Daryl Morey explains the Houston Rockets' turnaround

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• “We knew that we weren’t going to be a team that could add talent through the draft and our ability to make trades [was hampered] because we didn’t have that period where we could build up a lot of things that would allow us to trade for big-time players, so free agency was going to be the big tool for us, especially in a city like Houston,” Morey told HoopsHype. “Having a bad year like last year was tough, so our main focus was getting back to being a top playoff contender. That meant, this offseason, we needed to pursue free agents who we felt were going to be a great fit. We wanted to get ourselves to be a home-court level Western Conference playoff team and then hopefully have a deep postseason run, which would set us up to be a destination in free agency down the road as well. Obviously, 34-14 puts us right there with the contenders, so we’re ahead of schedule. A lot of guys are playing incredibly good basketball and it doesn’t always happen that way, so it’s been a special year so far.

• “We always felt that we played our best ball when he had a spacing four, like Ryan, and someone next to James who could create, like Eric. The fact that we were able to get them in free agency, we were thrilled – even though, at the time, people didn’t seem to think those were the right signings for us. But we were pretty confident they were. … It definitely came together quicker than anyone really expected. We were obviously coming off of a tough year and added some players who we always felt were good fits and a coach who we’ve always been interested in potentially having as our head coach, but the speed in which it came together was definitely surprising.”

• “There wasn’t a superstar available, so we knew we’d have to take the money from the CBA and the money freed up from Dwight choosing Atlanta to add to the team,” Morey said. “If you can’t add a superstar-level player, the next best thing is to add players who perfectly fit what you’re trying to do. That’s what we went for. Nenê was a huge bonus. He was looking for a winning situation because he hadn’t been in one in awhile. He really wanted to come to a winning team and we were fortunate he was available for us. With the remaining money we had, we signed him. He took every last dollar and we are happy to give it to him.”

• “You can’t be 34-14 without a good defense,” Morey said. “We’re about average, and we’d like to be better. I think we can get close to the Top 10 and, if we do that, we should be right there competing for the championship."

• “James is the most motivated player to improve that I’ve ever had,” Morey said. “Starting in year one, his priority in his first offseason with us four years ago was to improve his right hand. He came in and his right hand was dramatically improved. This offseason, he really said, ‘I’m going to take a step forward as a guy who is more vocal, who is leading the team.’ With Dwight choosing Atlanta, he knew he had to step up. He talked to different people around the league and really took a step forward this year as a leader. That was a big priority for him.”

• Morey thinks Harden has done enough to solidify himself as the MVP frontrunner at this point. “It’s pretty easy,” Morey said. “Usually, the MVP comes from a greater-than-50-win team and is the most important player on that team. What he’s doing is incredible in terms of the amount of points he’s putting up either through creating for himself or others. It’s very efficient creating too. We have one of the best offenses of all-time, and he’s generating the vast majority of it. He’s generating 60 to 70 percent of the scoring. I think that makes [the MVP vote] pretty simple – especially since, at the same time, we have a very solid defense that is allowing us to win games when our offense is off.”

• “We’ve always admired what he did,” Morey said of D’Antoni. “Every time we had a coaching availability, he was already booked so we were always sort of admiring his ability to coach from afar. “I wish the Coach of the Year voters could be with us every day, starting with day one when we hired him. They’d be able to see the groundwork he put in place, the great assistants he hired, the offseason communication with the players and then the tone he set in training camp. He gave all of the players confidence that within this system, they could each have a career-year. Then, showing it in our first few games was incredible. Like James’ [case for MVP], it’s pretty easy to make the case for Mike as Coach of the Year. He’s running the offense, which is one of the best of all-time. I don’t know if you need much more than that.”

• “If you look at the teams where [D’Antoni] didn’t win a lot of games, the players didn’t really fit and there wasn’t a lot of organizational buy-in,” Morey said. “I think the big difference here is that from our owner, Mr. [Les] Alexander, to myself to Coach D’Antoni to James Harden to the other players, there’s an alignment of how we want to play and what kind of players we need to have. That actually helps a lot. I don’t know if it equals a 34-14 start, but it does help a lot when you have a top-down commitment to how we want to play and the players we want to get within that.”

• As this year’s Feb. 23 trade deadline approaches, Morey has a tough decision to make since the Rockets are playing so well. Does the team’s success mean he should stand pat, or should he go all-in on this group and make a trade that could push Houston over the top? “We will be less likely to make a move this year, but I have to always listen – as you don’t get many opportunities with a team this good,” Morey said. “If we do any moves, they will likely be for depth.”