Daryl Morey explains why Rockets are reluctant to add a big man

Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey provided an explanation of why we shouldn’t expect the Rockets to sign a big man.

It seems like it’s been forever since the Houston Rockets last stepped onto an NBA floor, as it’s now been over three months since we’ve last seen the Rockets in action. As a result, the Rockets’ small-ball approach hasn’t been discussed of late, as it seems many have forgotten about Daryl Morey and Mike D’Antoni’s innovative scheme.

If there’s one group that hasn’t forgotten about the uncommon strategy, it’s certainly Rockets fans. This population has long been clamoring for Morey and the Rockets to add a big man, both after the arrival of Robert Covington and now.

But in spite of Rockets fans urging for the team to add a big man, we shouldn’t exactly expect that to happen, as explained by Morey himself. Morey recently provided his thoughts on the subject-at-hand and had the below to say on the Houston Rockets adding a big man.

Rockets GM Daryl Morey explains why the Rockets aren’t targeting a big man.

“We like having skilled players here in Houston…With bigs it’s tough sometimes because they don’t have the ball-handling skills and they don’t have the shooting skills.

The more skill you get on the floor the better your offense is. Defensively you’ve got to work to create a good defense within whatever players you’ve got out there.”

Morey essentially explains the epitome of positionless basketball, as he cited the desire for skill players over traditional big men. And understandably so, as forward Robert Covington (who was acquired in exchange for center Clint Capela) averaged 2.5 blocks during his second stint with the Houston Rockets, which would have been the equivalent of second-best in the league this season if maintained over the course of the year.

It would seem like having a big man would be advantageous for James Harden, who benefited from having Clint Capela as a lob option. But the benefit of going five-out was to give Russell Westbrook more space, which proved to be helpful for the 2016-17 MVP and two-time scoring champ, as he posted 27.5 points on a field goal percentage of 47.4 percent, which was a career-high.

This particular subject is more important now than usual because the NBA has announced that it will allow teams to have expanded rosters upon the league’s restart. This has caused speculation of which players the Rockets will pursue, and many Rockets fans have been hopeful that Morey and the Rockets will sign a big man with the additional roster flexibility.

But while we can all hope and dream, we shouldn’t exactly hold our breath, based on Morey’s words.