When are we going to start criticizing Rafael Stone?

Let's get real, nobody in their right mind would trade Mobley (this year or last year) for Jabari Smith Jr, he's simply a much better athlete.

 

Dennis Lindsey tenure:

https://www.basketball-reference.com/executives/lindsde99x.html

Pro:

• Started with the Rockets in mid 90's as video coordinator and scout.
• At Utah, hired Quinn Snyder; (good development coach, but limited playoff success). Was defensive minded, then went offensive. Two way coach. It's possible if Lindsey come, chance of getting Snyder goes up.
• Got Gobert / Mitchell / Jordan Clarkson

Con:

• Whiffed on Dante Exum (5th pick), Exum stayed in Lindsey's tenure a long long time.
• Overpaid Gobert, but not irreparable dmg as Ainge/Zanik able to salvage, ...still.
• Couldn't keep Gordon Hayward, other factors were at play, but GM persuasion was not enough.
• Accused of racist comment by a player. Later after probe, no evidence was found. But Dennis still resigned later.

Based on reporting in the earlier post; sounded like this mutual interest between Dennis and the Rockets is no longer.


Not the sexiest of candidates... One question is if Stone leaves, does Patrick want to step in, or stay as an assistant GM, and go under the wings of the next hire to keep learning.

 

I'm pretty confident that Stone & Silas are on the same page at this point of the rebuild - everything is going according to well established timeline and most of these players are ahead of schedule in terms of individual development.
When you break down some of the stats, what Silas has gotten out of these kids is significant.
Most young teams don't take good shots or play decent defense, this team is at the top of the league (4th) in terms of shot profile and percentage of uncontested shots. Despite being the league's worst shooting team, they are only out shot by their opponents by 0.6%. Their defense keeps them in a lot of games - what young team plays good defense ?!
82% of their minutes come from guys 23 or younger. Double the next closest team (OKC).

Then there's the $62,203,370 in dead money .... which is 84.5% of their ($73,527,098) total salary obligations for the season, 26.6% of which is spent on Eric Gordon not having fun.

I think he gets a chance to show what he can do with a roster more balanced and built for winning rather than acquiring lottery picks. He's earned that opportunity .... and you can always blame it on Tilman being cheap, not wanting to pay him to go away .... and having to pay his replacement.

 

That's a good question .... and its tough to answer right this second because we don't know where they'll be drafting.

Obviously if you draft Wemby, I think you are in the market for a top flight point guard.

If you draft 2-6 you are probably taking one of the highly rated PG prospects and looking to add a quality big man to the roster.

Either way, you supplement that thru free agency or trade - you aren't limited to one or the other and can use your cap space in either. The options are pretty much limitless with the amount of cap space & draft assets they have going forward.

If they are adding a big, Myles Turner is the obvious target.

For guards, there was a time I thought FVV was a prime candidate but he's having a very down year and might be damaged goods physically, probably need to look elsewhere for a guard and most likely a trade scenario because there really aren't any quality guards in FA.

 

Maybe not .... but for you to draft a superstar, one has to be available .... it takes a little luck. Not just getting #1 but having worthy players in the draft to pick from .... remember Kenyon Martin went #1 in 2000 or a draft where Luka falls to #3 and you hope you aren't the guy who took Marvin Bagley #2.

Looking back at that 2000 draft, that might be the worst group of prospects ever ..... 2000 NBA draft - Wikipedia

 

I am wondering how much to make of some of the stats .

we ARE getting “efficient” shots , but the fact that no one on our team can make them might be playing into that .

I’m not even saying stone hasn’t done OK . But if the bar is 3 years being bad and MAybe / we’ll see / turn it around next year ... that’s a job I could do .

If we excuse the suckage because we are young , but also being young is a choice ...

If we aren’t .500 next year and our young guys don’t show significant growth they should both be fired .

I can’t believe that being the worst team in the nba for 3 years and then being .500 is the bar ... but hey , this is rockets basketball !

 

What was the alternative to the youth movement?

Hope Victor Oladipo becomes James Harden? The mediocrity treadmill for the next X years?

Going young was the most logical step to achieve the ultimate goal - winning championships.

I've made similar statements - If they can't make the postseason next year, they should all be fired.

The bar isn't simply going .500 but improving year over year after the draft talent acquisition phase.

But if they win 20 something games this year and 40 something the next, that's a solid improvement, the question is, what's next?

We have to give them time to see the plan thru and that means next season is the critical one in regard to these players.

 

I think Myles Turner is an obvious candidate. Unfortunately, there will be other teams going pretty hard after him. Unless this team shows serious improvement before season's end, we are not going to be high on a lot of players' free agency list. What we will have on our side is that a lot of the good teams will have a limited amount of space to make free agent signing and will be forced to simply fill in the gaps.

