I don’t like knee jerk reaction threads but 3 years of really nothing positive at all, followed up by a huge missed opportunity with our unprecedented cap space. The guy was literally talking about cap space in 2023 from day 1. This just isn’t good enough. When are folks gonna see things for what they are? How much longer do we want to give this guy? Where are the trades that help our team? Where are the signings that help us turn the corner? Pat Fertitta and Rafel Stone have done a terrible job with this team. Terrible. I get that there will always be apologists, but I don’t understand taking an objective look at their leadership and coming to any other conclusion than they are just not good at their jobs. This roster is still crap heading into year 4. Rockets fans deserve a helluva lot better than this.
What? - 3 years of nothing positive at all - We have six really promising very young players? - Where are the signings that help us turn the corner? We just signed FVV and Brooks, guys who will teach defense? - What huge missed opportunity? What did you want us to do with the cap space? - What do Rockets fans deserve?
our two highest draft picks that we tanked for are still question marks. We got very little for the few good players we had going into the rebuild. We started the rebuild with oladipo, John wall, Christian wood, and KPJ. We haven’t pulled off any significant trades to help this team since Harden left, other than the draft night trade of Sengun. We got nothing for 3 late 1st round picks and our starting 22 yr old SF. The only time we actually get cap space, we spend it on Dillon Brooks, Uncle Jeff and Jock Landale (how can I forget Theis). We’ve been the worst team in the league for 3 years and more than that, we are now considered a bad organization. Oh yeah, he hired Silas and stuck with him, wasting 3 years. He signed KPJ to an extension prematurely the same year he drove off at half time. It’s bad man. Why can’t you admit that?
No, I don't really agree, you spending too much time in Rocketswatch in the negativity loop =P - Rockets have 4 guys who legitimately can take huge steps into all stars - Rockets have 2 guys who come become high end role players. - Rockets have cap flexibility add a max contract next offseason. - Rockets could have cap flexibility to add 1 or even 2 max contract players in two years. - Rockets have the Nets picks which could end up being quite high. There has certainly been some disappointing things, but there has also been really really good things. I am fairly optimistic with the position we are in.
Sorry to say that I've moved into the "Stone is a poor GM and should be fired" camp. Four main reasons: 1. The Brook Lopez fail If you're in a performance oriented job, and you put all your eggs in one basket, and then the basket breaks, you've got to carry that L. It might be harsh, because Brook Lopez maybe seriously screwed us, but the NBA is a make or miss league. If you're a GM and you take your big swing and fall flat on your face, that's on you. No benefit of the doubt here. 2. Basketball culture and reputation As fans we don't know all the details, but the Rockets are in a reputational / culture deficit that legitimately hurts us, and Stone is at best is a neutral on this (probably worse), and there are other GM's we could hire who would be a positive on this front. 3. Stone is not cut out to be the leader of an organization Not to be too harsh, but when you saw Stephen Silas do one press conference, you immediately knew -- this is not a leader of men. Stone is not quite that extreme, but it's true of him too. Just listen to Stone for 5 minutes and you know that this is not a person you want as the figurehead of any organization. Listen to a press conference from Sam Presti, or Jeff Weltman, or Masai Ujiri, or Bob Myers, or Danny Ainge, or Brad Stevens, or even a David Griffin, Nico Harrison, or Troy Weaver. Stone just does not come across as a person who should be in charge of anything. It's harsh but that matters a whole lot. Presenting as a leader that people can believe in is a massive part of the job. 4. Developmental team construction this summer As it stands, and based on current reporting of remaining plans, we are again putting our prize prospects into a team construction that makes it as extremely hard for them to succeed. We had 3 needs this summer to create a positive developmental team construction while winning more games: good point guard play, adequate floor spacing, and a defensive center option. With $65M in space and after moving 5 additional contracts... we've met 1 of those 3 needs. That's not good enough. Time to find someone who can do better.
He needs to go. The last straw for me was two days ago with free agency and that inexcusable trade with Atlanta. He's simply in over his head. The entire upper level of administration from the owner on down just screams amateur hour right now.
