Houston Rockets
Daryl Morey says Rockets will rain threes, hints at pursuit of Andrew Bogut
The Rockets are embracing their offensive identity and will be trying to add an old foe to their roster.
Needless to say, Daryl Morey has been busy.
The Houston Rockets general manager acquired Lou Williams on Tuesday, then dealt off K.J. McDaniels to the Nets and Tyler Ennis to the Lakers in deals designed to bolster the team’s position in the coming buyout market.
Morey made the rounds after the trade deadline, speaking on both The Vertical’s live broadcast and local radio SportsTalk 790 to discuss the team’s new moves.
Morey said the Rockets weren’t looking to upgrade inside at the trade deadline, but they have something in mind in the buyout market, which was a clear hint that they have their eyes on Andrew Bogut, who is expected to be bought out by Philadelphia.
“We like our bigs rotation,” said Morey. “We really like what Clint (Capela), Nene and Montrezl (Harrell) bring. It wasn’t a big priority (but) there are some players out there in the buyout market.”
Morey said the Rockets will “have the most money of all the contenders” heading into the buyout period, and ESPN’s Marc Stein says the Rockets indeed will pursue Bogut.
The Houston Rockets intend to pursue Andrew Bogut — but not Deron Williams — in the upcoming buyout market, league sources tell ESPN.
— Marc Stein (@ESPNSteinLine) February 23, 2017
As for the Williams deal, according to Morey, the Rockets are embracing who they are with this move, and that’s a three-point shooting and attacking offensive team.
“The top teams in the West, if we beat them, it’s going to be in a barrage of three-pointers,” said Morey. “We feel like we have a great window with (James) Harden and the players we have around him. We think Lou (Williams) is a big part of it. Having him next year is a big factor for us.”
Without mentioning Corey Brewer by name, Morey was pretty clear that he didn’t fit the team’s style.
“One of our big weaknesses up to this point of the season was we did have some folks that weren’t really fitting in terms of the shooting and Lou fits that in a big, big way,” said Morey. “Having shooters around (Harden) at all times, which we will have now, really upgrades his ability to operate in space. We’re really excited about how Lou will upgrade us from that perspective.”
Morey also addressed the talk that Patrick Beverley’s name was rumored to be out there.
“Pat is the heart and soul of our team. He’s got a toughness, an edge and (is) playing unbelievable,” said Morey. “Teams maybe falsely thought with Lou coming in that made Pat more available. That was wrong.”