Rafael Stone: "I just think we're not a developmental team any more"

He is very cautious. As a result he tends to not make catastrophic mistakes. The biggest risk of his term as GM so far is the trade for Durant because of the injury risk. Even then, the risk is limited because the Rockets have a "reset" in two years.

 

This is true, but once KD is gone they have no primary scorer, which is WHY, I wanted to keep Voldermort.

DD

 

Can't even play there, FIBA honors NBA contracts we had complete control over him.

DD

 

They didn't have one before KD and they don't think that Cam is the solution either or they would have kept him.

The biggest issue with the Rockets is the lack of a true franchise player - and unfortunately that is the hardest thing to get.

 

Amen. Not “Amen” like I agree. Amen the player

 

Mavericks don't know how lucky they are.....2 guys in the span of 7 years.

 

Translated: we're not in the business of trying to develop talented misfits that don't understand professional basketball concepts.

 

Amen? Sengun literally a 21 yr old All star.

 

You never hear those things from Samuel Presti, just because he can do multiple things at the same time.

 

We are now a developmentally challenged team

 

Off topic, but was there a Turkish cyber attack on this site yesterday?

Sengunatics are seriously out of control

 

Sengun with a 3 pt shot = superstar. Amen with a decent 3 pt shot and a mid-range shot = superstar. It amazes me how good posters discount potential as a relevant factor in building a team. Probably over 50% of the board have written Amen off as an on-ball creator after 2 years the first where he only got appropriate play for the last 30 games and last year where he didn’t start for half the year and was playing the dunker spot most of the time. Amen is going to be one of the 5 best players in the league in the next couple of years. Sengun with a 3 pt shot will be second only to Jokic as far as “centers” go. KD is already a superstar and just needs to stay relatively healthy for the next 2 years. All this with great picks and lots of tradeable contracts. We are going to complete for titles for the next 10 years. Stone has been the king of flexibility and has done a masterful job, especially on the contract side of things.

 

Reed is the better overall player. I like Cam but I was always concerned about how long his legs would hold out with the way he plays - given his medical history. Rockets invested more in Reed ($11m/year) than Cam ($3.5m/year). If you have to choose then you have to stick with Reed.

The dunks won't be as nice but Cam's role is replaceable. Reed's shooting, playmaking ability and eye for the game isn't. If he becomes anything close to a Steph Curry or Nash then you can have multiple final appearances and potential championships with him on the team.

And I hope fans aren't still sleeping on Amen. He's going to be a much better shooter because he works hard. When you still have Amen, Tari and Jabari in addition to Finney Smith, Durant and Reed, you're good to go. With the Rockets, Cam wouldn't have a choice but to go against the game plan and try to "get his" in limited minutes. This is his 3rd year. As soon he doesn't pass to an open player (especially Durant, FVV or Reed) he'd end up stuck on the bench mad af.

With this trade, they didn't just do Cam a favor. Rockets also did themselves a favor by doing Bill Duffy a favor (Cam's agent). He's also the agent for Anthony Edwards, Scottie Barnes, Luka Doncic, Chet Holmgren, Jaden McDaniels and Zion Williamson. I'm sure Giannis' situation isn't the only one they're paying attention to. Rockets still have enough assets to trade for another star down the line and damn near all of those players paired with Amen and Sengun (and maybe Reed?) would be a problem for the league when Durant retires.

 

They are the NBA version of the Colts.

 

Some fans may have a problem with Ime in this regard but certianly not all. I don't see a big miss so far with a young talent who got away. Cam got drafted in the range where it's a crap shoot of players become anything. Ty ty, Garuba, Christopher etc....

 

You really think Green was his choice of guard over the last 2 seasons? Do you think he was on board with the Green signing last season? Would coach play FVV all those minutes if there was a player that could play to his standards behind him. Reed is Stones pick and that was Stone’s flex to play him. Stone has orchestrated his will through the roster since he’s taken over the team. He will spin the media to meet his public expectations as needed. Silas string showed more but Udoka still has them.

 

I'm sure he had to answer for why he had to trade the #6 overall pick in 2021 for an undrafted journeyman. Sometimes you make mistakes. Happens.

 

Bad attitude and professionalism are not the same thing. I can hate my company but still show up to work and try my best every day - b****ing and moaning the whole time. Professionalism is all the extra work you put in to maintain a peak performance lifestyle. It's not what you do at work, it's how you take care of yourself outside of work to ensure you are operating at peak performance when you clock in and what you study to make you better at your craft when you clock in......and yes - most 19-21yr olds don't do that(even the really good ones who can play high level basketball because of natural gifts) and for most young players, it doesn't matter because if you are getting regular playing time, the stakes aren't particularly high....but on title teams the bar is just higher that what the average 19-21yr old can offer and that's where we are at.

We aren't in personele development mode anymore - we are in "whats in the best interest of our team dynamic" mode and that mode doesn't care about Cam's career development or asset growth - it only cares about what a team that has a legit chance to win a title needs NOW...and they don't need Cam as he is today(great scorer with poor playmaking skills and inconsistent defense and motor) and frankly his career is better served going elsewhere where another team can afford to invest development time into him. I wish it were with us, but you don't waste a legit title chance with Kevin Freaking Durant as your closer for a guy like Cam unless you are 1000% sure about Cam and while we can all see a high ceiling for Cam, the floor is still lower than you would like to see for that kind of bet.

 

Yes, Udoka (like Stone) wanted to confirm what they had with Green, and there was no one else readily available.

Yes, because he understood that Green could be traded in a deal for a star.

Yes, Udoka trusts FVV.

Udoka was a fan of Sheppard before the draft - it wasn't just Stone. Also, Udoka has asked for shooting for two seasons.

Udoka was a fan of Brooks and FVV - and he was also a fan of Sheppard and also insisted on a replacement for Brooks after the trade - and he also wanted Adams.

In some cases both of them liked players - but Udoka has and continues to have more power than most coaches in the NBA. Stone also isn't stupid, he has gone out of his way to work with Udoka.

Absolutely - he is very transparent to me and not particularly good at it, but a lot of people seem to have difficulty seeing through it. I don't even blame him for it, it is part of his job.

 

It was a dumb comment but obviously you can read between the lines and logically assume what he is saying.

On development in general though I do have concerns that will either be elevated or relieved depending on what Stone does with our future picks.

IMO we need to maintain a STEADY stream of farm talent to replenish what we are likely to lose. We need to bring in 1 new quality prospect a year moving forward and a couple 2-way guys who can give us a chance for a surprise role player on the cheap.

If Stone starts gutting our picks for marginal vet role player upgrades I’ll be very outspoken in my thoughts on Stone… but for now I’ll let this comment slide. It was also probably Ime’s fault for over reliance on guys like Tate when he should have been giving guys like Cam those minutes. Stone if he did anything wrong it was in keeping Tate when it was reported they could have had a 2nd or two for him.