Wolves just postponed his option year so he’s essentially on a one year deal. The ownership situation is a little foggy over there and the future is not very clear. We might be able to poach him. He has lots of experience building around big men. The Wolves are looking good but it has to be said: unless they win a championship, they traded way too much for Gobert. Trading 4-5 picks for a conference finals ceiling is a mistake in my book. Experience with Jokic is a huge plus. Is he better than Stone? Can we make him Stone’s boss? Anyone know anything about Connelly both pluses and minuses? Would you want to hire him?
Didn't they just extend Stone? Sure I read that somewhere. I've not actually seen anything suggesting the org is looking to move on from him tbh.
I thought I saw that the Wolves restructured his contract to lock him in for longer and pay him more money? Maybe it was just speculation.
They did and I don’t think they’re thinking it but maybe if Connelly is seen as a major upgrade you might even consider terminating a long contract with Stone. More a case of: how often is an elite GM available?
Yeah I saw that tweet and for some reason I thought they extended him further. He'd be a godsend but he's probably the hottest NBA executive right now so the competition would be crazy. What's to stop Ballmer from just throwing a quarter billion dollars at him. It'll be though.
Yes so I guess how valuable is an elite GM? Is he an elite GM? Because you have Stone locked in and things are going well. There’s no need to make a change but if you believe you have the 10th best GM and you can get the 2nd best one then do you make a change? If it was my money I would. What I would love is for Connelly to become Stone’s boss so we can benefit from both of their strengths and have another experienced basketball mind in the front office. Udoka has a strong voice and I think Connelly would provide some balance there. I like Stone with drafting and rebuilding. I literally don’t know if he’s going to be good at building a championship team and acquiring big name players. I don’t know if Udoka and Stone know as much as Connelly about building around a passing big man OR the benefits of moving Sengun (like KAT) to the 4 and playing him next to a rim protector (Gobert/Adams). Connelly definitely brings a valuable voice to the table even though he’s not perfect. I could be wrong but I think @Nook mentioned earlier that some consideration was given to hiring a POBO. Maybe that’s the best role for Connelly. He would be supervising a hell of a staff with Stone and Udoka. Great for the team to have that much talent on board.
With Stone at the helm we have recovered from an absolutely decimated franchise to one with expectations of playoffs next season. We are good.
Stone & Witus aren't going anywhere. We're positioned with the right coach, oodles of young talent (multiple future All Stars), and a bunch of sweet picks/swaps to get better. With organic growth and smart moves, we have enough to be a long time contender.
No. This rebuild has been expedited by Stone and is way ahead of schedule. He has given us 5-6 players with huge upside. Tilman just extended him. No need to fusx with what aint broke.
Way ahead of schedule!? Since Harden left we have had to endure some of the very worst seasons in NBA history. We have good players now, and its a testament to solid drafting. But those picks were acquired off the back of years of abysmal performances. I would say that we have now is the bare minimum expectations-wise for a professional GM.
I’m not saying to keep or get rid of Stone - I don’t think we know yet if he is good or not. I will push back against this idea that Stone saved the Rockets. He has had the #2 pick, #3 pick, #4 pick… #3 pick again… #16, #17, #20, #23 and #24…. All in the last 4 years… plus a lot of cap space. That is a LOT to work with and a lot of general managers would show real improvement with that type of artillery. I like something’s about Stone and don’t like other things. I don’t think he is detailed enough but he is very good at some other things.
The Rockets aren’t behind schedule - but they are not way ahead of schedule. They have some good young players and talent - but they still lack the most important piece, a real top 3-5 franchise player. I wouldn’t fire Stone for no cause - but if someone like Jerry West or Danny Ainge or even Brad Stevens says he wants the job - you tell Stone there is a new sheriff in town. That won’t happen though because no elite executive is going to want to work with Fertitta and he won’t want to hire them because they won’t just tell him what he wants to hear.
"Elite GMs" become available as soon as their luck runs out, so pretty much every year is the answer.
