The Rockets weren't good enough without spending resources on a contingency plan, and likely needed to make a trade at the deadline if things went the Rockets way. Spending long term resources on a short term contingency plan would have been bad, and would have made it difficult to pivot to long term. As it stands, the Rockets can let most of the bad money on the books disappear next season, and either look for a trade for a star now or pivot back to acquiring a ton of long-term resources.
Basically this. I think Stone is willing to give depth a try, but isn't going to go hog wild trading FRPs for short-term success without a star. Spend use it or lose cap exceptions, sure.
Yeah but trading for a 37 year old puts a timeline on the franchise that rushes the development of the younger players. We're basically doing the two timeline thing that failed so miserably for Golden State. Who knows what Wiseman, Kuminga, and Moody could've been if they were allowed to grow properly. If he wants to go slow, go slow. If he wants to go fast, go fast. Fred went down before the season started last year and if the goal was for this to be a KD team, he had to do something about it at least by the deadline. If he doesn't think we're ready then trade KD for someone younger. Playing both ways is playing scared.
Amen and Sengun are already good players. KD was acquired with one FRP to play with them in their 3rd and 5th years plus 2 more. If Amen and Sengun have a timeline, it has likely already started. The Warriors spent a lot more value on Wiseman, Kuminga, and Moody than the Rockets did on Durant. How many 10th picks in a top heavy draft would it take to get the No. 2 pick, No. 7 pick, and a No. 14 pick? 7? 8? Even then, the Rockets can still flip Durant for a FRP if they wanted. The Rockets despite popular belief did not sell the farm in the 2025 offseason. The Rockets did not chase sunk costs at the deadline.
I just don’t get how they had no contingency for Fred. How on earth did they think Sheppard was ready or that Amen can just step in and be a starting pg?
I never said we went all in for KD. I said that if we want him to be the star then we should. And like you said, if we don't want to do that yet then we can and should trade him again. My point is that either of those is a good option. But right now, we're in between them. We have KD and we have picks and an incomplete roster. Either trade KD and build slow or keep KD and trade assets to build out the team now. I was cool with Stone till last year. We lost FVV early enough to pivot but he just sat there and did nothing. You can't punt seasons when your best player is 37. I'll be very disappointed if the roster isn't drastically different by the start of next season.
I don't think so, I think they had the idea he a shooter in the mold of Curry 2.0. Castle was the "If he can shoot" guy .... If that's your perception of both players at the time, it's not hard to pick Reed.
The Rockets lost the #10 pick in the 2025 trade for Kevin Durant. Doesn't seem like a lot until you realize you #2,#3,#4,#3 picks haven't developed like you hoped. It also becomes a bigger deal when you trade out of the draft for the following season, and it is the most loaded draft in years. Can the Rockets flip KD for the #10 in this draft? No, I don't think so. Can they get a late 1st? Yeah I am sure. Then again part of the #10 cost was that the Suns had to take back a negative contract in Jalen Green.... someone that Stone had just signed less than a year earlier Last off season was a very bad one for the Rockets and Stone -- they spent a lot of money and got very little in return outside of the KD production in the regular season. They also got capped by pushing up to the apron. For reference on the contracts, Bobby Marks has the FDS, Capela, FVV and Adams contracts as all underwater.... and the Green extension. That isn't good.
Because they aren't great at this. It is the same reason that they doubled down on older and injury prone players. The same reason that they are not adding any new assistants or changing the structure of the basketball operations department. I really question the front office's ability to spot talent. They are cautious, they usually are prepared and they don't react impulsively - but they aren't really all that good either.
I too don’t think the Green pick was terrible, although not being able to get Mobley in for a workout is bad. What I do blame Stone for is his terrible job of developing Green. Sticking him in the back court with KPJ for his first 2 yrs, with no structure and that organic learning approach was terrible. Just terrible for our most important draft prospect in two decades. So bad that Jalen actually I regressed in his sophomore season. I wonder if Jalen would have gotten off on a better track in an organization like SA or OKC. Maybe his shooting consistency would have been better with a really good shooting coach. A big fail by Stone…more for the player development than the pick itself.
