Nearly 24 hours after the NBA’s trade deadline had passed, an assemblage of media gathered at Houston’s Toyota Center with practice inching closer.



On the far end of the court, two men could be seen engaging in brief pleasantries. One was Troy Payne, an Adidas ambassador and close friend/business partner of James Harden. The other was Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, here for a rare practice appearance.



As he started his walk to reporters, his notable change in appearance was made even more clear. The usually clean-cut Morey now brandished a full beard. Not on par with Harden’s, but a beard nonetheless.



He explained that it came to fruition in the thick of Harden’s now 29-game streak of scoring 30 points or more, and he doesn’t plan on cutting it until it ends. “It’s the unguardable tour,” Morey joked.



His slightly disheveled hair resembled someone who hadn’t had a good night’s rest in a...