ESPN Houston all hate Rafael Stone and hated the way KJ Martin, TyTy, Garuba all were traded for 2nd Rd Picks. Stephen Silas getting punked by Stone and Kelly Iko saw it and reported it everywhere, basically embarrassing Stone.
We were tanking so what's wrong with Silas being a failure? You want to be a 0.500 team instead the past 3 yrs? He served his purpose which was make the Rockets do the process without casuals noticing and therefore avoiding the backlash. My guess is Silas isn't even really that horrible it's Stone who told him to play Nix 30 mins a night. The other thing is rebuilds are supposed to take longer than 3 yrs. Rox spent a short amount of time but already caught up to Detroit, Orlando and OKC, teams who have been rebuilding for 5+ years or even decades. If you really wanna hold Stone accountable you should be realistic on the stuff he has done bad and well. Losing Josh Christopher for nothing shouldn't weigh as much as getting Sengun for example.
My thoughts on Stone so far Positives - Successfully carried out the tank as well as you can expect. In terms of strategy he has done what you'd expect. However this isn't a huge positive because most capable GMs should be able to carry out a successful tank. Neutral/TBD - FA/Trades, this is basically impossible to judge because the Rockets have been hamstrung by the John Wall salary until this season and we can't determine how successful Brooks/FVV signings are at this point. Drafting - also impossible to judge at this point but early returns feel lukewarm. Nothing to suggest clear wins (all-star level player) or clear losses (busts at the top). So again impossible to judge at this point Bad - Player development. Given how many people in the national media and people around the league talking about the Rockets playing disorganized basketball, there clearly could've been better coaching involved, and Stone should have a huge hand in this part. Even if it's not firing Silas perhaps better player development staffs. His grade right now is basically Incomplete but I'm leaning towards more that he's average. He hasn't done anything that look amazing nor horrible in hindsight. But he hasn't really been needed to do much so far. I'd say give him 1-2 more years depending on how things go. I'd expect at least top 8 seed by 2025.
There is no but..Stone is the GM and deserves credit for hiring Udoka. If Udoka had passed on the Rockets for a more established team, and we hired a unqualified rookie coach, who gets the blame? Rafael Stone does. Stone needs a promotion if anything If tanking for 3 years was the plan, then Silas was a success. We were trying to lose games for draft positioning, and it set us up with a great coach & very attractive young core of players. Nitpicking the tanking process but applauding our young players doesn't make sense. If you like Sengun, Jabari, Green or Amen, then you gotta give the man who brought them here credit. Stone made that possible. You should be grateful
Wanted a vet center, wing, and PG. Went 2 for 3 with no contingency plan. 66% is a solid D and he didn't do the extra assignments to raise it to a C. I expect more.
bro, make room for other opinions. It doesn’t affect your life. I’ve been a rockets fan for a very long time. You are entitled to your opinion and so am I. Respect bro.
Well said…..nothing annoys me more than idiots on this site who say “then go root for another team”! Things are not always rosy for a team that hasn’t been to the Finals in 30+ years.
like I get folks have strong opinions, and I get that some folks think our draft picks (that I really like, but haven’t actually proven anything yet) are the sum total of a GM’s job and indemnify Stone from any of his other mistakes, but I never tell anyone they aren’t a fan because they think differently. And it’s definitely frustrating that many fans don’t demand accountability for poor outcomes, but we are all fans, and we all want to see the team be successful.
Actually tanking is pretty hard how many teams are constantly rebuilding before they got good? Orlando only got their rebuild down right in 2021 they've been rebuilding since Dwight left. Didn't Sac only make the playoffs after 20 yrs or some ****? Hell reason Cleveland is in a good spot right now is because they botched their rebuild so many times they have so many top 4 lotto picks. But people don't see any of that they don't recognize the great job Stone has done in just 3 yrs. 3 yrs is even faster than The Process but people act like that's normal lmao. Bro just look at rebuild projects in history you will see it takes 5 yrs or more. Like I said Stone isn't perfect but I take him vs any random new hire unless you telling me Ainge or Myers is coming in. People who think he's done a bad job just don't understand enough how long these things are supposed to take.
Bob Myers Architect of one of the most successful organizations since 2014-15. No brainer to me, Stone would be gone days before yesterday. Makes Sam Presti look like a pissant
I’ve lived in the Bay since 95. Myers is a lemon. Real basketball heads in the Bay know it was Jerry West who shaped the Warriors. He drafted Klay, Draymond, Barnes, Looney, and others. He stopped the Warriors from trading Klay for Kevin Love. He brought in Iggy, and personally called Durant to join the Warriors. When he left in 16 or 17 is when the Lemon had to sink or swim and he failed every step of the way. I could list them all but this is a Rockets board.
You may be right, but I saw Jerry West final years with the Lakers as lemon like. West is a good basketball mind, but outdated. Id take the lemon over Stone any day.
Well we still haven't gotten to the "got good" yet portion of the rebuild. Until we actually do get better no one knows if this team will be better. If our young players don't become much better we are going to be in the 30+ wins for the forseeable future.
I think you are misremembering his Lakers exit. He left them after their 3 peat and was pissed at Buss. He then immediately built the Grizzlies into a playoff team. The year prior to his arrival they were a 20 win team if I remember correctly. Also here is a summary of his accomplishments with the Worriors. I hate to link to it here but it goes over his moves. He was the architect in GS not the Lemon. https://www.goldenstateofmind.com/2016/12/30/14122696/constructing-a-winner-the-genius-of-jerry-west
Neither has Orlando, Detroit, Charlotte etc My point is Rockets are at the same level of these teams in only 3 yrs when these teams been rebuilding for more than that. I mean technically they are even better than Orlando, Detroit and Charlotte in just 3 yrs cuz they managed to get vets while these other teams are still rebuilding today. I'm pretty confident this team can get 40 wins similar to OKC last year. Anymore thsn that will depend on some of the young guys breaking out.
