FanHouse Daryl Morey

The biggest free agent on the market this year just got inked. Kind of. Though he wasn't going anywhere, Daryl Morey's been working without a contract since the end of last season. And today, the Houston Chronicle reports, the Rockets have finalized a deal that will keep him with the team through 2013.

So given the new timeline for Morey and his prior success, what are the odds Morey nabs an Executive of the Year award by the time his next contract is up?

In our inaugural edition of the NBA Twitter mailbag, we've got some interesting topics to get us started. How will Shaq's ego fit in Cleveland? Is Kevin Durant getting the attention he deserves? And what's left on the Celtics' summer to-do list?

These questions and more, answered for you below.

LAS VEGAS -- Rockets general manager Daryl Morey said the team isn't quite there yet in terms of making an announcement regarding the prognosis for center Yao Ming and his left foot.

But what he will say unequivocally is that his team needs a center, and he's going to go out and get one.

"I think we're probably going to have to trade for a center," Morey said after watching the Rockets beat the Warriors 73-69 in an NBA Summer League game. "That will probably be the plan at this point. There are a few free agents that might be later fill-ins, but I think most likely we'll address some of our needs through trades."

The Rockets have targeted Orlando center Marcin Gortat as a desirable pick-up. Whether this had been the plan all along, or whether Yao Ming's injury has forced management's hand(s), it doesn't matter. It only matters that the Rockets are seriously serious about landing Gortat, who caddied for Dwight Howard this season.

How serious? Right around midnight, Houston GM Daryl Morey posted a message on Facebook and Twitter imploring Rockets fans to tell Gortat how much they love him.

A true minor league system, something similar to what has allowed Major League Baseball to thrive, has seemed a natural for the NBA for years.

Perhaps the league with the most underdeveloped young talent is on the brink of landmark movement.

The Houston Rockets announced Monday they are entering into a single-affiliation partnership with their NBA D-League squad, the Rio Grande Valley Vipers, making them the first such NBA team to do so. Under this agreement, the Rockets will take over the Vipers basketball operations, while Alonzo Cantu and his local ownership group in Rio Grande Valley will continue to oversee the business operation. Rockets GM Daryl Morey will oversee the Vipers basketball operations starting this upcoming season.

UPDATE: Rockets doctor Tom Clanton confirms report.

Dire news out of Houston, if reputable Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! has the right information. The Rockets announced last week that Yao Ming would remain out "indefinitely" -- in other words, the broken foot suffered in the playoffs that was set to be healed by now has not healed. But there's plenty of time until opening night, right?

Maybe not enough time. Woj reports the prognosis could have Yao on the bench for all of 2009-10, and there's a chance his basketball career is completely finished. The info comes from general managers who have talked trade with Houston GM Daryl Morey over the past weeks.

HOUSTON -- Unexpected achievement in the face of incredible adversity isn't quite how the Houston Rockets saw their playoff run unfolding.

But that was certainly the theme that carried the Rockets, minus injured stars Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady, to within one game of reaching the Western Conference finals this season. One amazing night by McGrady or just the presence of aging Dikembe Mutombo in the paint might have been all the Rockets needed to avoid a Game 7 Semifinals in Los Angeles and overcome the Lakers.

It wasn't meant to be, but still it was enough to re-energize a franchise that seemed in serious trouble a few weeks ago because of it's often-injured stars and nondescript supporting cast. The Rockets hadn't been out of the first round of the playoffs in 12 years prior to this season.

The proclamation Moneyball had arrived in the NBA when the Rockets shockingly hired non-traditional Daryl Morey as the heir to the franchise's general manager throne was premature. Baseball is endlessly different than basketball, and while strides are being made (and hotly debated) among fans, real progress on analytical side is less prolific than in MLB.

AOL Sports' Randall Kim talked to Morey about why that is.

"In baseball it just turns out that the sport lends itself to those decisions being driven more by objective evidence," continues Morey. "But in basketball, given the high level of interaction between the players and the play - you know, did a guy make the shot because there was a good pick, or because there was bad defense, or because the guy's a good shooter? - it's very hard to isolate those things, so you need to blend (scouts and statistical analysis) a lot more, and traditional scouting is something (the Rockets) value highly."

Houston fans should have lots of hope with this guy, given both his early track record (bringing in Mike James, Luis Scola and Jackie Butler cheaply) and his obvious grasp of reality. Billy Beane has had (varying levels of) success because he understands the balance. (And Theo Epstein has had even more success because he understands the balance and has more money than God.)

And we have our first blockbuster trade of the offseason: the Houston Chronicle reports the Rockets have acquired Argentine power forward Luis Scola and fellow big dude Jackie Butler from San Antonio in exchange for Vassilis Spanoulis, a future second round pick, and cash.

Scola is the best big outside of the NBA by a fair margin. He was the Euroleague Spanish League MVP this year (and a former Euroleague MVP, thanks etru1927) and he was a huge part of Argentina's 2004 gold in Athens. He's an absolute stud by all accounts, he's 27, and he's going to be cheap for a few seasons.

We should never doubt R.C. Buford and Gregg Popovich... but I'm stunned they made this deal. Scola wasn't in their plans, given the melding of Fabricio Oberto in the rotation and the continued brilliance of Tim Duncan. But you'd think they could pull more in return than a guard who has sworn off the NBA and next year's #50something pick. As I said, Scola is a beast. His rights had to have been valuable.

Even more, dealing with Houston is dangerous. Does Rick Adelman really need one more weapon at his disposal? San Antonio's getting cocky... and it could haunt them in times to come.

The last 12 months have been fairly volatile on the NBA executive front. A half-dozen teams have seen overhauls in their front offices. With the turnover comes three exceptionally promising names, all considered future superstars of the NBA hustle. None were All-Star players, none have famous fathers, all rely heavily on quantitative analysis. And because I'm completely unoriginal, here is the NBA's 'Stat Pack':

Kevin Pritchard, Portland, age 40. Played in 92 NBA games. Four-year starter at Kansas, where he played under assistant coaches Gregg Popovich and R.C. Buford. Scout for Pop and Buford in San Antonio for two seasons. Known to use extensive statistical databases and the guys behind PROTRADE as consultants. Completely destroyed everyone else in the 2006 draft thanks to massive balls; will destroy almost everyone this year thanks to ping pong balls.

Daryl Morey, Houston, age 35. Hired by Houston as assistant GM in 2006, took over GM duties in 2007. Has an MBA from MIT. Spent three years with Boston developing analytic tools used in scouting. Considered the major force behind the Gay-for-Battier trade and the Van Gundy-for-Adelman swap. The first real Moneyball GM in the NBA. Possibly primed for a shakeup around Yao and McGrady this summer, which could put Morey's first mark on the NBA. Hero to geeky fanboys everywhere.

Sam Presti, Seattle, age 30. Rose quickly through San Antonio's front office, becoming assistant general manager under Buford in 2005. Hired by Seattle last week. At least 25 men in the Puget Sound area have already proposed to him. If Presti fails, it will be one of the biggest NBA surprises of this decade. First decision? Find a coach. Next? Draft Kevin Durant.

(All photos by Getty Images.)