Stone with the stones or no stone. Stutters all the same. 'I would be shocked.' ...... You are the GM and not the Fan bro.
Stone just seems so passive, he's not really thinking too far ahead and that is how you end up missing out on a star and how you tank the value of guys you have as well. We have had zero all-stars in half a decade. Ime has done a great job with the guys Stone has drafted, which he has done an OK job of. They should have made a move for Tyler Herro when he was in the dog house, now he is the guy the Heat are looking to build around in his break out season. They probably thought Reed Shepperd was going to be this knock down shooter and didn't really feel the need to shop around for a trade.
I really like Jimmy's game, always have. As somewhat of a Jalen doubter, I'd be tempted by a deal that centered around him as the principal piece without touching the rest of the core 7 or draft picks. Dillon would also likely be included for salary filler, and Duncan Robinson would need to be included to offset Jalen's poison pill. That said, Stone obviously seems committed to Jalen, so this seems highly unlikely to happen.
You realize we went from fat suit Harden to 3rd seed in the west with a bunch of 22 yr olds in just 4 yrs right? After OKC Houston has had the fastest rebuild in recent NBA history and you think Stone is passive? Getting 7 prospects in 3 yrs is just not "ok" if you dont realize that you just dont have a clue how long these things usually take.
Jalen cant be dealt this season. Butler is on an expiring contract and wants a max deal. If the Rox give up anything other than expiring salary for Butler they are dumb AF. Remember when Morey traded assets for Chris Paul when he could have signed him a few months later?
When Stone became GM, the Rockets had 5 FRPs over the next 7 years (only 4 were expected to be Rockets picks) with a couple of the picks being on the bad side of a swap. Since he's became GM, he's drafted 10 FRPs (including picks other teams draft for the Rockets like Sengun who was officially drafted by the Thunder). The Rockets currently have 8 future FRPs with 4 of them being on the good side of swaps The Rockets have been awarded 4 FRPs for each season passing. So all in all, Stone all in all appears to be up 9 FRPs with 4 good side of swaps (3 of which could move the Rockets up 8-10 spots) since becoming GM. Not bad for a guy that is bad at draft pick management to some and that isn't aggressive.
Don't get me wrong, about half of that is trading Harden. The other half is just aggressive draft pick management that basically made it like the Rockets got to trade Harden twice while sending out a pu pu platter of players.
Even trading Harden remember some posters here were mocking the Rockets for "betting against Morey" and not getting the Simmons package? People were also mad when Silas leaked that Stone was forcing him to play bad players and tank games to increase the picks. They said Stone was a joke and his antics are doing nothing just making the team look bad.
Come on, mang, we know now that Harden gifted us a lot of those picks in goodwill ...in that he did not want to leave a bad taste at the end (pushing his way out he already did some PR damage)......a good portion of those picks.
I wouldn't say tearing a team down because everyone wants to leave really factors into whether a GM is active or not. It was Harden who led the charge out of Houston and after that, obviously all the older guys must go. That doesn't reflect either good or bad on Stone. Just that it wasn't really Stone's decision to make. I personally think Stone's in the middle when it comes to being active or not. He mostly tried low risk stuff, like giving Christian Wood a 3yr deal, trading up for Sengun, signing KPJ, etc. On the big stuff he mostly shied away. He stayed put with all the other draft picks. He never tried to make another Christian Wood type signing. His big FA targets last year, Brooks, FVV, and Lopez, are very standardish targets. And he's mostly middle of the road with his extensions regarding KPJ, Jalen, and Sengun. Honestly Stone is as generic a GM in terms of style as one can be.
Only about half. Stone essentially created a star's amount of draft pick compensation from scrubs. Getting two picks (+2) and then consolidating them into a pick used for Sengun (-1 FRP, but considation was well worth it) was all Stone and staff. Getting the Cam pick was mostly Stone. Getting a pick in the Wood acquisition (see Sengun) and then getting a pick in the Wood divestment also netted the Rockets a pick. Turning a swap and pick for 2 swaps and 2 picks ( I'd guess over half of the league (maybe close to 2/3s of the league) is in a net negative over that time period. Considering the Rockets over the last 82 games are just as good as the 82 games preceding Stone being GM and Tari Eason is the only substantial contribution of the Rockets rebound from the Harden trade so far, I think Stone has done a lot outside that one move.
I have no problem with this but you have to understand that circumstances also saved him. He had KPJ as the franchise point guard before Ime arrived. He was risking his reputation, good graces etc on this kid from his home town Seattle. Tilman also seemed to have liked KPJ so that ultimately had no consequences for him. He was adamant on Jalen Green. Okay, I absolve him of Jabari Smith (due to Banchero gone already) He gave a defender like Garuba away....... He signed the likes of Christian Wood, Daniel Theis, Schroeder in the first place. Was Sitting on Eric Gordon and Tate like they were a pot of gold. We have yet to see him trade for a legitimate NBA All Star, star or superstar.....he is awfully skillful at holding onto his cards.
I'd say I don't care much about the negatives as long as the positives outweight the negatives. Context is that the Rockets are in a very good position right now and have a positive quantity in FRPs with a lot of those likely being likely very good despite all his mistakes. Every team makes mistakes and Stone's have been minor compared to his pluses. Stone also hedges his bets. Thies and Schroeder did not harm the Rockets in any material way. Wood acquisition included the primary draft pick needed to acquire Sengun in hindsight, taking on Wood for tha pick was well worth it. Eric Gordon..holding onto him led to Cam who is most likely a lot better than getting what the Rockets would have gotten trading Gordon earlier. On the last sentence....Most of Stone's acquisition were for future value. While he has not traded for someone who is already a legitimate NBA All Star, star or superstar already, there is a good chance he has already made a trade for someone who becomes a legitimate NBA All Star, star or superstar.
