Now that Silas is gone and the intentional tanking phase is complete, I am curious how people feel about the progress of the rebuild so far. What is everyone's confidence level in Stone based on the decisions he's made so far? Will we be singing Stone's praises next year or calling for his job?
This offseason will define Stone's legacy. So far, him interfering with Silas was a poor choice.... DD
Rebuilding with WOW and KPJ? Hurting Green’s development? Poor asset management? Presiding over a toxic culture that has damaged the rep of the org? Overstepping as a GM? Hey, but at least we have cap space and few raw boom or bust prospects. Great f#cking job.
Excellent, still think it was pure evil not having a vet pg to back up or a system in place other than roll out the basketball. But in the end you have Green, Jabari, Alpi, Eason, a chance at Wemby, zillions of dolla dolla bills to entice Harden at the club.
Even with all of Stone's alleged meddling, I still think Rockets have A LOT of talent. getting talent is the 2nd hardest task behind getting someone to coach that talent. I think he is at a B- to an average C
I like our collection of young prospects. We have a lot of cap flexibility. I feel like player development hasn't gone as well as it could have though. Not so much in terms of stats/offensive production, I just don't like what I've seen in terms of team cohesion, playing unselfishly, understanding the fundamentals of defense. Getting rid of Silas in the previous offseason might've helped with that. Of course we'd probably have a better record and less chance at Wemby, then, so that could have been a double-edged sword, but I do think these kids have some catching up to do now.
In a sense you can say this is like the middle of the school year for Stone. He still has one draft/year left. Lets see who is picked as coach and the new players brought in for next season. Rockets need to see a clear improvement with >30 wins next season or else Stone is on the hot seat. Cant have a stagnant year
good. I liked the players they picked the past 2 seasons. I liked the trades they made (although I think they held onto wood and gordon too long, and botched the allen/levert part of the harden deal). I think Silas should've been replaced last summer. we wasted a year of development. we also needed to bring in vets to help teach these guys, like a vet PG or C (Augustin is a great example, should've been on the roster all season to tutor the guards). however, we are on the market for a coach the year there are a bunch of great ones available (nurse, Atkinson, Vogel, Udoka, and more). we've got the best odds at the top prospect in years this summer. and we've got the most cap space to spend. so all in all stone lined things up perfectly this summer. now its up to him to stick the landing. stones final grade might be dealt after this summer. botch a second coaching hire and I would suggest we put him on the hot seat. fail to make good use of all of this cap space and he's on the hot seat.
C+/B-. We always knew they were going to be awful and need to tank to acquire young talent. They certainly did that, but I don't think any of us expected the team to be this bad this season. That being said, the prospects he's added, while raw, have shown about as much promise out of anyone in their respective draft classes. And the Brooklyn picks, while maybe not that massive haul we wanted for Harden, look to be legitimate assets moving forward. He hasn't nailed every pick, signing or trade, though. There were better guys there when Josh Christopher was taken. The Eric Gordon trade looks to be solid, but he likely could have netted more had he pulled the trigger earlier. And some moves have just straight up not panned out, like the Daniel Theiss and Garrison Matthews signings. Plus, all of the talent acquisition doesn't mean jack if he can't build a winner with all those young players and assets. The negative media attention this season hasn't done him or the franchise any favors either. Bottom line, he needs to deliver this offseason and turn this team into a more competitive roster for next year. If he can't, then a year from now, he should be getting the boot right behind Silas.
For a phase one tank and rebuild job, unless you're pre-Duncan Spurs with a former MVP or get an extremely rare James Harden-type trade, this is about as good as you're going to get realistically. We've gotten two top-three draft picks in two years, one with upper league scoring potential, another potentially unique two-way player, two significant steals of the draft mid-round, and are in one of the better positions to have draft odds for a generational player in Wemby or a star this draft. We also have significant cap room for vets next year and a new coach. Next phase, getting vets, a new HC/System, and developing into a competitive playoff team. Then phase three, becoming a contender and/or title winner will determine his overall grade. We have potential, but that means you haven't done anything yet, so his grade is undetermined for many years right now imo.
