No one had seen it coming! ESPN and The Athletic announce that Daryl Morey has just stepped down as GM of the Rockets. It’s a real earthquake in Houston since Morey was the strong man of the franchise for thirteen years. According to ESPN, it was Morey, like Mike D’Antoni for that matter, who took the initiative to leave, and the two parties would have agreed to an amicable termination since his contract ended in 2024.
A start that comes at the worst time since Houston still does not have a coach, and he has just blown Doc Rivers by the Sixers. Not to mention, Russell Westbrook’s arrival ultimately ended in failure, and the franchise’s finances are in the red for several seasons. As a direct consequence of this departure, Rafael Stone, until then vice-president, becomes GM, while Eli Witus will be his assistant.
Under Morey’s thumb, the Rockets remain on eight playoff appearances in a row, and it’s the longest running streak in the NBA. A series that does not make us forget many failures since the franchise has never managed to reach the Finals despite thunderous exchanges with the arrivals of Chris Paul then Russell Westbrook.
From Morey, we will also remember this tweet of support for the demonstrators in Hong Kong. It was a year ago, and he had caused a diplomatic crisis between the NBA and China, but also caused the cancellation of contract between the Rockets and Chinese partners.
| Tirs | Rebounds | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Tirs | 3pts | LF | Off | Def | Until | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Fte | Pts |
| James Harden | 68 | 36.5 | 44.4 | 35.5 | 86.5 | 1.0 | 5.5 | 6.6 | 7.5 | 4.5 | 1.8 | 0.9 | 3.3 | 34.3 |
| Russell Westbrook | 57 | 36.0 | 47.2 | 25.8 | 76.3 | 1.8 | 6.2 | 7.9 | 7.0 | 4.5 | 1.6 | 0.4 | 3.5 | 27.2 |
| Eric Gordon | 36 | 28.2 | 36.9 | 31.7 | 76.6 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 2.0 | 1.5 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 1.9 | 14.4 |
| Clint Chapel | 39 | 32.8 | 62.9 | 0.0 | 52.9 | 4.3 | 9.5 | 13.8 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 2.6 | 13.9 |
| Jeff Green | 18 | 22.6 | 56.4 | 35.4 | 85.7 | 0.6 | 2.3 | 2.9 | 1.7 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.5 | 2.4 | 12.2 |
| Robert Covington | 22 | 33.0 | 39.2 | 31.5 | 80.0 | 1.2 | 6.8 | 8.0 | 1.5 | 1.4 | 1.6 | 2.2 | 3.3 | 11.6 |
| Danuel House | 63 | 30.4 | 42.7 | 36.3 | 81.1 | 0.9 | 3.3 | 4.2 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 2.1 | 10.5 |
| Ben Mclemore | 71 | 22.8 | 44.4 | 40.0 | 74.6 | 0.3 | 1.9 | 2.2 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.2 | 2.2 | 10.1 |
| Austin Rivers | 68 | 23.4 | 42.1 | 35.6 | 70.3 | 0.4 | 2.2 | 2.6 | 1.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 1.9 | 8.8 |
| P.j. Tucker | 72 | 34.3 | 41.5 | 35.8 | 81.2 | 1.6 | 5.1 | 6.6 | 1.6 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 3.2 | 6.9 |
| Starts Carroll | 9 | 17.2 | 43.2 | 25.0 | 77.3 | 0.6 | 2.1 | 2.7 | 1.6 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 1.3 | 6.0 |
| Chris Clemons | 33 | 8.8 | 40.1 | 34.6 | 90.9 | 0.1 | 0.8 | 0.9 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 4.9 |
| Isaiah Hartenstein | 23 | 11.6 | 65.7 | 0.0 | 67.9 | 1.3 | 2.7 | 3.9 | 0.8 | 0.7 | 0.4 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 4.7 |
| Gary Clark | 18 | 11.8 | 39.0 | 35.3 | 85.7 | 0.6 | 1.6 | 2.2 | 0.7 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.4 | 1.2 | 3.9 |
| Bruno Caboclo | 8 | 6.5 | 50.0 | 25.0 | 100.0 | 0.8 | 1.2 | 2.0 | 0.2 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 1.0 | 3.5 |
| Ryan Anderson | 2 | 7.0 | 28.6 | 20.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.5 | 3.5 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 2.5 |
| Thabo Sefolosha | 41 | 10.6 | 40.7 | 27.8 | 37.5 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 2.3 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 2.2 |
| Michael Frazier | 13 | 11.1 | 24.1 | 17.4 | 64.3 | 0.1 | 0.7 | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.4 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 1.7 | 2.1 |
| Luc Mbah A Moute | 3 | 8.2 | 40.0 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.3 | 0.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.7 |
| Tyson Chandler | 26 | 8.4 | 77.8 | 0.0 | 46.2 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 2.5 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 1.3 |
| William Howard | 2 | 6.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 |
