LAS VEGAS – Rockets coach Kevin McHale could understand the decisions the Rockets made. He was a general manager before he was a coach. Big picture was once his concern.

As a coach, he has to be concerned with the next game, and though that next game is months away, on Tuesday he was clearly still dealing with having just watched three players from his already short rotation leave.

The Rockets brought in Trevor Ariza to replace Chandler Parsons and Joey Dorsey to fill the backup center void left by Omer Asik. But with Jeremy Lin, Parsons and Asik heading out, McHale faced another season of significant retooling, especially after the decision not to match the offer sheet to keep Parsons.

“Well, I mean, hey I understand kind of why we did it,” McHale said. “I know they’re talking about flexibility. I like Chandler. He’s a big part of what we did and what we do. I’m going to miss having him, but that’s part of the business I guess. We got to replace not only Chandler, but we have to replace (Omer) Asik and we have to replace Jeremy (Lin) so we have a lot of work to do.

“We’ll see who we get. We have to sign players. We’re just going to keep grinding away. And we’re going to go out and play. I like Trevor. I think he can help us. He shot the 3-ball well last year. We’re going to need him to do that again. Defense. Leadership. We need some experience.”

The Rockets’ additions – Ariza, Dorsey and Jeff Adrien – since losing out on Chris Bosh and choosing not to keep parsons have seemed about adding defense and toughness, qualities McHale had hoped to upgrade. But the changes will require more adjustments to a revised rotation.

“We’ll have four or five guys in our rotation that weren’t in it last year, but I guess that’s part of it,” McHale said. “I think everybody would want continuity. Continuity helps everything, but you play the hand you’re dealt. Right now, we’re not going to have the continuity we’d like.”

The backlash was about more than a loss of continuity. When Rockets general manager Daryl Morey arrived at Cox Pavilion for Tuesday’s Summer league and several Rockets fans called out to him, he said, “You’re still talking to me?”

“Obviously, we all have our favorite players,” Morey said. “It’s understandable. Anytime a great player like Chandler leaves the franchise, it’s very tough for everybody.”

He insisted, however, that he believes the Rockets will be a better team heading into the next post-season than they were last season, citing the growth of young players and roster moves that could come. Morey said when he used the term “step back” on Monday he meant that the Rockets had to “step back and look at our strategy from the time (Chris) Bosh gave us the no” as opposed to stepping back on the floor or in the standings.

In games, he said, the Rockets have to think re-evaluate, not on the floor.

“Dwight (Howard) and James (Harden) are in their prime,” Morey said. “While they’re in their prime we’re going all out. But we’re not going all out in a way that I think a lot of teams make a mistake. They say we’re going to assemble our team by July 10, have every piece in place. You need to always be able to address injuries, addresses weaknesses you didn’t anticipate. We’re constantly focused on continual improvement from players getting better from trade exceptions, mid-level (exception) to improve the team.

“We’re focused on the playoffs. We’re focused on making sure we don’t have an exit in the first round like we did last year. I feel strongly we’ll be stronger going into the playoffs this year than last year. “

Morey had little comment about Chandler Parsons saying that he was “offended” that Morey did not think he would be the third star he has sought other than to praise Parsons’ confidence as a key to his success and that feeling.

“I got nothing but love for Chandler,” Morey said. “I didn’t think Chandler was not good enough to be the last piece of our core. I thought other paths were just better.”

For McHale, the loss of Parsons was part of a series of departures that still stung.

“I hate to lose them,” McHale said. “Chandler was there when I got there. We enjoyed coaching him. Jeremy, I really enjoy Jeremy. He found his niche with us a little more. He got comfortable in how he wanted to play and how we wanted him to play. I think he really had a good year for us. We’ll miss them both. “

Asked if the Rockets can be a better team entering next post-season than they were last off season, as Morey predicted, McHale said, “That’s our goal; get homecourt and make a run.”