Rafael Stone Discusses Kevin Durant Trade | Houston Rockets Interview | 2025 NBA Offseason

Rafael Stone Discusses Kevin Durant Trade | Houston Rockets Interview | 2025 NBA Offseason

Go ahead. You guys obviously got a lot older this summer and you know 10 of the draft picks you took between 2021 and 24, five of those guys are now gone. How would you assess how you and your staff have been able to evaluate and develop the young draft picks and do you see that shift towards experience going beyond this season? Uh to the very last question, I have no idea. We’re worried about this season. Um uh yeah, I mean in terms of just developing guys, I think I think we’re not a developmental team anymore. Um that shift probably happened a year or two ago and um and I think the goal for this group is to win basketball games and be as competitive as we can be. What was the biggest factor that made you guys want to acquire Kevin Durant? I mean, he’s Kevin Durant, you know? I think I think he’s just he’s really good. He’s super efficient. He had a great year last year. So, I mean, he’s obviously not um he’s not 30 anymore, but he hasn’t really fallen off and we just think uh yeah, we think he has a chance to really be impactful for us. What do you hope the young guys learn from Kevin Gron can take from him there around him? Yeah, we actually arranged for a bunch of those guys to work out with him last summer and the summer before. Um his just his work ethic is just awesome. Like his the speed at which he goes um not in a game. I mean, obviously, everyone tries hard in games, but the speed at which he practices and um and kind of the intensity at which he practices is something that um that has made him great over the years. And it started when he was very young. And so um so of all the things that that I hope I hope rubs off, that’s that’s the main one. I think I think 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. Eay uh Eay and Katie’s kind of relationship is pretty well documented. How much was EA a push for this trade and what was his reaction when this trade went through? I mean, you know, I think we organizationally we only do things when when it makes sense for all of us. And um and so he was he was definitely an advocate for it, but um but only in this way, you know, that that by no means was there pressure to do something like this. We thought um we were going to be a very good team coming back no matter what. Um and um when the when the deal came through in this manner, I think we all we all wanted to do it. What does Kevin bring that this team didn’t have last season? I mean, you know, he’s he has an easy time getting his own shot in the half court. He’s hyper efficient or has been hyper efficient in the half court. And um honestly, that’s that’s what he brings to every team. So no team that doesn’t have Kevin has his unique skill set. So so he’ll bring that here. Um there be for sure things we give up. Um but um but we like the trade-off. Rockets timeline to contend for a championship is kind of the same as as Kevin’s timeline of being. We were the number two seed last year and um and I think a very legitimate one and so we think we can contend now and we thought We won a close series. I mean, no, not one. We lost a close series last year and we thought we had a real chance of contending in the playoffs last year and we we hope to have a real chance of contending in the playoffs this year. Was it a difficult Was it a difficult decision to move on from Jaylen Green? Yeah, like Jaylen’s awesome. Um um he did everything we asked. He’s the a wonderful combination of talent and work ethic along with being just a great human being. Um, and anytime 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 for organizationally, we’ve valued him tremendously. So yeah, very hard. What was the thought process and moving on from it? I mean, it’s the NBA and you can only do trades if a certain amount of money goes out and a certain amount comes in and there’s some positional overlap or at least overlap in terms of of on ball presence and so that’s that’s what the deal requires. During the draft, um Cam Whitmore was able to fall to you all at 20 and you that draft like you said that he was, you know, very good talent, should have been a top five talent. What went into the decision to move on from him? I just think, yeah, we’re just not a developmental team right now. It’s really like we wanted to provide Cam with the opportunity to do in his career what we still believe he very much can do. So, I think um I think Cam’s insanely talented, really nice young man and wanted to provide him an opportunity to go home and and and be in a situation where he could 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. more offers for him as well. Excuse me. Were there more offers uh for you all? There was a lot of interest in Cam. Do you feel like this roster is augmented well to kind of supplement Kevin strengths and protect him at at year 30 or you know year 19 age 37? Yeah, I mean and on paper, but like you know everything everything has to play out. But we we we do we like the fit. We we think it we think it works well. We think he will add to us and we think we will help him. Well, you said he’s not 30 anymore. He’s obviously going to be 37 in September. What allowances will you guys make understanding the training spectacular? His production has not tailed off, but he did play 62 games, I believe, last year. I mean, you know, he’ll play when he can play and and we’re we we have what again is just on paper, but on paper