Give Stone his credit

You mean the "huge negative" years we were intentionally tanking sucked? I get people didn't agree with "the process" but he drafted well given the picks and has so far pivoted well to a winning culture.

 

So much this. Tanking sucked but it appears we have a good foundation of talent and coaching.

I still think there is some cause for concern Stone can have similar in the next phase because this a whole different ball game in asset management and talent acquisition.

Let's be honest, some folks took it very personally how the Rockets tanked.

 

If you want give some kind of credit to the train wreck that Stone has been as a GM, that is fine. But you have to go on the record against plenty of well sourced media people criticizing the guy, the closest thing we have to insiders on this site and the eye test.

I think its better for everyone actually, its kind of a litmus test. If someone thinks this is competence that tells you a lot.

 

This is Stone's team basically from top to bottom.

He should get credit for the success, if any, that comes.

 

Stone wanted Harden back and Ime said no but Stone hired Ime because Celtics fired him.

So who gets the credit?

 

This.

And most impressive to me is that he had the fortitude to stick to the plan despite the ever increasing whinging and whining from a myopic fanbase willing to cheat the process just to achieve temporary mediocrity.

He had a plan, sold ownership on it, and stuck to it diligently.
And now it appears to be bearing good fruit.

 

No one is going to agree with you but you are right, I have had several arguments about them tanking, and it comes down to definition of tanking - Stone set up conditions he knew would lead to a high draft pick, was that tanking - in a way, YES, but is it intentionally losing - not really but he knew what he was doing.

Now the question is....whose hire was IME? If the rumors are true and Stone wanted Vogel and Tillman wanted IMe then Tillman is the key....

DD

 

Are y'all really trying to say that Stone intentionally hired Silas and brought in KPJ to run the team knowing it would tank our team, destroy chemisty and impede development for 3 seasons?

If that were the case, that makes him look even worse as a GM! It's been stated over and over again, TANKING IS NOT A SKILL. I'm sorry, but he doesn't get any credit for 3 tanking seasons. He maybe starts on even ground if the Rockets make the playoffs this season since he'll have mostly made up for all his missteps. Even then, he needs to be monitored closely due to his past failings. It isn't uncommon that a GM is replaced at some point in a team's evolution to take the next step, sometimes it's needed.

 

You know that Ime was Tillman's call. Ime saved Stone's job. Stone just needed to hand over the wheel, which I give him credit for.

 

https://www.si.com/nba/rockets/news...A's annual GM,Blazers, and Los Angeles Lakers.

You are right, it is a litmus test that tells you a lot.

 

What had Stone done that put him in the hot seat? You mean Tank that resulted in lottery talents Jalen Green, Jabari Smith and Amen Thompson?

Y'all are the thickest people ever. You cant have the team we have today if Stone didn't tank and clear capspace the last 3 yrs. Is the concept so complex y'all can't understand it?

 

They are called swings.

You take risks when rebuilding.

Get over KPJ. It didn’t work out, big ****ing deal.

 

He got 40M because his contract is unguaranteed. This is another point the lower level posters here can't understand.

We didn't "overpay" for FVV because the only way to get his contract unguaranteed is give him more money upfront. That flexibility is well worth the additional 20M because the Rox aren't paying anyone else anyway that 20M is just savings for Tilman Fertita.

 

The funny thing is KPJ didn't even cost much. Protected 2nd round pick and cash but these genius posters think we used a top 5 lotto or something.

 

This has been rehashed so many times dude. Our locker room was considered to be one of the worst in professional sports under Stone's guidance. We benched Sengun under Stone's guidance. Centering the rebuild around our former PG, and completely neglecting Jalen and and Jabari was a Stone call. You can tank and obtain top picks without destroying your locker room, and you can still develop talent while tanking. You had people quick to call Jalen and Jabari busts because of a lack of both coaching and accountability due to the culture that Stone built. It was a complete joke.

Ime is working miracles turning this thing around. Stone said himself that he and Ime butt heads initially. Stone had some goofy ass vision that Ime bucked him on and thank goodness he did. Stone did nothing to help Jalen or Jabari because he was obsessed with a ticking time bomb.

So yes Tillman making the call to hire Udoka saved Stone's ass. I hope that wasn't a "thick" answer. Just how I see it.

 

You can criticize Stone for some things, but the vitriol on this is absurd.

Just to point out a few obvious things...

• NO, Silas was NOT part of a plan to tank. To even mention it is ridiculous because he was hired to coach Harden to a championship. That said, it worked out.
• NO, KPJ was NOT part of a plan to tank. Read Clutch's article on the front page. It would look better if it was, but I could bicker about a lot of the details here.
  
• Why is everyone whining about tanking and about people crediting Stone for enduring the bad years? Cleary, some of the fanbase is livid about it. You don't think it takes an incredibly thick skin to ignore you a-holes and continue to do your job? That IS a skill I compliment Stone on. Talk to Durant if you don't agree.

 

I'm enjoying this season too much to care at this point. You win. Stone is the man. Let's keep the streak going.

 

If the locker room was "destroyed" for 3 yrs it wouldn't be "fixed" a couple weeks into the season. It's not Stone's job to help players, that's the coach's job. Stone's job is to hire Ime (he did) and pick the players that would work well under Ime (he did). If you are heaping all the blame on Stone for 3 years you can't turn around snd then say it's all Ime's doing now. How can the same GM be behind everything Rox related and then suddenly not be involved in any decision a couple weeks later? Ime just got hired no matter how good he is he won't have 100% influence just a few months into the job. If what you said about culture is true the culture is worthless since you can have negative culture for years and then have 100% culture in just 3 weeks.

A lot of the stuff you said didn't even make any sense. Has Sengun not been developing while the Rox have been tanking? Pretty sure he has improved every year. Jalen, Jabari etc all have shown progress since their rookie days. Which Rox core is the same player since he got drafted? Amen? Lulz.

 

Silas was hired when we still had Harden....

You are too emotional over this tanking business.