Rafael Stone the HEDGE GOD! Why Stone has done a great job rebuilding the Rockets

I get that the negativity can wear thin, but also treating Stone as though he discovered the cure for cancer also is a mistake. I really do wish that Twitter didn't have whatever is going on with the algorithm manipulation that lets people hijack their way onto our timelines by being Rockets hype machines. THAT wears thin.

But I digress... It's not as bad as some make it seem, and it's CERTAINLY not as good as the Hype Bros make it seem too. The truth is always somewhere in the middle. For the rational fans, we just need to be able to talk honestly about what needs to happen and stop getting so emotional one way or another.

The fact is we are a historically bad team.... going into a year where you cannot tell me that the team wasn't planning on being competitive since we don't own our own draft pick. So obviously SOMETHING isn't going exactly as it was planned or else you'd see a team that was showing much more promise to potentially be a playoff team next year. Stone had the chance to draft the consensus #2 pick, and the consensus #1 pick, and failed IMO to put them both in the best situation possible to show incremental improvement. Doesn't mean they are busts yet, but objectively there's no way to sit here and say that both Jabari and Jalen are exactly where any rebuilding team would expect them to be.

It happens.... but we need to be able to handle changes to get this team on track. I hope the fanbase can be better about taking away the emotions one way or another, and focus on holding the team accountable to bring back contention.

The start of that process IMO is putting pressure on the local media to stop being mouth pieces, and access oriented. We as fans need the Houston Chron, etc. to be holding the team accountable. They are the medium that is needed at this moment, and right now the few voices we have out there seem to be more concerned with keeping the buffet stocked in the media room than they are with asking real questions, and putting that pressure on the front office and ownership.

 

And we're not even close to 2030 yet!

 

stop acting like there is nowhere in-between WCF finals and the worst in history. This is a clever psychological trap that FO got a lot of you in. Yes, we were bound to be wrong and gradually better, but we are just ultra-**** three years straight. EG/Wood/Wall situations were handled atrociously too

 

I was responding because the tweet called it a "masterclass". It wasn't. I liked the trade, but to act like it was a masterclass is preposterous

 

So far at best he has an "INC"....if one of the two top draft picks does not turn into a Star, or KPJ even then he will not be looked upon as a success.

Teams don't build through the draft anymore, most trade their way......he has drafted ok, but still unknown, now let's see if he can trade some of the chaffe....we have too many young players and not enough time to develop them all, got to pick and choose whom to keep and whom to trade.

And, got to trade high on Gordon and Tate level players when we are competing.

DD

 

meanwhile... the trade deadline is coming up... and here we sit like a buncha b****es.... smdh...

Are we just gonna wait for the off season to start making moves to acquire players to fill all that upcoming cap room? Are we gonna wait for most every other deal to get done - and then show up with our wad of cash and overspend on whoever is left (ryan anderson)? Throw a lil capital - take a 1/2 year rental - and then get them re-signed...

Its like the current cluster****.... What are we doing? Were gonna spend 2 or 3 years tanking and acquiring talent - and THEN we'll start building a culture and holding guys accountable?

It's as if we lack the ability to multi-task...

smdh....

 

What? Wait is this Rafael Stone or a family member puting this out here....nobody remember all of this unless this is STONE. Anyway, i'm eating crow this morning

 

Where are the Ben Simmons / Rockets Fans that hated Rafael Stone?

 

LaVert is just a guy and getting paid. Oladipo was the better gamble because if it failed you weren't stuck with him.

 

I don't think most fans care about the GM interaction with fans if they are making the right moves.

It's a bonus, but not necessary....

 

Ok, the Nets trade looks good now but he needs to do something now. We need shooters....trade Gordon, Martin and Tate for a shooter....please. Gordon does not want to be here and hates the organization. Martin will soon want a big contract worth 15 to 20 millions a year , he is a nice guy but he cannot shoot or play shutdown defense on a player. Also, Tate is just a energy guy who we do not need.....do something Stone.

 

Really solid poster, but no Stone hasn't done a good job. At best he has been mediocre.

Covington/Wood

First, Stone turned Robert Covington (who was worth two mid to late #1's at the time) into Trevor Ariza, Christian Wood and a Pistons #1 that still hasn't conveyed.

Christian Wood was a poor cultural fit for the Rockets, he was late to practice, had run ins with other players, and even refused to reenter a game after halftime.

Christian Wood was traded for the #26 pick in the draft, as Stone traded him AFTER his value with the Rockets bottomed out. To even get the #26 pick for Wood, the Rockets had to take on longer contracts. So, really the Rockets didn't even get the #26 pick in value.