I do not about FIRING Stone now. We have a veteran point guard, who is a all star and has a champion pedigree(the money is not important). Why, the money is not important? Because players do not want to join a rebuilding team, good players do not want to join the NBA’s laughingstock. You have to pay more for good players because our team STINKS….no problem because it only for two years. Dillion Brooks is a NBA ALL DEFENSE member, he is a elite defender in the league. Who cares about his antics, and Ime will control with shot selection. You do not like Dillion’s contract? We need to wait and research more about the contract because I was told there are a lot of incentives in the deal….read the small print before reacting. I do not like the Landale signing because he does not give us interior defense presence…shot blocker…..I do question 8 million for Landale…for one year. We gave up 3 first round draft prospects? With Amen and FVV, TyTy would never play in the next three years…we needed to move on….I rather have Amen than TyTy. Garuba? Honestly, he cannot shoot, no handles and is a undersized 5. He is not a nba player he is going back to the Spain League soon. Christopher? 1st round draft pick? Christopher was not projected to be a 1st round draft pick in any of the mock draft, we was not really that good. He was suppose to be drafted in the 2nd round but rumors came out that Stone did a favor for Jalen because they were friends. Guys, there are many 1st round picks that does not work out. There are many 1st round picks in the last three years that are out of the League. Houston had to give Atlanta 2 2nd before they took the players….guys when you have the worst team in the league for the last three years…the league look down on our talent…those guys were not that good. KJ? He was a elite shooter, he was not a elite defender, he was just a elite in athleticism….that’s it. He is not a starter, he is not better than Dillion Brooks….he is just a bench player or energy player on a team. We have Dillion and Cam need more time. Other than Landale signing…we need a shot blocker…we are fine. We should win 35-38 games but at the trade deadline if we get a shot blocker? Myles Turner? We are in the playoffs!
FIRING Stone now? We have a veteran point guard, who is a all star and has a champion pedigree(the money is not important). Why, the money is not important? Because players do not want to join a rebuilding team, good players do not want to join the NBA’s laughingstock. You have to pay more for good players because our team STINKS….no problem because it only for two years. Dillion Brooks is a NBA ALL DEFENSE member, he is a elite defender in the league. Who cares about his antics, and Ime will control with shot selection. You do not like Dillion’s contract? We need to wait and research more about the contract because I was told there are a lot of incentives in the deal….read the small print before reacting. I do not like the Landale signing because he does not give us interior defense presence…shot blocker…..I do question 8 million for Landale…for one year. We gave up 3 first round draft prospects? With Amen and FVV, TyTy would never play in the next three years…we needed to move on….I rather have Amen than TyTy. Garuba? Honestly, he cannot shoot, no handles and is a undersized 5. He is not a nba player he is going back to the Spain League soon. Christopher? 1st round draft pick? Christopher was not projected to be a 1st round draft pick in any of the mock draft, we was not really that good. He was suppose to be drafted in the 2nd round but rumors came out that Stone did a favor for Jalen because they were friends. Guys, there are many 1st round picks that does not work out. There are many 1st round picks in the last three years that are out of the League. Houston had to give Atlanta 2 2nd before they took the players….guys when you have the worst team in the league for the last three years…the league look down on our talent…those guys were not that good. KJ? He was a elite shooter, he was not a elite defender, he was just a elite in athleticism….that’s it. He is not a starter, he is not better than Dillion Brooks….he is just a bench player or energy player on a team. We have Dillion and Cam need more time. Other than Landale signing…we need a shot blocker…we are fine. We should win 35-38 games but at the trade deadline if we get a shot blocker? Myles Turner? We are in the playoffs!
