Morey is a motivated buyer. This is what he said in December:
"It's the only thing we think about," Morey said on ESPN Radio's The Ryen Russillo Show on Thursday. "I think I'm not supposed to say that, but we're basically obsessed with 'How do we beat the Warriors?'
"I don't know why you'd do anything else," Morey told The Ryen Russillo Show. "Like, what is the point of this league except winning a title? So we'd love to get the 1-seed, we'd love to win more games than any in Rockets history, which is 58. Those are all nice things, but frankly, we spend most of our time just figuring out how we might just knock the Warriors out in seven games. Because we're pretty sure that's what's going to define our season."
The Rockets are not expected to truly contend with the Warriors this year. GSW added Boogie, HOU lost Ariza and LRMAM, and added Melo. Chris Paul’s is on a massive deal, and at his age, his window is short. Adding Jimmy instantly puts the Warriors back in contention.
The problem is, if Harden, Paul, and Capella are off the table, they don’t have much to work with, Eric Gordon is decent, but with his injury history, he is probably a neutral contract at best. The Rockets need PJ Tucker more than the Wolves. This year’s pick is likely #29-30, and even a future pick is betting against Harden, Butler, Capella and Morey.
I admit Morey is a smarter than me at this, and he has surprised me with the Chris Paul trade, and the discount contract he got on Capella. However, I just don’t see where he can come up with value to outbid other teams if these are the trade pieces he has to work with.