In the annual balancing between finding the best player available and one who will most likely fill holes, Morey has no difficulty assessing the importance of fitting a player's talents with the Rockets' needs.

That would be zero, or near zero, for 26, Morey said of the emphasis placed on need.

"We're a team that's a few solid moves away versus years away from being very competitive," Morey said. "Given that, the player we pick there is more for the future than for the now."

Heading into his first draft as Rockets general manager, Morey said he will not zero in on a power forward to take Juwan Howard's roster spot, a point guard to develop should Vassilis Spanoulis never come back from Greece or a center to eventually succeed Dikembe Mutombo as Yao Ming's backup.

He said he is simply looking for the best player he can find. Coach Rick Adelman can work on the rotation later.

With that in mind, Morey has several deals in the works in which he could move up if the right players those the Rockets want more than a team dealing ¡ª slip at least to the second half of the first round of the draft on Thursday.

"If you get to 18 to 20, there's usually some sliders," Morey said. "Danny Granger, Gerald Green, Jameer Nelson in recent years. Guys who should have gone high and slipped farther than they should have in many

"So at 18 to 20, there's more value there because you're potentially going to pick up a top 10 level talent. At 26, generally those guys who slide are cleaned up by the early 20s. And by 26, there's more normalcy, and you're in a different tier.

"We have some opportunities to move up. We've done our draft work. We're very prepared for this draft. I've spent a lot of time on (scenarios to) trade up, trade down, trade in (to the second round). A lot of different discussions have filled several days. Often, they'll happen on that night because your guy is there, or their guy is gone."

Morey also has a pool of players who he believes could produce at least one prospect that he would happily take with the 26th pick.

That would likely be a player with an outstanding, definable talent, such as shooters Morris Almond of Rice, Marco Belinelli of Italy or Nick Fazekas of Nevada; a shot-blocker/finisher such as Sean Williams of Boston College; or a low-post presence in Glen Davis.

But if things fall right, the Rockets also could find a player fall just enough from a pool of Colorado State forward/center Jason Smith, Vanderbilt forward Derrick Byars, Georgia Tech forward Thaddeus Young or Spanish guard Rudy Fernandez.

"Generally the history of the draft is as you're (drafting) later, the guy has to have an elite skill to get them on the floor, just to get them a chance to play," Morey said. "There have been some all-around guys that have been picked later and done fine. But it's generally more the case you need some elite skill, rebounding, defending, shooting so a coach says, 'I have to get him on the floor somehow.'

"Then they have to develop their game around that. But if you have an all-around guy, and he gets stuck behind somebody else, he never gets minutes and three years later, he's gone."

The Rockets also could be looking to add a second-rounder as they did last season when they bought the Magic's second-round choice to take Lior Eliyahu. The Bucks have the Rockets' second-round pick, the 55th of the draft, from the Rockets' 2005 trade of Reece Gaines for Mike James.

"A team that is picking well can probably find somebody into the mid-40s, I would think, that has a chance to contribute," Morey said. "If the right player is available, we will try to pick up another second-round pick.

Whether moving up, back or adding a pick, Morey said he has done the legwork on several deals. But either way, he said the right player will be defined as the best player, regardless of position or style.

If only everything else was as clear.