Rumors

Rafael Stone: “A lot of the stuff on social media—or the insiders—are just lies. Like, many of the insiders are not insiders. They're literally just talking to get clicks or to get views. There will be people who say, ‘I talked to a Rockets executive, and they're thinking this.’ And I know what I'm thinking, and I’m definitely not thinking that. And the odds that they somehow randomly talked to one of the three other people who are in discussions on this—who don't talk to the media at all—like, no, they didn’t talk to them. Right? There's no way. So they just went out there and lied. And maybe they talked to like, somebody in season ticket sales."

YouTube

Fullcourtpass: Rockets GM Rafael Stone on if there was any truth to the Giannis-to-Houston trade buzz at the beginning of the offseason "No. I deal well with Jon Horst (Bucks GM), I really like him. Jon was very clear that they weren’t doing anything. So, that was that." (h/t @BucksRealm )

x.com

Brian Windhorst: I think the Rockets are like it's not ideal, but I don't think they would panic if they go into the season with Kevin Durant just on the contract that he's on just on the on the expiring deal. So well, this is one of the things I talked about when Durant was on the market about whether a team looked at Durant as a expire would be comfortable with him on an expiring contract or felt that they needed to give him a two-year 110 to 120 million extension and that that was going to affect what teams would pay for him. And as you said, the the you know, and I'll say this, Rafael Stone, since he's been the GM of the of the Rockets, he's signed quite a few giant contracts, but a lot most of them have been short.

YouTube

Green said that he was notified of the trade first in a call from Rockets general manager Rafael Stone, and then by his agent. Stone said this week that the decision to part with Green was not an easy one, adding that Green "did everything we asked."

Houston Chronicle

"His work ethic is just awesome," Stone said. "The speed at which he goes, not in a game ... but the speed at which he practices and the intensity at which he practices is something that has made him great over the years, and it started when he was very young. So of all the things that I hope rubs off, that's the main one, I think, is that practice makes perfect. And I think one of the reasons he's had such an excellent career is because of the intensity with which he works day in, day out."

ESPN

Another guard on the roster, Reed Sheppard, is expected to continue to grow as well. Stone shared a quick challenge during that interview with the media on Sheppard. “Reed (Sheppard) is just going to have to be real good for us, period.”

Clutch Points

Adam Wexler: Official: #Rockets announced the 7-team trade to acquire Kevin Durant & Clint Capela w/ Atlanta, Brooklyn, Golden State, the LA Lakers, Minnesota & Phoenix. Details below plus comments from GM Rafael Stone & HC Ime Udoka on Durant & outgoing Jalen Green & Dillon Brooks.

Twitter

Initially, Rafael Stone and the Rockets organization made public and private commitments to their developing young core. They emphasized that trading away these promising players for a superstar was not part of their strategy. However, circumstances shifted in recent weeks, according to ESPN's Brian Windhorst. "I believe he wanted to have his young team grow, but something happened the last few weeks," said Brian Windhorst. "Ime Udoka, who had him in his Brooklyn—Royal Ivey is on his staff—he was his teammate at Texas. He wanted him. He went to ownership and front office and said 'Can we can get Kevin Durant? Get him.'"

RealGM

Over multiple weeks of discussions with Phoenix, with Rockets general manager Rafael Stone leading the talks, Houston maintained a firm stance in its refusal to include young players like Reed Sheppard, Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason, team sources told The Athletic. The Rockets refused to give up the Suns’ 2027 and 2029 first-round selections as well, no matter how motivated the Suns were to recoup those prized picks (they sent them to Brooklyn in the February 2023 Durant deal, and the Rockets landed them in a June 2024 deal with the Nets).

New York Times

Adam Spolane: Here is Rafael Stone's response when he was asked to evaluate Jalen Green's series against the Warriors how how he balances that with what he saw over the course of the regular season pic.x.com/S0HtEEqhPQ

Twitter

Adam Wexler: #Rockets GM Rafael Stone on the possibility of extensions for Tari Eason & Jabari Smith Jr., he said he won’t comment on any those possibilities, but did say, “They are very important parts of what we do. They are both really, really solid guys. I love those guys.”

Twitter

Danielle Lerner: Rockets GM Rafael Stone said that he still values roster continuity as a method of improvement. That won't prevent the Rockets from making changes, but "The bar for change is very high," Stone said.

bsky.app

Danielle Lerner: Rafael Stone: “We are not a team built around any one player offensively, whether it’s Jalen, Alperen or Amen.”

bsky.app

Danielle Lerner: Rafael Stone declined to comment on specific contractual negotiations but said on Fred VanVleet: “He's been the person and player that we hoped we were getting and we're very optimistic he’ll be with us for the foreseeable future."

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