[The Athletic] Conversation with Rafael Stone

It’s been a little over a year now since you officially took the reins as general manager. How would you assess the changes you’ve seen, both personally and as an organization?

For me, the time period is basically a year and a half from when I took over. But I will say that I’m actually very happy with where we are organizationally. I think we have a really clear direction, that kind of top to bottom — from ownership to myself and my team, to our coaching staff, to our players — that everyone has bought into. I think a big key for success is organizational alignment, and we’re in a really good spot with respect to that right now. So, because we’re all aligned and we know what we’re doing and where we’re trying to go, I think we’re in a relatively good place.

What’s the beginning of a rebuild like from your vantage point? Do you find yourself doing things differently than you might have a year and a half ago — whether it be relationships with folks on the team or how you do business with other teams?

I came in pretty fully formed I think, just because of age and I’ve been in the NBA for a long time. Within the Rockets organization, I’ve been very senior for a long time. Moving over a chair is obviously different, but I don’t think I’ve changed much. I’ve gotten to know Stephen (Silas) — when I hired him, I didn’t know him well — so I think that’s been good. I think our communication is better now than it was earlier. Same thing with Tilman (Fertitta), where our ability to be on the same page was always pretty good because we knew each other pretty well. I think it’s really good now. That’s one of the advantages of time; you get to know people better, and you work together better. So, in that respect, I think things are better than when I first took over. But generally, I think things are more similar than not.

Just how important is this synergy you talk about? Especially now with where you guys are.

I think alignment is really important. To a certain extent, maybe the single most important one is myself and Tilman. But then it goes Tilman, me, Stephen, assistant coaches, players — and not just your starters, but all your players. I think it’s really important. It’s never gonna be perfect. People are not always on the same page every minute of every day. But I do think that to the extent that everybody understands the goal, buys into the end goal and buys into where you’re at in the process, it allows for success. It’s really hard to create success if people are trying to achieve different things. One of the nice things about being aligned is that everyone’s trying to achieve the same thing.

End goals is another way of saying “The Process.” Has it gone according to plan? We’re almost 50 games into the season.

The real answer is, I have no idea. The plan is to win a championship. The day that we hold a trophy, you can say, “Oh yeah, the plan works.” But I’m really comfortable and happy with where we’re at. It isn’t a linear process. It’s not something where if you’d asked me at the beginning of the year, I could have predicted we would get to today the way we got to it. But the growth we’ve seen in our group and the way they’re playing and the way they’ve improved — as you go player by player — all of our players have really improved, and the group has improved as a whole. And that’s … that’s really the goal. I’m happy with where we’re at. But I certainly couldn’t tell you that the plan has been achieved.

Drafting four rookies isn’t a normal thing in today’s NBA. But Jalen Green, Josh Christopher and Alperen Sengun are developing in real time. Do you see that approach potentially being replicated by teams down the line?

I mean, we’re a copycat league, but I think based on our level of success to date, I don’t think anybody is itching to be the Rockets. The feedback I’m getting from around the league is positive. They feel like it’s really credible, and they get the vision. It’s always better than people like, “What the hell are you doing?” But we’re a copycat league, and what you copy is the ultimate success. So, if we end up building a team that’s really good a few years from now, I think people will look back maybe at what we did as a blueprint. It hasn’t gone perfectly — and it won’t — but I like the progress. I like the improvement. You got to work at it every day.

You’re in a season currently, but have a goal down the line. Is it hard planning for the future while having to deal with the process in the present? Having micro conversations about a macro view?

Basketball is a team sport. It’s not a situation where you’re trying to improve an individual player, and it has no ramifications for his teammates or for the team. They’re so logically intertwined that it’s pretty easy for everybody — both in the micro and the macro — to get it to work within the construct and everything else. Because we’re all aligned, there’s not a lot of “Why are we doing this?” I think sometimes, everyone’s learning curve is different, but our group was pretty bought into what we’re doing, and they believe in one another. I think they enjoy one another, and they want to get better together. So, I think we’re a good place now.

