Stone is definitely the guy to rebuild this franchise

I was actually going to post the same assessment last night lol.

give this man 3 picks each year. he has the draft on lock.

elite at drafting, willing to say above average at trading, incomplete at FA. however, next year with all that cap space we will see what he can do.

 

Facts. Draft wise he’s an A+. Just waiting on next summer when he has money in his pocket to shop.

 

I really don't see them moving Ego anytime soon. From what I've seen, Ego loves Hou and we need a vet to mentor our minnows. I think he stays until the trade deadline again...

Stone has been super impressive the last two drafts. The Rox organization is showing the NBA, how a proper rebuild is done. How sweet it is!

 

We have a solid core for sure but I hate that OKC is also on our timeline, especially with that pesky Presti.

Sengun is going to need to take major steps the next 2 seasons if he is to be our starting center though. I don't know if Silas is ready to run the offense through Sengun more, he seems content with just letting KPJ do whatever he wants. Sometimes that's a good thing, sometimes not.

 

Stone certainly has the potential to be “Presti” good.

 

Great post

One of the many benefits of drafting Smith is we have a more flexible path towards building a championship roster without compromising having a high upside in NBA talent. As exciting as it was leading up to the draft believing Banchero was our guy, we would've had to address a lot more weaknesses which limits our roster moves over the next few years.

As you said though, the hard part is about to begin probably starting next offseason when we go from talent accumulation mode to making all of the pieces fit together. But, at least we feel confident (at least I do) that Stone is indeed accumulating nice assets which truly is step 1 after the tear down.

I'll add: To me the best way to build a multi-year contender is acquire somehow a generational talent (damn near impossible to do! -- Wemby? Scoot?)... if you can't do that acquire multiple all stars and then after that have the pieces around those all stars cover the important weaknesses of those all stars. Having Green and Smith is a great start

 

We shall see, it is one thing to acquire a bunch of talent and a whole other thing to have that talent mesh with chemistry.

Right now we have too many LIKE pieces, and not enough playing time to develop them all - there will be disgruntled players - how quickly Stone can move those is important.

DD

 

Can Presti win a title before every claims him to be an obvious/great GM?

 

This also falls on Silas. There is no reason to "shrink the rotation". Play 10 deep early in the season, and let the young guys play through some mistakes. He also needs to have a system for them fall back to during tough stretches. Don't them just go out "and play".

 

I am not saying you're right or wrong, just talking basketball... but,
Who are these like pieces that you're worried about?

 

In the words of Winston Wolfe, “Let’s not start” you know what “quite yet”. Asset management, trades, and free agency haven't been great. All in all, not bad. If we are grading on drafts alone he gets an A.

 

Dude traded Wood for Tyty, a pupu platter of expirings and 2 second rounders. That was a excellent deal.

 

In terms of player eval, what current GM is better?

Only name I could think of that’s in his general area is Ujiri…

Stone so far looks like his player evaluation team is solid and his decision making is sound as well.

But I think Presti is top tier, regardless of rings.

His only issue is that he’s GM in a fly over city like OKC.

He finds the talent and then they leave because they wanna be in bigger markets.

 

He is definitely in the tier of good. But he is below the tier of Ujuiri, Meyers, and Riley.

He can't seem to find a good head coach to save his life, which as important if not more so than drafting and acquiring picks. I just think he is in the same tier as Morey, Horst, etc., but he keeps getting talked about like he is way more than that.

 

His player valuations and trades besides theis I thought would have been great.

Wall Trade:
Morey put Stone in a ****ed up situation. No cap space, no assets, no picks, and a Westbrook who wanted out. Wall was probably the only player who could match contracts & not waste Hardens prime. How many teams you think wanted Westbrook and could match salaries? Wall was a straight baller before his injuries

Harden trade:
Stone got y’all a damn near decades worth of picks from a team that is falling apart within two years. Y’all cry about not having Jarret Allen but this team would’ve never gotten Jalen Green. Wall/Wood/Allen would’ve kept us out of the lottery and Wall would probably demand a trade with Harden not there. We would’ve been stuck with a max contract center & KPJ(cause I know how much y’all love him). Would’ve been mediocrity for years.

KPJ trade:
Aside from maturity issues the kid is a damn lottery pick himself that we got for nothing. Him and Green put up all star numbers after the break and looked like a top backcourt. This next season is make or break

Olidipo trade:
I think Stone planned on tanking the moment Harden was gone. Olidipo seemed like a trade where Stone was trying to avoid Allen’s max contract and getting stuck with LeVert. Stone probably knew damn well Olidipo was going to be gone by the deadline

Morey left Stone with very little wiggle room. I think his trades is what has the future so bright. He didn’t take back Simmons & avoided getting stuck with a player like Allen. Can you imagine this team right now with its best players being KPJ, Jarret Allen, and high lottery pick? Would’ve been a nightmare

 

There is no defending that suit. It's offensive.

 

Receipts.

 

Ding ding ding......School was in session.

DD

 

Love me some @Plowman but no Rafael Stone please.