Morey showing he gets it
June 24th, 2007by John
I know this article has nothing to do with Yao, but I’m impressed on Daryl Morey‘s perspective on the draft for being such a young GM.
Here are some quotes that shows he understands how a draft can stack up:
“If you get to 18 to 20 (first round pick), there’s usually some sliders,” Morey said. “Danny Granger, Gerald Green, Jameer Nelson in recent years. Guys who should have gone high and slipped farther than they should have in many
“So at 18 to 20, there’s more value there because you’re potentially going to pick up a top 10 level talent. At 26, generally those guys who slide are cleaned up by the early 20s. And by 26, there’s more normalcy, and you’re in a different tier.
“We have some opportunities to move up. We’ve done our draft work. We’re very prepared for this draft. I’ve spent a lot of time on (scenarios to) trade up, trade down, trade in (to the second round). A lot of different discussions have filled several days. Often, they’ll happen on that night because your guy is there, or their guy is gone.”
Later, Morey talks about the best way a player drafted late in the first or second round can stick around in the NBA…
“Generally the history of the draft is as you’re (drafting) later, the guy has to have an elite skill to get them on the floor, just to get them a chance to play,” Morey said. “There have been some all-around guys that have been picked later and done fine. But it’s generally more the case you need some elite skill, rebounding, defending, shooting so a coach says, ‘I have to get him on the floor somehow.’
“Then they have to develop their game around that. But if you have an all-around guy, and he gets stuck behind somebody else, he never gets minutes and three years later, he’s gone.”
Although he has been on the job for a short time, Morey has made a good trade for Mike James and has a good grasp of the dynamics of the draft. So for now, we can say Morey is definitely no moron. We’ll find out more on draft day this Thursday.