Rockets Rumors

Asked on Monday about the biggest factor that made the Rockets want to make a deal for Kevin Durant, general manager Rafael Stone offered a simple answer, per Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required).

“He’s Kevin Durant,” Stone said.

Stone went on to laud Durant’s shooting efficiency and prowess as a half-court scorer, suggesting that adding that dimension to the offense should make Houston a more well-rounded team. He’s also looking forward to seeing what the team’s young players learn from the 15-time All-Star.

“His work ethic is just awesome,” Stone said. “The speed at which he practices and kind of the intensity of which he practices is something that has made him great over the years, and it started when he was very young. And so of all the things that that I hope rubs off, that’s the main one.”

There was some uncertainty entering the offseason about how aggressive the Rockets would be in their pursuit of Durant, given that he’s entering his age-37 season and doesn’t necessarily fit the timeline of the club’s young core. Asked about that line of thinking, Stone suggested that Houston is no longer a “developmental” team and that he believes those young players are ready to win now.

“We were the No. 2 seed (in the West) last year, and I think a very legitimate one. And so we think we can contend now,” Stone said. “We lost a close series last year, and we thought we had a real chance of contending in the playoffs last year, and we hope to have a real chance of contending in the playoffs this year.”

Here’s more from the Rockets’ GM:

• The fact that Houston is no longer a “developmental” team is one reason why the front office felt like it made sense to move on from 2023 first-round pick Cam Whitmore, Stone explains. “We want to provide Cam with the opportunity to do in his career what we still believe he very much can do,” the GM said. “I think Cam is an insanely talented, really nice young man, and wanted to provide him an opportunity to go home and be in a situation where he could really play through mistakes in a way that we never could afford him, just in the iteration of the of the Rockets that he joined.”
• Including former No. 2 overall pick Jalen Green in the package for Durant was necessary due to salary-matching rules, but wasn’t easy, according to Stone. “Jalen is awesome. He did everything we asked,” Stone said. “He’s a wonderful combination of talent and work ethic, along with being just a great human being. And any time that you have the privilege to work with someone who is talented and works really hard and is really nice, you should value it. And so organizationally, we’ve valued him tremendously. So yeah, very hard.”
• Asked whether the Rockets still want to add more backcourt depth, Stone said the team will always be on the lookout for upgrades, but expressed skepticism that there are still meaningful moves on the way before the season begins (YouTube link). “I like our team as is,” he said. “… We’re hard-capped at the first apron and we have no space left, so I think very likely we’ll enter the season looking very similar to the way we look now. It’s pretty hard not to.”
• One reason the Rockets are comfortable with their current guards is a belief that 2024’s No. 3 overall pick Reed Sheppard is ready to take on a larger role. “Reed’s just going to have to be really good for us, period,” Stone said (YouTube link).
• Stone confirmed that the free agency addition of Clint Capela signals the Rockets’ willingness to lean on two-big lineups more in 2025/26 (YouTube link). “We loved that lineup once we discovered it last year. We thought it was really, really effective for us,” he said. “Also, Clint just adds something we don’t have in terms of being a center who can move a little bit easier on the perimeter, also as a lob threat. Finally, we just think depth is super-important. As we’re trying to make it through the season, we don’t want there to be huge drop-offs. We did not anticipate going into free agency that we would be able to get Clint, but we were ecstatic when that materialized.”