From being present at practices, being on the road, you’re pretty hands-on with this team. Are you just that much of a basketball junkie or is it something else

I think it’s just me! I don’t know that it’s super strategic. My biggest strategy for how I try to operate is to be true to myself, because I know I can do that successfully. I can be me 100 percent of the time and not have to worry that I will not succeed in being me. If I try to be somebody else or someone’s expectation of who I’m going to be, I might be able to fake it for a little while, but eventually, I’m just gonna revert to being me. It’s too hard to be consistently someone else, so I’m comfortable with our players. My background, I’m obviously much older, but my background in a lot of ways is the same as theirs. They’re living the exact same lives my children live. So why act like I’m not comfortable, you know what I mean?

I don’t think it’s a strategy. It’s certainly not a lack of trust in our coaches or a need to do X, Y or Z. I think having good relationships with people is important. It’s important for our players that we know each other and we get along. The more you can communicate, the better people generally do. It’s sometimes helpful for people to know what a coach said I believe, or what I believe a coach believes or to have just good relationships overall. I think it’s just a good thing.

Being a young team, there’s obviously more of an emphasis on scouting, and you guys revamped that department recently, correct?

Yeah, we rounded it out. But all the people we had are still around; we didn’t let anyone go.

Is there more of a need to scout certain types of players now?

We’re basically just doing exactly what we did last year. Again, I think we’re learning how one another communicates. And hopefully, we’re doing it a little bit more efficiently and effectively, but we’re doing the same thing. The biggest thing for me is just the work and making sure that we don’t get outworked. That’s kind of my point of emphasis for our group, and I feel good that’s what we’re doing.

 

In the trade realm, Houston’s always been an aggressive team, trying to find an advantage somewhere. How is that now as a rebuilding team?

I mean, we do want to be aggressive. And I think the way that is going to manifest itself, for the next little bit, is just making sure that we’re talking to everybody. So we’ll do that to make sure that there’s not something that would make sense for another team and for us that didn’t get explored. We’ll make sure we talk to everybody. But I also think that we’re really comfortable with this group. There’s obviously a lot of stuff out there about what we’re trying to do. I don’t think it’s particularly true what’s been reported last week. I think we’re really comfortable with where we’re at. We do have a lot of picks out in the future, so there’s not some huge need that we have either on our current roster — or in terms of future assets — that we need to be aggressively pursuing. Leading into this year, we were hoping, planning, tracking to be in the area where we’re at now. So, we’re not feeling any particular need to do X deal or Y deal.

But at the end of the day, those team-to-team conversations are still had. Have you found that some of their approaches to be different compared to say, past contending years?

Presidents or GMs or whatever — titles in the league are so weird — but like, people in my spot around the league, they’re really collegial. They always have been. So, it’s very similar. It really hasn’t changed.

Well, since we’re in that time of the year, there will always be names and possible moves mentioned. And you have a number of veterans that teams like.

One of the single most important parts of my job is to have every conversation and listen, but just because you have conversations and listen doesn’t mean you do things. We like not just how good they are, but also the way they play and the way they fit with one another and everything else. So again, we’re just not feeling any need whatsoever to do anything. It’s much more to explore possibilities and everything else, but we like this. And we like the growth that we’ve seen on both a micro and a macro level — those are your words from earlier, so I’ll repeat it for you. And because of that, you talk to everybody, you listen, but you don’t have to do anything.

I recall at the beginning of the season, you and John Wall addressed the media about his situation. How is that relationship now? He clearly wants to play, but you guys are still moving forward.

I love John! We have a great relationship. We speak frequently, I spoke to him the other day. He’s really smart; our conversations are always intelligent. They’re always respectful. He’s both ways. Like, I respect him immensely, and it feels like it’s reciprocated. I really like John; we’re gonna be friends long after basketball.

But does he understand what his realistic outcome is right now? Things tend to pick up around this time, but he has to know how difficult finding a solution might be.

