Finally, It's Gotten Too Awkward To Ignore. And No, A Restraining Order Will Never Be Necessary.

Apparently, I'm one of those who has assembled and supported Daryl Morey's online "cult" following. Dave and Lee have done their fair share of Morey campaigning as well, perhaps to an even greater extent. Look at our blog's tagline as a reference if you weren't aware before. But this all begs a particular question that has been thrown around here in the comments (usually angry ones) for quite some time.

Are we, your humble Dream Shake writers (I think I can speak for everyone on this topic... I think) obsessed with one Daryl Morey?

I'll admit, it does seem like we are, at times. We give off this impression that literally every single thing that he does is "totally awesome" and is a resounding success. But does that mean that we're obsessed and smitten and dying to unearth every bit of information of the man's life? Do we, as one commenter so delicately put it, act as if Mr. Morey is our trusting father?

No. Absolutely not. That's disgusting.

I think there's a difference between believing in somebody, admiring their work, giving them the benefit of the doubt, agreeing with their decisions... and then flat-out obsessing over them like a TMZ photographer. None of us here obsess over Daryl Morey. We only "obsess" over the work that he has done as a general manager, because it is quite fantastic.

It's been well-publicized what we think of his transactions thus far. In short, we believe that Daryl generally gets the very most out of an opportunity to upgrade the Rockets' personnel without overdoing it (i.e. paying Joe Johnson $120 million). He also doesn't make obvious flubs, like Memphis did recently. Have a gander.

Remember, the Grizzlies traded their first round pick to get Ronnie Brewer from Utah this past season. Brewer then became a restricted free agent this offseason. But the Grizz inexplicably declined to give Brewer a qualifying offer. Like, they didn't do something that would cost them zero money. Instead, they signed Tony Allen, whose contract wound up being a whopping $1 million less per season than Brewer's deal with Chicago. The fact that Utah eventually used the draft pick they got from Memphis to snag Al Jefferson from Minnesota makes me want to slap Chris Wallace silly. This is an example of something that Daryl Morey simply would not do.

I mean, if we're talking about obsessing over somebody, do you really think a guy like Daryl Morey would top our list? Basketball aside, he comes off as quite the boring individual. And that's to his credit. Morey may be a wild, entertaining guy, but he doesn't show it - he keeps his public profile very business-like and keeps the focus of the media on the team and away from stupid off-field theatrics that have plagued other teams in the sporting world. This is a good thing.

That's it, really. We're not obsessed with Daryl Morey at all. We simply cannot find any faults with the overwhelming majority of his work. Like OAL, I'm tired of the whole "In Morey We Trust" thing. He's a general manager, not a general in the United States army.

Then again, as Daryl has reminded me himself on multiple occasions, it's not about the moves themselves, but rather how they work out on the court. Fact is, as impressive as the transactions have been, if things don't play out in our favor this season, my respect for Morey's work will likely come into question.

But let's hope that doesn't happen. Same goes for the over-the-top, "The Aristocrats"-inspired, sarcastic Morey-obsession jokes that are surely about to invade the comments section.