As for Turner, I would like to make a trade for him now using Gordon and the Milwaukee pick. Get a trial run for the remainder of the year and, if possible, see if there is something we could add to get Nembhard in it as well. The Bucks pick on its own doesn't hold a lot of positive value for me, so I'd like to use it in what ever Gordon trade to help get actual players rather than just dumping his salary. If not, we just press on with free agency.

I'm going to throw specific names out there. While some may not agree with who they are or how they fit, they should represent the general quality of plyer that we can get (and I would be very interested to see anyone else's ideas for specific player signings).

Draft
I am just going to assume that we miss out on the top spots and assign us #5. At that spot, I would probably be looking at Cason Wallace. He should be a good two-way PG who protects the ball and isn't necessarily a score-first player. More 3 & D.

As I said before, I really don't even want to mess with the Buck's pick at #28-30. It's second round talent with a guaranteed contract. It needs to be used in a trade somewhere.

Free Agency
Myles Turner would be my top choice. Rim protection and 3-point range will help this team out a lot. I'd like to get him for around his current contract, but he is having a good year, and assuming there will be multiple bidders, I'm going to say that $30M is what it will take to get it done (but after some of the contracts last year, I will not be at all surprised if it takes the max of $37M).

Bruce Brown is who I would target for PG. I think the KPG as PG experiment has failed, so this would give the team a chance to move him into a 6th Man role in order to try to preserve the value of his contract. He would be a good mentor to draft pick Wallace in that he is defensive-minded and can guard multiple positions. He doesn't shoot a ton of threes but consistently hits them in the 40% range. This one is a little tricky because Brown signed much cheaper than expected last summer, but it was to play with Jokic and the Nuggets. However, he only signed for two years (2/$13) with a player option on the second year. If he opts out, which could be an option with the emergence of Bones Hyland, I would offer him 4/$60M.

Finally, to add just a straight-up sharpshooter, I would look at Georges Niang on a 3/$15M contract. He doesn't bring a lot other than being a dead-eye from 3, but that is something this team sorely needs.

Those three signings along with the #5 pick would add about $57M in salary to the 23/24 roster. The team should have between $61-65M available. None of these players are world beater on their own, but should help balance out the roster and improve the players who are already here while having room to grow, themselves.

Brown/Wallace
Green/KPJ
Tari/Niang
Smith/Tate
Turner/Sengun

TyTy/Garuba/Matthews/JC/Bruno

 

90% of being an NBA GM is just good luck so why not spread it around rather than hiring some retread who will get rolled by the owners son (which is probably everyone)

 

I don’t think it’s the GM. I think it’s the coach.

 

Never suggested anyone would bc no one in their right mind trades their top 2 pick in year one or 2 especially when your team is in developing mode. I am just pointing out you awesome Mobley isn't playing that much better than Jabari so it's not like he is setting the world on fire.

 

Dude it doesn't matter what pick # they were.

Mobley who "isn't playing that much better" is literally crushing Smith Jr in advanced / efficiency based stats (and did as a rookie) and has been nearly unanimously seen as a future longtime star - he had people arguing his all star case last year.

Meanwhile people are wondering why Smith was ever ranked at #1 on anyone's draft board and at least for now looks like a high end role player at best. All star votes are not on his current menu, and frankly given some of the warning signs of his in-close game and disappointing athleticism, It's not hard to see why

That's why it's crazy to consider them on the same plane. Has nothing to do with draft pick vakue

 

Silas never stood a chance. Neither did Stone. Whether they deserve that chance or not. The team was at the bottom of the barrel. It was and is going to take 6-8 years to develop the talent. It can't and couldn't be done by either before getting the axe. They are placeholders for that alone. Their best-case scenario is to get credit for the development. But they will likely be gone before even that happens.

 

I'll admit they did have their work cut out for them, but I am a bit more optimistic than you on their chances for survival .... I think they have done a pretty solid job thus far and several of these young players are trending in the right direction .... Tilman knows the timeline has been 2023 from the moment Harden walked out the door, If they can manage to make the playoffs next year, which shouldn't be terribly difficult if they get it right this offseason - draft / FA, I can see them both sticking around thru an extension.

Next season is critical for both Stone & Silas .... It's winning time.

 

Fraudeax=Bradeaux

 

I just view it as lack of luck. Really hurts we didn't get the top pick in last draft as Banchero does look like a franchise player. Mobley might be better than Green, but we'd be getting a different Mobley with our roster. Possible he wouldn't be as a good, but also possible it would make him better.

Otherwise, our roster is just about acquiring young talent without a care for the fit. I will start looking at Stone sideways if he doesn't start pruning this roster by the deadline. We are on track to have 9 FRP from 2021-2023, that's just impossible to develop and form some coherence.

 

The moment Tilman took over things went to hell pretty quickly. Patrick Fertitta as GM would be catastrophe.

 

People who hate Silas still dont get the Rockets are tanking.