Stone sold late on Wood, and had to take on salary just to get the #26 pick in the draft.

So at the end of it all, the Rockets got Garuba and Washington out of all of that.......... that is at best a push.... these moves did not really cripple the Rockets, but they really haven't helped the Rockets a lot either. They basically treaded water. The Rockets DID trade the highest pick in all of this (#16) and got back #26.

This series of trades can be "saved" if Garuba becomes a key rotation player or Washington because a Bobby Jackson type back up point guard, but both are a long way off.

Harden

The Harden trade wasn't really good or bad. Stone got what anyone else would have gotten. The NETS gave up what they could give up. The ROCKETS could have been stuck taking on Ben Simmons in the Sixers deal, but they also would have likely gotten Tyrese Maxey, who is better than anyone currently on the Rockets and is only 22 years old.

Stone likes to hold onto his own players WAY too long, and he was trying to do the same with Harden until Harden came forward and said that the whole situation is nuts (claiming that these new Rockets are nuts is a very common theme).

As for what the Nets actually get from the Harden deal, its hard to know yet. The pick switches are likely not worth much because we are so bad. As for the actual picks, we got a solid player in Tari Eason at #17. He isn't blowing anyone away, but he has high level role player potential.

As for the value of future picks from the NETS? Well, I don't think the Durant trade really helped us a lot unless the NETS trade away Cam Johnson, Bridges and the the players from the MAVS trade. Those players are good enough to keep the NETS from being terrible, and the NETS have no incentive to tank. We will probably get another two picks in the "teens".

So the most likely outcome is that at the end of the day, the Rockets get 3 picks from the NETS in the teens, the Bucks #1 and maybe one pick swap down the road. That isn't really Stone's fault as that is what the market was, but it isn't an amazing return.

The Rockets then traded Allen for Oladipo, which was a disaster.

LaVert was the better player, and later was dealt to the CAVS for a better return than Oladipo.... which isn't the first time this will happen.

Westbrook

The Rockets traded Westbrook for Wall and a first rounder that is lottery protected.
The Rockets paid Wall to not play, and he has since come out and let everyone know that the organization is nuts.

As for Westbrook? He was dealt by Washington to the Lakers for a far better return than the Rockets got.

Kevin Porter Jr.

Kevin Porter Jr. has very little value around the league.

He is inefficient, he is a poor teammate and leader and he is part of the dysfunction that is the Houston Rockets.

The team would have been better if he never was around players like Green, Smith and others.

Draft

He took the players at the top of the draft that most GM's would have taken in Green and Smith. Right now, Mobley is a vastly better player and easy to build around. Green has upside but his defensive limitations, lack of size and lack of playmaking limit the type of players that can play next to him. Smith wasn't used properly by Silas to start this season, and has struggled.

Sengun is who Eli wanted, and I will give Stone credit for taking him, because he could have passed on him.

Still, the draft overall has been a wash.

Overall

The trades and drafts of Stone have been about a mediocre wash.

However, he is responsible for a lot more than that.

The culture around the Rockets is BAD. They are widely mocked around the league for their complete lack of accountability, and that comes from the GM. Stone hired Silas as head coach. He traded for Wood and Porter, both of whom are not great influences. He neutered his own head coach meeting with players and assistants in private, and being so involved at halftime and other times.

When there have been problems, he hasn't publicly spoken on them and let his Coach just twist in the wind.

That all has to be considered, and with that - he has been a poor GM.

 

Fertitta greenlit it. Morey presented it to him. If Morey had said it would be stupid and no chance of working then I doubt it would have happened.

Instead he said IF they do this and IF they do that there was a chance it could make them better.

Not saying Morey wanted to do it, just saying he wasn't strongly opposed.

 

So the 2024 and 2026 picks are now magically going to be great?

The best bet for the Rockets was for the NETS to hold onto Durant and him to get old or hurt and bottom out in the lottery.

Instead, the NETS added Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson.

That is enough talent to keep the NETS out of the bottom of the lottery.

So the picks are likely going to be in the teens.

 

Morey was opposed. Actually the front office and head coach were against it.

Morey had already told Harden it wasn't likely to happen and he was fine with it.

The decision and insistence on it was from Fertita.

 

Give me an idea how Wall should have been handled?

Traded for a long term contract? Who?

Buyout? Why not try to get value first?

 

Bingo. something that's been known for years. This is old news but CF's try to rewrite history with their mental hoops

I just can't help but laugh at anyone who still doesn't understand how Tilman destroyed this franchise and he even admitted to forcing the trade in public and how it happened lol

 

I don't know..... ask the Wizards and Lakers how Westbrook turned into Wall and then Westbrook went to the Lakers.