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

Better to be lucky than good. At the end of the day Stone produced results which is what matters.

Compare him to Morey what has Morey and his relationships have done for Sixers so far in the past 4 yrs? While Stone rebuilt this team and filled it with good young talent Sixers still with 0 progress and their team still in a mess with only Maxey and injured Embiid the only notable assets.

At the end of the days flubbing on Garuba, while embarrassing, is far less impactful than Harden trade or Cam trade.

 

Not incorrect. Again take the criticism from someone who has a unique perspective to just note that yeah.. there are issues I see in my view, but the results are certainly positive. He has results to show for sure.

You are right to note that getting it right on the Harden trade especially has a ton of weight in evaluating his results.

I’ll also say though as critical as I am of his processes, and his egocentric strategies, I’ve never said he should be fired because I know the guy brings value. I’ve always just advocated for bringing in a senior respected president of operations who is in more of a consultant role, but on these relationships around the league is invaluable.

 

Yes. No shame in shoring up more executive jobs.

 

I don't think anybody would expect the Kyrie drama due to the pandemic, which not only tanked the season but also soured Harden's motivation to stay with the Big 3. Most of us knew Kyrie to be flaky, but never imagined the extent of the antivex thing. Durant's health was also a concern but after a few more seasons, it now looks like it was a freak thing rather than a deteriorating trend. If Durant and Harden were committed to staying, the Nets could have been a pretty good team.

 

Kyrie drama wasn't unprecedented, remember he had that Boston era drama which ruined Ainge's master plan. Apart form that he also health with injuries all the time. I thought the Rox would benefit from the tail end of that trade (2025-2027), but the reverse happened.

Yes if KD and Harden were committed it would've worked out. But if Harden was committed he wouldn't have worn a fatsuit and started throwing balls at players to begin with.

 

I really don't understand why there's a need here to make a case that there was some genius foresight here regarding the Nets after the Harden trade. Under that logic if (just as a wild hypothetical) if this Summer Memphis trades for Embiid, Giannis, and I dunno... signed Lebron James... it would be a genius move to extract their picks vs the alternative.

Yes superteams with post peak superstars can be fickle, and with risk. Stone was right to take that chance... BUT IT WAS A CHANCE. Rafael Stone DID NOT KNOW, or have knowledge that you and I, and the media do not have that this was secretly the deal of a lifetime. The Net's superteam was NOT a given to fail, and given how productive KD, Harden, and Kyrie still are, it's perfectly reasonable to believe that they could very well still be a contender now, and the next two years when the Rockets own their picks.

Stone took a gamble anyone could have taken. A 50/50 roulette (actually 47/50 I think is the actual odds) bet, and it really really paid off. Great bet, but not a genius move here that nobody else could have made.

 

Nobody is saying Stone is some Einstein level intellect. He made a great bet, it paid off so he gets credit for that. Why make it so complicated? Lol. This is esp more as the alternative was Ben Simmons.

 

nets put this out to try to auction bridges

did not work

 

If I was screwed hard from the Westbrook trade, I'd have to look into similar deals to replace the cupboard with my remaining cow. They held out dumping harden and was rewarded for the nets desperation. Stone definitely gets credit for not jumping head first into Simmons but that might also be out of spite against DM.

Stone did a good job navigating not winning the 1st pick after using Silas as a tank commander. Would Paulo be worth our picks the year after? Wimpy getting gifted to SA seemed bigly rigged.

He's been lucky his pocket bets turned into aces like the cam pick (weird drop) or this one.

I'm a bit concerned about his deficiencies as the rockets transition into building a different team with different expectations, but at least Udoka is a voice that's heard.

Ferntits too cheap and FO too egocentric to bring in a Jerry West type to smooth Stone's rough edges.

 

God! Stone tries to make stupid move after stupid move and he keeps getting lucky. He's the Homer Simpson of NBA GMs.

 

Then you should change "God!" to: