For those of you who haven’t taken a look at Richard Justice’s bizarrely revealing interview with Rockets general manager Daryl Morey in yesterday’s Houston Chronicle, here are a few choice bits from the piece:

“We’ve got to get something done, or it’s not good,” Morey said. “If I’m a fan, I’m waiting for us to get someone.”

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“I’m not optimistic,” he says, “but I don’t think I ever am at this point in the process. Everyone is playing poker, trying to get the best deal they can.”

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“We’re pushing hard,” Morey says, “but I don’t have anything right now. I know that’s not what you want to hear.”

Maybe none of what Morey reveals entirely shocks the reader (and please be sure to take a look at the entire thing), but hearing this mere hours before the trade deadline does not exactly inspire confidence in a fanbase that, as Morey acknowledges, frantically desires a move to improve the look of this roster stuffed with complementary parts to a star that doesn’t exist. None of the proposed trades have seemed particularly sexy (Omer Asik and Hasheem Thabeet could both be very good, but their names and games do not exactly knocks any trousers off), and as the deadline nears, even those possibilities appear to be evaporating.

All is not lost; there are still several hours before trade season ends in the world of professional basketball, but more importantly, not losing any significant assets for next-to-nothing in return bodes well for a summer that, if it ever takes place, figures to be far kinder to an enterprising GM with endless flexibility and an urgency to move. Remember, making moves for the sake of making moves can handicap a team for as long as any sell-out move for a star, so even if he’s not saying what Houston devotees want to hear, let’s still all listen up. Morey might have something interesting to say come summer.