is a very deep roster, and when he’s not able to play, other guys will step up. Would you like to add to your guard depth or do you feel confident going into next season with your current back court? I mean, I I I like our team as is. We’ll we always look for opportunities to do various things, but we’re hardcapped at the first apron and we have no space left. So, I think very likely we’ll enter the season, you know, looking very similar the way we look at right now. Pretty hard not to. Where do you hope to see Reed Shepard grow and next season? I mean, Re is going to have to be really good for us like period. What have your initial conversations with Kevin and what do you think attracted him to this situation? Um, I mean, I think he liked our team. I like lots of like he would, you know, lots of people liked our team. We were, we were a very young, very, very good team last year. So, I I assume that that’s the obvious and what attracted him. Um, in terms of my initial conversations, he’s been great. Like, super excited to be here. Um, excited to get started, excited to get to know the young guys, just be a part of it all. Sounds sounds wonderful. But it’s also it’s July. That’s that’s you know every you know hope springs eternal so we you know for all of us we’re going to have to put in the work and and earn everything we get. The Clint Propella signing does that sort of signal a willingness to go more double big next year? For sure. We we we love that lineup uh once we discovered it last year. We thought it was really really effective for us. Um, also Clint just adds something we don’t have um, uh, in terms of being kind of, uh, 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 and as we’re trying to make it through the season, we don’t want there to be huge drop off. So, we did not anticipate going into free agency that we would be able to get Clint, but we’re ecstatic when when that materialized. has been announced yet, but do you mind if I ask you about Jabari? Just extending him and and that decision. Yeah. No, I mean, we’re we’re we’re super happy to extend Jabari. Like, he’s an enormous part of what we’re doing, what we did last year, what we did the year before and the year before that, and what we what we think our future is. So, Jabari is super important to us. How much of moving a man back to his natural position of guard went into also being being able to bring in Kevin Durant? Yeah, I mean Amen makes a lot of what we do possible because you can just kind of decide that he today he’s a point guard, tomorrow he’s an offguard, then he be a power forward, we play him as center like that’s that’s one of the one of the great things about a man and and his particular skill set is that it allows it allows you to slot other players in very easily. I know he’ll probably bring a lot. What is the biggest thing you hope that Kevin Durant will add to your team or bring to your team? Yeah, I mean I think he’s um uh offensively he’s still dynamic. He’s super efficient. Um he’s he’s a high volume scorer, you know, at that high level of efficiency and hopefully he just makes us a better offensive team while at the same time being another really long, very capable wing defender. And so um yeah, so we again we just hope he adds him the the player that he’s been for the last two decades almost. no longer a developmental team. Do you feel like the window the championship window has opened up for you all? Especially with acquiring Kevin Durant. I mean, our our goal is definitely to win a championship, but it I don’t know about the window opening or closing or whatever else. The in order to be a champion, you have to beat them. OKC Oklahoma City had just an amazing year last year, an amazing run in the playoffs. That’s extremely high bar. And there’s other really great teams all around the NBA. So, I I think it’s way too early to to talk about championships other than for obvious reasons that’s that’s our goal. What were some of the factors that went in what were some of the factors that went into signing Dwayne Tony Smith as opposed to some of the other available free agents this offseason? I mean, we we felt like we really wanted Dylan. Well, I talked earlier about Jay Jaylen, but Dylan, you know, we is was everything we could have asked in terms of being a a great person on and off the court and with and we felt like his defense and intensity were things we really were really important to us and we uniquely thought Dorian has some of those same um traits and so he was a target for us going in because we were worried about about losing is how this team matches up against Oklahoma city something you guys thought about more so than all the other 28 teams perhaps? No, I think we’re just trying to put together the best team we can. How about just an added bonus to seemingly be able to improve the three-point shooting with with Dorian or Kevin or just in general? I mean, it’s it’s we we were really good at getting our misses. It would be better if they went in the first time, but like we just want to score. We want to be as good offensively as we can. We don’t we don’t really care how. Um, having said that, no one turns down shooting. We talked a lot about the play. We talked a lot about the players, but what did it mean to bring DJ Augustine into the organization? DJ’s my guy. I’m very happy to have him in our front office. Thank you. Thank you, guys.

Houston Rockets general manager Rafael Stone speaks to media after the Kevin Durant trade was made official.

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