Rafael Stone Media Session after Rockets land #3 pick in 2024 NBA Draft

You want him to reveal secrets for opponents? Wtf.

 

I doubt that his so called opponents expect him to say anything more than that. Or think what he says would be relevant.

He could have told more about his time in France and it would have been more interesting.

 

I sure wouldn't be mad ....

 

A European Forward playing with Alperen Sengun passing to him. Wide open Shots.

 

That's off topic from what was asked off him so why would he even do that? Nobody asked him about his time in France y'all are just reaching.

Personally I like that he keeps it close to the vest unlike Morey who'd blab everything and then we'd all be disappointed cuz nothing happened. Him being in France means he was scouting the French prospects. Since we were projected to go to 9 I think that meant they thought highly of Tidjane Salaun.

 

I think the impromptu press conference went well. He does not want to tip his hand, giving away valuable information to other GM’s. Though He mentioned that his board is generally similar to other teams with a few exceptions here and there.

He did say that teams generally don’t trade top draft picks because they usually aren’t in a position to do so. However, The Rockets are deeper in the rebuilding, so he definitely put a we are open for business sign to the rest of the league that the pick is available.

 

I'm glad he said BPA is more important than a fit.

 

I agree, BPA over fit is the best way to go. One thing I was looking for in the chat was his demeanor, and I could sense there was a good sense of excitement to his improved draft positioning. I don’t think he was as ecstatic as the clutch chat room (Dave, Dakota, Manny, Bina Thug, etc were beaming with excitement after the Rockets snuck into the top 4), but Rafael Stone did have about 2 hours after the draft results to settle into his emotions.

As of right now there are as many as 6-8 guys who could be drafted in that # 3 spot. But, I’m glad the Rockets get to pick the guy they value most before the rest of the teams. Because I’m sure that from that group of guys, a few will make themselves standout more than others in pre draft workouts.

 

The School of Daryl Morey.

 

He doesn't have a lot of depth to his ideas or what he says. He does a great job using his staff and typically doesn't make rash decisions - but he is certainly not usually detail oriented - and I have worried and still do, that it is going to hurt us down the road.

Having said that - he really hasn't screwed up a major draft pick yet. Yeah - Barnes, Wagner and possibly Mobley may prove better, but Green was the guy most teams wanted at #2. The Amen Thompson pick and the Jabari Smith pick were both no-brainers and he also added Eason and Sengun too.

Some of it could be that he has had #2, #3, #3, #4, #16, #17, #20, #23, #24, #29 and #31 picks the last 4 years....

Those are some high draft picks - but he has overall drafted well with them.

 

Every single draft in the last decade (probably more, I just stopped at a decade) has a player frpm the top 3 that has made 1 or more All Star games

 

Stone has done a good job of playing the odds and making calculated risks. This season is the last season he has to where he can still make simple macro direction-influenced decisions about the team. That doesn't mean he won't make any hard decisions or make decisions earlier than he needs to, but it'll be really interesting to see his decisions next two years. So far, on a high level, I've agreed with him (ex: yeah trading KMJ for nothing was dumb, but not very consequential). Like you, I still have some reservations though

 

the one portion of this interview in which he did not hesitate going into depth though was during the shameless suck up of bossman tilfuk

 

That's actually really good for a change. Compared to a few years ago when he was raving about picking Banchero and talking about his real height without shoes (remember he didn't even work out with the magic but thankfully Stone was there to give the magic all the info). lol not saying that's why they drafted him, but sure as hell was pretty dumb to put stuff like that out there before making your pick. The only team that could afford to do that was the magic since they didn't have to worry about anyone else picking before them.

 

he said too much and got his player taken everytime. It's time to be deceptive

 

Couldn’t have said it better myself. Though, at the time many of us thought it was 4-D chess, and Stone was trying to lure the Magic into going for Bachero thus leaving Jabari Smith for the Rockets.

Now I’m not so sure that Jabari will eventually be the better player. But there is still hope that he ultimately will be head and shoulders overall better, as Smith took major strides in his sophomore campaign. Smith has a respectably high WAR at both defensive and offensive sides. Bachero leaves a lot to be desired on the defensive side, and sometimes that runs it course and fellas like that hit a glass ceiling, well short of title contention.

But Bachero would have been sweet on the Rockets nonetheless…

 

After watching Banchero in the playoffs this year the idea of Smith ever being better than him seems far fetched. But hey I sure do hope he keeps up the progress and becomes one of our anchors. And i also sure hope that his shot starts falling like we expected.

 

He hires the right evaluation/scouting guys, especially for the draft. He hired all those stepien guys a few years ago and has kept them and obviously listened to them. He seems to put a lot of trust in those guys and is willing to take risks based on their advice, which I appreciate. He's a lawyer who understands his basketball limits and knows how to identify smart people - crucial GM skills. Agree on not being detail oriented, a huge strength of Morey and we were spoiled. It could be that Stone is a superb tank GM but we would be better off now trying to find another Presti/Morey overanalytic detail freak.

 

Something about his mechanics just seems off. I hope Jabari actually becomes a better shooter this offseason because I never feel like his shots are going in.

 

The one he endorsed the most, took out himself in a New York hotel room.