Feigen: Rockets offered the Nets their draft picks back at the deadline for the Suns’ Draft Picks

So were we targeting Bridges, or Sun’s picks, or both?

 

From Brooklyn Nets Reddit:

There's going to be a lot of anger towards Sean Marks around this pick, and frankly, I don't blame you if you are angry, I'm angry too. I'm angry at Joe Tsai and Sean for panicking, first with the trade for Harden, then for trading him to the 76ers for another awful package. I'm disappointed we signed Cam Johnson to such a giant extension. A lot of people are angry over the supposed details of the trade talks with Houston at the deadline, though to me it's still very much unclear what offers were made, so I'm holding back my anger on that.

There's not much hope that the Nets become anything more than a bottom-seeded playoff team, cannon-fodder for first round sweeps or not even making the playoffs at all. I think Noah Clowney could potentially be a very good impact player (I’m not as sold as Cam Thomas as many of you are), but I fear we'll give Nic Claxton a mega deal that he (through no fault of his own) can't possibly live up to. And if we let him go, the Nets will only get worse while giving away their lottery picks in better drafts. Even if this draft, which has been pegged to be one of the worst in recent memory, yields a non-impact player at #3, it will still remain a crushing disappointment. Another bad day for Nets fans, in a lifetime of mostly bad seasons.

 

Marks could have had the third pick in the draft

 

Judging how well he's done, Stone IS the smartest person in the room

 

Draft picks
Jalen
Sengun
Jabari
Tari
Amen
Cam

Free Agents
Fred Vanvleet
Dillon Brooks
Aaron Holiday
Jock Landale

3rd pick in THIS year's draft

Stone DEFINITELY has his act together and you should be grateful he's master minded one of the brightest future's in the NBA. The Rockets are set for a long time

 

Really hope Stone is able to pick the right guy at #3, not sure who we would be trading the pick for at this point. Considering Brooklyn is rumored to be going after some big names in Mitchell and Ingram, there is no telling where the other draft picks we have from the will land. If they miss out on either or both of those guys, things are likely going to be pretty grim for them. Bridges has to want out at some point.

 

Dear Nets,

We will offer again, but this time JUST the 2024 pick for all of your PHX picks.

LOL@you
Houston Rockets

 

Have you had enough winning yet Brooklyn?

 

I don't think any of the remaining picks matter. It is only 2026 that we have their pick ('25 and '27 are swap options).

My position has always been that we win if just one year they fall into the lottery. It then gives the chance of a top 4 pick (2024 take a bow)

The Harden trade let us blow it up and tank, plus clear cap space for 2023. All of Green, Smith,Thompson, FVV, Brooks, Landale and Jeff Green are the 'focus return'. Tari and #3 in 2024 are the 'plus return'.

Without the trade we don't have any of them

 

The 2025 swap could also be pretty juicy as we can swap with Okc first and then swap with the Nets. So the net return will likely be Tari, #3, lotto pick and two low frps. Pretty good imo.

 

Stone definitely has some highly valuable skills for a front office exec, but there's also the realization that he has been extremely fortunate in the odds that he had to work with in regards to draft situation.

There's no reason to have believed at the time that the Nets who just signed Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden would just a few years later be bad enough to give the Rockets the #3 pick in the draft. Yes, Stone made the correct trade for Harden, but there's just no way in hell anyone would have guessed the Rockets already would have gotten this lucky.

Even taking this year's lotto out of the equation, before yesterday, Stone has still managed to luck out in the odds every single draft. Hell.. the Rockets were a coin flip away from almost not even being able to have drafted Jalen Green that year.

So yeah... Stone has some skills for sure (cap maneuvering, contract structuring, etc.) but the evidence that he struggles "off paper" in the personality/relationship department is pretty evident if you paid any attention at all in how he handled the Oladipo trade deadline, 2 Eric Gordon trade deadline situations, the Brook Lopez fakeout, and the JaSean Tate situation, etc. etc.... like the guy obviously has flaws. Most of which have to do with ego IMO... and there's circumstantial evidence that the guy does not have the relationships around the league with other GM's that I find to be valuable even if you obviously do not.

 

And yet, his relationships help him turn Ariza and Westbrook into Sengun, the Eric Gordon trade boosted a pick to get Cam despite all the times fans whined about other non-trades that would have likely ended up worse, he acquired a starting center for only 3 SRPs. and despite the Nets picks turning out luckier than they should have this early....going with the picks over Simmons was the right call.

The Rockets look like a completely rebuilt team despite being down 3 FRPs, 2 FRP swaps, and Harden being the only truly valuable player when he took over.

Maybe this group does end up topping out at a 41-win team. It isn't luck that the Rockets are in the current position with as many moves as Stone has made. I'm more critical on Stone's ability to get that 1A guy than on his relationships. I find it funny that it seems to me that Stone has been really focused on getting that 1A guy, but ended up with a very deep roster possibly without that guy.

 

You are making some major assumption based on some pretty flimsy observations.

 

Well if you knew what I do for a living you'd know why I'm critical of his approach. It's obvious to me his methodology for business engagement & relationship management. I'm a pretty unique critic because of what I do for a living with my professional services firm, and my specific role.

Take it for what you want, but I actually am in a position to evaluate, and offer critiques. I'm not in a position professionally to evaluate basketball x's and o's though even though I love the game, and have played all my life. So take it for what you want.

 

I'll also add that a methodology that my firm developed is being used by the US State Department and key to the process happening right now with Gaza, Israel, Jordan, Egypt, etc.

So this approach I'm alluding to is not novel, is widely utilized across the professional world at the highest and lowest levels, and the way that Stone operates isn't what is normally seen across high level negotiations that often have a public/media component. If it works for him in the future great... hell... Alex Jones makes alot of money selling snake oil supplements.....

However I can point directly at these very public negotiations and tell you that what Stone is doing here is generally viewed as well.... NOT the way to go about doing high level negotiations:

-Oladipo deadline trade
-2 years of EG trades at deadline
-Brooks fakeout signing/TyTy, Garuba cluster F
-Tate deadline trade/non trade

 

There is no such thing as luck as GM. He moved pieces, took on bad contracts & flipped assets to put us in a position to get lucky. Nothing different than anything Presti did, who's regarded as one of the better GM's. I've never heard anybody say Sam Presti or Danny Ainge was lucky like they do Stone. Very interesting

 

small forward is a need? Half our team is small forwards

 

Ime walked into the lottery like:



the Udoker has spoken!

 

I disagree. I remember some of us being optimistic at the time due to KDs previous injuries and Kyrie's craziness (and injury history). I kept saying give it time before judging the trade.

I didn't necessarily think the implosion would happen so quickly but between the Sixers trade and Nets trade, considering that Harden was being as toxic as possible to get the hell out of Houston, he sure made the right decision.

I been highly critical of Stone in the past, and I think a lot of what you mentioned is true regarding his ego and his lack of execution on certain trades, but he has us in a pretty damn good position. Call it luck, but look at teams that have been in the lottery for years (or lasted in the lottery for years) and you can't tell me Stone hasn't outperformed. Look at Sacramento and their double digit playoff drought, or the ineptitude that continues to happen in Charlotte, or mediocre a team like the Wizards has been for many years. I don't think a person can get that lucky and make the right choices, even if some are obvious (drafting Jabari for example).

 

Rox could be a team consisting collection of good young talent with a hopeless situation
Like the Pistons