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Rafael Stone on the expectations for Kevin Durant in Houston: "Obviously when you trade for somebody of Kevin Durant's stature, it's very important that you have good conversations coming in about expectations. And he understood coming in that this wasn't going to be a situation where we're trading for him and now we're going to go get 75 veteran players to play with him, which sometimes happens, but it's not like that has a great track record of success. And so, he understood that he was coming in to play with a bunch of younger guys and that the team was probably going to look the way it looks now. And it has. And is best I can tell, you guys can ask him, but he really enjoys them."
Rafael Stone on Amen Thompson: "I think he's a very, very good basketball player. Since about halfway through his rookie year, we've been a materially better team when he's on the court. And he keeps getting better. I thought he had a really good year last year. He just got better and better and better and better. And he helps our team on the court in literally every way you can. We turn the ball over less, we turn the other team over more, we rebound better, we shoot a higher percentage, we shoot free throws better. Everything's better with Amen Thompson. So yeah, we're very, very high on him."
Oh No He Didn't: "Rafael Stone and Ime Udoka have talked about wanting to get your minutes down at points this season..." Kevin Durant: "Why? I'm better on the court. The team is better when I'm on the court. That's what I'm supposed to be training for is to play the long haul, 48 minutes a night If the game needs me to be out there, I wanna be out there"
Ben Dubose: #Rockets GM Rafael Stone tells me that Kevin Durant reiterated at the end of last season “how happy he is here” and that he wants to be in Houston. As things stand, KD has a player option on his contract for the 2027 offseason.
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Adam Wexler: #Rockets GM Rafael Stone on Kevin Durant "His fit's been really good. It feels like he's really happy to be here, he's been a good teammate. He just wants to hoop, which fits great with our culture. We'll definitely sit down and talk at the end of this year (as he reaches the player option on his contract)."
Big Sarge Media: “It was pretty easy, said Houston Rockets GM Rafael Stone about getting the 5-year, $208 million contract extension done for G/F Amen Thompson. “He wants to be here and we want to be with him.” #Rockets #Sarge @TheRocketsWire
Franchise Segun: Rockets GM Rafael Stone on visiting Alperen Şengün in Türkiye: "We had some good conversations at the end of last year. Part of it was Alpi putting pressure on me [to communicate better]." Stone added that Şengün specifically asked to hear from him more often, whether it was "good, bad, or ugly."
Lachard Binkley: After having one of the leagues lowest scoring benches last season I asked Rafael Stone how much better the bench will be this season adding players like Marcus Smart and Bogdan Bogdanović. “We wanted to be more skilled and they’re both highly skilled players.”
Lachard Binkley: Rafael Stone talked about the veterans brought in this past offseason but also spoke what will ultimately determine the Rockets success this season. “Our team only gets to where we want to get if our younger players continue to really improve so the onus is still on them.”
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Chancellor Johnson: Rafael Stone spent two weeks over the offseason in Turkey hanging out with his All-Star Alperen Sengun. Asked him about it and he revealed an interesting conversation he had with Alpi that helped spark the trip 🇹🇷 “It was a great experience, beautiful country, really nice people.”
ClutchFans: Rockets GM Rafael Stone NBA Summer League interview: - Really likes rookie Bruce Thornton - the unique build, physicality, shotmaking and ability to take care of the ball. Test will be if he can translate that to the next level. - Very excited about Marcus Smart's versatility. "Feels like a Rocket so I'm glad we could finally make it happen." He says he's happy with him defending any position, including at center. - Loves the defensive switchability options the Rockets now have with Smart, Jabari, Tari and Amen. - Wants to take the minutes load off of Kevin Durant this season. - Says Reed Sheppard has "put on a ton of good weight, a bunch of muscle."
Varun Shankar: Rafael Stone spoke to media for ~8 minutes. Couple big takeaways - As of right now, everyone is on track to be a full go at training camp - Wanted to add more ballhandling/passing, felt like they did that w Bogi and Smart - Guesstimated that Reed Sheppard added ~10 pounds