Ime was okay for the last phase, but he sure as hell isn't the guy from here on. Incompetent, to say the least, on the offensive side. And, surprisingly clueless on HIS side. There's no accountability. Like Bobby said, he throws the players under the bus every chance he gets. Dudes got character issues, and really isn't very smart either. Amen's been playing out of position, and it takes away from everything else he's off the charts at. He needs to play with a true PG. Secondary ball handler. That doesn't change what he has. This kid is a blend of cerebral and athletic that's absolutely unique. Whether he gets that J from Downtown or not, Amen will be a perennial All Star. If he gets it, top 3 - 4 player in the League. What's he 21 or 22!?! Against GS last year, he was willing us to victory before he got hurt There's a lot more where that came from.
I didn’t get the Silas years either when the team had few vers with winning experience to guide them. DJ Augustin, Olynek, and John Wall weren’t the proper mentors for that young team. On the Mobley workout issue, he didn’t work out with anyone and said he wanted to play for OKC. Not working out with teams doesn’t eliminate them from drafting the player. Jabari only worked out for Orlando and OKC. I just think we didn’t like Mobley and I have no regrets for them not drafting him
Getting KD certainly set higher expectations but I don't think it ever signified a "two timeline approach". Especially considering Amen, Sengun, and Jabari played several seasons before KD came on.
We didn't "lose the 10th pick".... it didn't go missing. KD is greater than the 10th pick in the 2025 draft. The draft is important but why do some of yall keep acting like it's not a mystery box
to be clear, Mobley didn’t work out for us because his father was part of that USC staff when KPJ got kicked off the team, and didn’t want his son playing with him. That’s well documented…unfortunately.
Why do we act like there isn't a big difference between a player out for an entire season vs 20/30 games. Injury prone isn't blowing out your ACL in the offseason, that's bad luck. The contingency for normal injuries in the modern NBA for FVV was Reed, Amen, and Sengun. Do we have a "contingency" plan for our defense if Amen is out for an entire season? Of course not, because that's now how NBA teams operate....
A second year guy who is unproven and didn’t play well last year is not a contingency. A combo guard that has not played point first 2 years in the league is not a contingency plan. Your analogy with Amen isn’t about position. Defense isn’t a position. They were missing a positional player and decided to fill that void with inexperienced players. That’s the problem
those were rumors and not really widely reported. There are a couple reports that said he was not interested but he didn’t express any interest in any team publicly except for OKC. He didn’t work out for any other teams either. Just because a player isn’t interested doesn’t mean you don’t draft them.
The Rockets essentially had Harden, picks that became Green, JSJ, Amen, the backend of OKC-Hou swap rights in 2025, and a ton of garbage when Stone became GM. No. 2 Pick was a bust. No. 3 pick is below average, but not a bust. No. 4 pick is well above average even if not a star. Harden and backend of the OKC swap became Durant, Tari, Reed, 27 Nets, 27 Suns, 29 Suns, 29 Dallas swap. Whine about Reed, No. 10 pick for Durant, but Stone created those assets. As bad as you want to say the Rockets used those assets, Stone's acquisition of them in a very Rockets-friendly deal essentially cancels the bad of trading them out. The best offer that I've seen to the Nets was the Herro, scrubs, and a 1st. I personally would rather have Durant, Tari, Reed, 27 Nets, 27 Suns, 29 Suns, 29 Dallas swap over either the Harden and backend of OKC swap or the Miami deal by a ton. Ton of garbage became Sengun. On contracts being underwater, the DFS one is the only one that could been used for value eslewhere. However, it will expire next year, so no long-term harm. FVV, Adams, and Capela contracts were essentially free contracts that only cost tilman money. Being close to the apron did not stop the Rockets from making any deal for a player of substance. Having those contracts on the books is potentially more useful in trades than saving Tillman money and being farther below the apron. Granted, I think many people don't understand that having short underwater contracts (within reason) that can be traded as salary filler is more desirable when over the cap, under the 2nd apron, and having draft capital. than not having the contracts at all.