John’s a pro. He gets every aspect of everything. I don’t need to explain it to him; he knows. You know John; John knows. But we speak about everything. Nothing’s off limits. So yeah, lines of communication between myself and John remain really good.

Wanted to touch on Scoot (Kevin Porter Jr.) for a second. When you brought him in a year ago, there was a plan in place to grow him not only as a player, but as a person. He’s taken some strides this season — becoming a better defender, clutch shot taker, developing as a point guard. How has that growth been like for you up close?

He’s not a finished product. He’s really very young, and he’s got some challenges, all of which he knows. He’s a very smart person, and he works hard. And when we did the deal to acquire him, I spoke to him, Stephen spoke to him, (John) Lucas spoke to him. And part of those conversations were it’s not going to be perfect. But he had to put the work in, we had to put the work in as a collective. And I think that’s really still what we’re at; we’re nowhere near finished. He’s worked hard on and off the court, but there are challenges on and off the court. And there always will be, for all of us. Life is not simple, life is hard. And for some people, it’s harder than others.

I’m pleased with his progress. Not every choice he makes or he’s made since he’s been with us has been the right choice. The vast majority of them have, but not every choice has been the right choice. But sometimes, you can learn more from the wrong choices than from the right ones. The whole thing is just work. If you want to put the work in to make yourself better, then I’m here for it. He has been thus far, and I expect he will continue to be. And if that’s the case, then you know I definitely want to help him become the best player and person he can be. And in the process, he’ll help us become the best team we can be. That’s kind of a microcosm of it all. He’s someone who gets a lot more attention maybe than some of our other players. It’s not really different, it’s just more magnified. He’s a good human being, and he’s an extraordinarily talented basketball player — and he wants to be a great basketball player.

On the flip side, what’s it been like watching Jalen Green? He’s even younger than Porter, but he’s shown flashes of what he can be down the line. The struggles have also been there, but there’s plenty of room and time to grow.

I’m super happy with Jalen. He’s immensely talented. When you’re that gifted, the world is your oyster — but only if you really want to work for it. I couldn’t be happier with his work ethic. He’s a great teammate, really smart. He just really grinds, and we threw him in the deep end. Some of the best defenders in the NBA on some of the best teams in the NBA were guarding him from Game 1. We did that because we trust that he can handle it and that it will speed up his learning curve. The improvement he’s made since Day 1 is just fast. He’s just on a great curve, from my perspective. So, we’re really happy.

You talk to so many teams. How do you know who’s operating in good faith? How do you know who’s blowing smoke or who’s being genuine as a general manager?

So, it’s a repeat business. And there are only 30 teams. So, you have multiple conversations about different ideas with the same guy. And if you’ve got a good memory — and I do have a very good memory — you come to figure out that oh, this guy called me on Tuesday and said, “Hey, would you guys be interested in something like this?” And then on Friday, he said, “I would never consider something” like he just said he would consider on Tuesday. Well, that’s somebody who is either not acting in good faith or maybe is just sufficiently unorganized. Their style is to just throw things on the wall, including things that they themselves wouldn’t do. And so then, you take conversations with that person with a grain of salt. There are other people who are more transparent, and they’re like, “I’ll do X.” And then they don’t want to negotiate. And they meant that they would do X but ain’t doing anything else. That’s fine, too. That’s their style.

And then there are people who are maybe more theoretical, and they’re saying, “Well, we’re trying to achieve this type of thing.” And maybe they’re willing to work with you. Because maybe, it’s not something that can be achieved with you, but maybe you guys can help one another. There are people who like to do that. So everybody’s got a little bit of a different thing. Because it is a repeat business, you start to learn how this team or this person wants to operate. And from my perspective, I’m pretty comfortable operating in any of those styles. I don’t get offended if people want to just toss out ideas, even ideas they wouldn’t do at me. I just learned that’s what they’re doing. I’m pretty comfortable no matter which way people want to go, but I do pay attention so that I know in the future.