This is an excerpt from a story by ESPN's Marc Stein about the Lin trade. Recent sources have spelled it out for him. My own comments follow Stein's.
"Given our understanding of where things were," Morey said recently, "we felt like we were 95 percent-plus to potentially having the best team in the league. There was nothing promised, but I did believe [Bosh] was coming in almost every scenario except the one that happened at the last minute [Miami trumping Houston's offer with a five-year max]."
And that's why, shortly after LeBron announced to the world he was rejoining the Cavs, Houston agreed to trade guard Jeremy Lin to the Lakers. The Rockets were still only negotiating with Bosh at that point but, having already struck a deal on draft night to tradeOmer Asik to the New Orleans Pelicans, went ahead with the Lin trade before securing Bosh's commitment because (A) L.A. wouldn't wait any longer and (B) sources say that trading Lin to the Philadelphia 76ers would have cost Houston multiple future first-round picks as opposed to the solitary first-rounder the Lakers were seeking in return for absorbing Lin's contract. The Rockets, in other words, couldn't afford to let the Lakers move on without Lin if they wanted to create enough cap space to sign Bosh."
In other word Wonder Boy Morey panicked.
His obsession with a three-star lineup has set Rockets up to slide out of contention and eventually have to rebuild. He says he has two cornerstones. Harden is not a cornerstone. Cornerstones are leaders, team players. Harden is an excellent gunner. Period. Howard's back issues will flare up again.
To get the Lakers to agree to the trade, Morey also gave them a future first round pick and a second round draft pick in 2015. Surprised Morey didn't throw in season tickets to Dodgers games.
Morey's days of being viewed as a Wunderkind are over. He just doesn't get that putting three star names on your roster equals championship. You need stars willing to sacrifice for the team, like Bosch did when LeBron came to Miami. You need stars that aren't selfish. (Scratch Harden's name off). Morey had the perfect model for building a franchise just 197.1 miles away in San Antonio. But he has no idea that you have to build a team with character, a team where the pieces fit together and the chemistry is strong.
Fact is the Rockets had a foundation to win with, and could have added more pieces and been a title contender instead of a one-and-done playoffs team. With Parsons and Lin, they had potential All-Stars. Two guys that are unselfish and make everybody around them better. But Morey was impatient. An impatient GM makes impulsive moves. Like sending Lin to L.A. without first knowing he had Bosch locked down. Morey has said that if he knew he wouldn't get Bosch, then he would have kept Lin. Had he shown some patience and been a bit cautious, Lin would still be a Rocket. Whew. I guess we Lin fans owe Morey a thanks for that.
Tell me Daryl, how do you win a championship with a backcourt of Harden and Pat Beverly? Probably the weakest backcourt in the league, especially in the guard-loaded Western Conference. Harden can't guard anybody, Beverly is a very modest scorer, and not the kind of creative passing guard that makes teams wary of him.
The Wunderkind also blew it on Parsons, who said recently his agent asked the Rockets early in the negotiating process for four years at $12 million. Morey thought Parsons would not get even $12 million from another team so he let him seek offers. In other words, Morey crunched the analytic numbers on Parsons and undervalued him. That's what happens when you see players as numbers.
Bottom Line?
Morey rolled the dice and crapped out. End of discussion.