After his superstar player, James Harden, fell short of capturing the NBA Most Valuable Player award, Daryl Morey feels the league could do away with awards, the Rockets general manager said to Ben Golliver of The Crossover.
“I don’t know if this is a good process,” Morey said. “The ones that are decided by players or executives or media, they all have their strengths and weaknesses. I honestly don’t think there’s a good process. You could argue for eliminating the awards altogether. I don’t really see a good way to do it that doesn’t have major issues. I like clean answers. If there’s not going to be a set criteria and there’s going to be issues with how it’s structured, for me it might be better to not have it.”
Morey made frequent mention to the “criteria” used to select the NBA MVP. Whether it be personal success, a historically great season, or team performance, Morey believes it doesn’t lead to a uniform result. For instance, Stephen Curry won the MVP over Harden because the Warriors had a better record, and if the same guidelines were used, Harden should have won the award over Russell Westbrook this year.
In any case, Morey’s comments have been received negatively by most of the basketball world and players are still scheduled to be rewarded with hardware for having outstanding seasons.
Below you can find additional news from around the basketball world:
- Tom Haberstroh of ESPN examines nine different NBA teams that could be future super teams in a lengthy piece that well worth the read. Haberstroh compares super teams from years’ past, including the 2008 Celtics, 2011 Heat, and the 2014 Warriors and explains how teams can follow their blueprints to success.
- For ESPN Insider (subscription required and recommended), Kevin Pelton hands out grades to Western Conference teams for their transactions and transgressions this offseason.
- While an expansion with new teams added to the NBA is unlikely, Steve Kyler of Basketball Insiders writes that relocation of current teams is more plausible. Kyler specifically mentions the Pelicans and how they could end up moving from New Orleans.
- Free agent point guard Ty Lawson has signed with veteran agent Larry Fox, per Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Daily (via Twitter). Hoops Rumors previously noted that Fox was representing Lawson, who seemed bound for China at one point this offseason.
I think someone else should be the MVP, therefore, there should not be an MVP at all, because only my opinion is valid. Got it.
I agree Westbrook is all about his numbers but Kawhi Harden Giannis and Lebron didn’t care they just wanted to win and help his teammates improve which Westbrook did not do but still won MVP somehow
Giannis and Kawhi are truly the only two players, out of that select group, that do not purposefully rack up their stats…Nor do I believe those two even really pay attention to their stats until someone else mentions it to them, or until after each game…
If you watch and pay close attention to the other players you mentioned, then you will notice that they all go for little, cheap extra assists here and there, or they will tell their teammates to fall back and then allow themselves to get uncontested rebounds, etc. …It is all extremely annoying, but terribly obvious alot of guys for that..
100%
WB made that team a playoff team. Without him they’d finish in last place. He can’t help that some people are front runners.
But you cannot deny that he did stat pad..His teammates allowed him to grab uncontested rebounds, etc.. Although he was successful at it.. no one truly got better around him.. Oladipo got worst playing with Westbrook..
Oladipo wasn’t that good anyway though
Morey is a smart guy and great GM but I don’t agree with him here.
The thing people miss with OKC’s game plan is that letting Westbrook grab a defensive rebound meant they were effectively in fast break mode each time down the floor; wings ran to the corners and the bigs established deep post position. Without that small advantage the Thunder were stuck in a half-court offense which wasn’t their strong suit. Pick and roll with Adams, posting Kanter was about all they had – hence the unfortunate number of long threes Westbrook shot.
Hopefully with PG they can have a bit more motion offense, making them less predictable than last season.
I totally agree with that. It’s different than KD or Draymond getting a defensive board who are good at running the floor or Kawhi or LeBron. These guys are all capable ballhandlers.
If you read the super team article I honestly don’t think the writer understands how the cap works, but he wrote it with Bobby Marks… he writes that if Denver declines Jokic’s team option it gives them more cap flexibility because he becomes an RFA. But they aren’t going to renounce him, so doesn’t that just give him a bigger cap hold and take up more space? There were a few other questionable things that I can’t recall as I write this. Can someone check the article and verify that I’m not crazy? Lol
Also Jokic was a second round pick so his option is dirt cheap, and he’d make a massive amount of money as an RFA and lose a year of team control. That wouldn’t make any sense right?
They’re in a tough spot with Jokic — if they pick up his team option, they’d have him at that dirt-cheap price for another year, but he’d also be an unrestricted free agent a year later. Many people think they’ll just turn down the option to make him restricted next year, since there’s no chance of him getting away as an RFA (even if it would make him more pricey in the short term).
Ohhh I didn’t realize he became a UFA if they picked up the option. Thanks Luke!
Agree with Morey. The criteria for winning MVP is all over the road and should be done away with.
Pelicans Should Stay In New Orleans!
I think Harden should have won the first place.
“For instance, Stephen Curry won the MVP over Harden because the Warriors had a better record, and if the same guidelines were used, Harden should have won the award over Russell Westbrook this year.”
This is what Morey said, but it’s BS, and you really shouldn’t write it as if it’s a fact. To say that Curry winning MVP in ’16 was just because of the Warriors having the best record is a gross oversimplification. And furthermore, using that same criteria again, Harden would not have won. Someone on the Warriors would have.
The player on my team didn’t win, so they should get rid of the award. That’s like saying we didn’t win the title, so there should be no finals.