I’d like to see Tillman take this opportunity to hire Jeff Van Gundy in a sort of “team president” role where he can be a liaison for Tillman, and can oversee Stone and his oversized ego (which id argue is the core reason why he’s been caught flat footed and been made a fool over and over). If Stone doesn’t like being baby sat… bye bye. Don’t let the door hit you on the way out. Obviously there’s substantial evidence too that around the league other GM’s, agents, and players just don’t respect the guy. There’s just no way that Brook Lopez and his agent pull that kind of crap with a Danny Ainge or Pat Riley. In a high stakes trade/signing like this, the Rockets need that voice in the room, has relationships, and a guy who commands respect. I’m willing to bet Van Gundy would be perfect in a team president/consulting/mentor type of role even though he’s really only got the coaching experience. Regardless I just really love his common sense point of views and he’s always someone we can count on to ask the important questions.
It was going to be hard to take Lopez from Milwaukee…if we did succeed that, Milwaukee would be broken. We took FVV from Toronto and now there franchise is in shock. Lopez was a hope…but signing Landale was a great miscue. We need better defenders? We got FVV who was 2nd in the NBA in STEALS with 1.8 steals. Brooks a elite defender, Amen is a elite defender….watch him in Summer League. Shooters? FVV is a good 3 point shooter, he was 13th in the NBA of 3 pointers made in a game…he average...3 three pointers in a game…..13th in the league. The culture was on the weak coach and Stone as well. Many people would have banished KPJ with his antics but Stone kept him. positives? Draft Sengun, got the 20th picks from the Clippers this year to get Cam. Got a all star point guard, got a elite defender and we need to wait and read the incentives in the Brook deal before we react. I guess Stone is average but if we are winning this year he needs to be a PLAYER at the trade deadline
What crap did Lopez do? Lopez wanted a certain contract and Houston gave it too him, he went back to see if Milwaukee would match or beat it…they did! Getting rid of the other young players was good…nobody wants a last place team for the last three years….talent
Good recap and totally agree. On top of that, Stone took over without control over our 2024-2026 draft picks, Harden wanting out, and no one wanting Westbrook. It would be like taking over a business with horrible cashflow, lots of debt, and your best employee wants to quit. People here wanted Ben Simmons to restart our rebuild and try to make the playoffs. This situation is better by miles and miles. Rockets talked about this free agency cap space and because of that cap space we were able to use it to fill our biggest need - a vet point guard who is good now & the length of the contract. Without that cap space no way Vanvleet joins our team. He was the best free agent available for our team with our goals... not Harden or Irving.
Again... it's about relationships in this business. If Lopez's agent and our GM have a good trusting relationship built on win-wins, you wouldn't see our GM doing a salary dump and giving up assets for the hopes and dreams of a free agent signing. So either Lopez and his agent were straight up hustling Stone (which is bad that he has that low level of respect around the league) or Stone was too arrogant in just knowing for a fact that Lopez was signing therefore he can do the dump with Atlanta now knowing its in the bag so what the hell (which is worse). So either Stone is not respected in a job that requires relationships & respect, or he's so arrogant that he consistently gets caught with egg in his face thinking he has deals he doesn't (see Oladipo trade, EG trade, EG trade 2.0, now Lopez etc. etc). This is a pattern at this point, and all of these little F-up's add up into one giant F up. I don't think you absolutely have to fire Stone... I think there is some value there with his ability to maneuver with the cap, contracts, etc., but holy hell does this guy need to be dropped down a notch in order for there to be some much needed checks and balances & credibility with this front office.
Again, I don't know what Silas was supposed to do. If he won too many games, he'd be screwing up the tank job. If he lost too many games, he was a terrible coach who couldn't lift this team to wins. It was a classic no-win situation for Silas.
Man there are ALOT of very charitable takes on the GARM today that I just didn't expect to see. I know Sengun and KPJ have stans but I guess I was naïve enough to think that there's no way that RAFAEL STONE has only fans too. Good lord people. Yes... Stone has some discernable skills. He's good at cap maneuvers, contracting, and under his watch has made some good picks & signings. But if you seriously cannot see the huge glaring flaws in him as the leader of an NBA franchise, and last voice on the call with other GM's, power agents, etc. then I really don't know what to tell you. He's a nice #2 GM, and front office cap/contracts guy. However I do not see a respected and experienced professional sports president and GM. Just no way.
You know what, you are right, there is far too much negativity on RWatch, myself included, gonna try to change that at least on my end. DD
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