luck”… Morey was on top of it, gave up a lot.
“There is a good chance they win at least 1 title if it wasn’t for the bad luck peaking at the same time as the Warriors and still they got close to beating them.”
This is a very good point. The same could be said of the Patrick Ewing era Knicks. Or Barkley’s Suns. Or Stockton/Malone Jazz. Rings are not the end all and be all of the game. Or at least they shouldn’t be.
What bad luck did they have? Paul being injured is not bad luck when it happens every single year.
Analytics tell you he’s never won. And when it counted he deferred to salary cap. Got lucky with Yao. Got lucky with Harden. Failed with both.
Morey has an average record of 50-32 during his tenure of 13 years. Only the Spurs have more wins than his 701. It is foolish to say he’s not a winner; his flaws lie elsewhere… too many trades, too much reliance on a system. But he as much chance as anyone to win a title— or support another’s freedom!
Basically like calling Andy Ried a terrible coach before he went to the Chiefs bc he didn’t win but was always in the playoffs. 1 team wins each year. He was a GM during LAL, Spurs, LeBron, and GSW dominance.
Morey don’t coach. He manages the money to fit in with the talent. Cause Houston doesn’t like going over cap. Now that he’s depleted their assets. He’s walking away. The year they were top seed in west. He never upgraded team. He could of helped them get deeper for playoff run. Nothing. Under him they were never able to all in. Even when they had a real shot. That’s not a winner to me. That’s someone who wants the numbers to look good. Either you are all in. Or you will always be watching the Finals. That simple. You don’t get many chances in Life to win. Just as Bron. See how serious he takes everyone of them. Not all players do. Not all teams or GMs do too.
He went to high school near Cleveland, and it’s unlikely that the Cavs will have front office stability a few years from now. (I like Altman, but Dan Gilbert tends to lose patience.)
So there’s a fit.