Rockets Kevin Durant Era OFFICIALLY Begins | Rafael Stone Speaks | Reed Sheppard READY For Big Role?

Rockets Kevin Durant Era OFFICIALLY Begins | Rafael Stone Speaks | Reed Sheppard READY For Big Role?

On today’s show, the July moratorum is over and Kevin Durant, Clint Capella, and Dorian Finny Smith are all now officially members of your Houston Rockets. Rafel Stone addressed the media and gave his thoughts on the Kevin Durant trade as well as a variety of other topics. Why the Dorian Finny Smith deal is such a win for Houston and when can we expect to hear from Kevin Durant himself. It’s all coming up right here at Locked on Rockets. This is mission control Houston. Ignition sequence start. 6 5 4 3 2 1 zero. What is up and welcome to another edition of Locked on Rockets, your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball. As always, I’m your host, Jackson Gatlin, native Houstononian and credentialed media member. I’m also the host of Locked on NBA Thursdays. Be sure to follow along wherever you listen to your podcasts or on YouTube. Just search Locked on Rockets where the best way you can help us grow our show is to listen every single day on a podcast platform of your choosing and then like, comment, subscribe on YouTube. Now, today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can get $150 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. Just head on over to fanduel.com to check them out. And as always, thanks so much for making Locked on Rockets part of your day every single day, whether it’s on your way to work, on your lunch break, in the gym. Thank you so much for being an everydayer. The moratorum is over and the Rockets look like a completely different team. Now these are all We knew the KD trade was happening. We knew the Capella trade and the DFS signing. It’s just it’s how the July moratorium works. The deals can’t become official until the moratorum is over. And that’s what happened Sunday afternoon. Deals officially come in. We get some specifics on the contracts and the terms and the historic 17 team trade that the Rockets were involved in to get Kevin Durant. It was basically still just the exact same trade um that we thought it was before between the Rockets and Suns. There weren’t any crazy moving parts floating around. Um on today’s show, we will be taking a look at some of the details that we know now that the deals are official. We’ll take a quick look at the uh intricacies of the Dorian Finny Smith contract, which is a gigantic win for the Rockets with how they structured it. We’ll also hear from Rafel Stone in his post Kevin Durant trade media availability, not an official press conference, but his first time talking to the media after the trade became official. We’ll run that segment uh we’ll run that clip back, the entire clip. It’s about 10 minutes long in segment two. And then I’ve got some thoughts to share on a couple of the different things that he said to the media in his availability. We’ll talk about that stuff in segment three. But here from the jump, um few things that I want to discuss to start the show before we get into Stones’s media availability. First and foremost, um yeah, Kevin Durant, Clinkapella, DFS, they are all officially members of the Houston Rockets. Um a lot of Rockets fans are wondering, you know, will we get an introductory press conference with Kevin Durant? And at least my understanding of the situation as it currently exists is that KD, you know, being the star that he is, has a lot of, you know, prior commitments, a lot of other obligations this summer. And it has made things difficult timing wise to try and figure out if the Rockets are going to be able to have like a, you know, full, you know, dog and pony show with, you know, KD and Houston and an intro presser like they did for for Dwight Howard or for Chris Paul and and and all that kind of stuff like you do when you get, you know, a star acquisition. Um, if they are able to pull something off, it’ll likely be sometime after summer league. definitely won’t be before summer league. So, don’t get your hopes up that we’ll hear from KD anytime soon. Um, but the more than likely outcome is that it would be pushed off until like I heard like maybe late August or early September. And because that kind of directly coincides with uh you know, it’s it’s pretty much you know not far off the you know, not far away from media day. if they weren’t able to get something done until like August or September in the first place, I could very realistically see them just rolling everything into media day. And so, as unfortunate as it is, we might not hear from Kevin Durant in any official capacity as an official member of the Houston Rockets until media day. Now, there is the off chance that we will hear from him at NBA Summer League. Oftent times, you know, current NBA players pull up to support their team, to hang out, to get to know their teammates, that kind of stuff. Um, so it’s not out of the realm of possibility for Kevin Durant to attend summer league. And he might speak in either an official or even slightly unofficial capacity while he’s there. Um, I actually won’t be attending summer league. This is my first time in four years not going to summer league to cover the Houston Rockets. They didn’t add a new draft pick. Reed Shepard’s going to play like two games and then get benched. Uh, it wasn’t in the cards for me this year, so I unfortunately won’t be there. But if KD is made available in any official capacity through the Houston Rockets, the media members that are there, um Daniel Learner, Kelly Eco, uh people like that will have the story and be able to interview him and ask questions. So that might be the first time that we hear from KD. Anyways, um so it’s disappointing because you get a star player, you want to ask him some questions, have him address the fans. Uh what can we expect out of you? That kind of stuff. Uh anyways, the other bit of KD ccentric news is uh there was speculation on what number what jersey he would be rocking with the Houston Rockets. And uh his agent and business partner Rich Kimman uh teased through his Instagram story that it looks like KD will likely be rocking number seven in Houston. So he wore seven in Brooklyn. He has been 35 everywhere else in his career. So this is only the second iteration of KD number seven. Um, in addition to that, Dorian Finny Smith will be rocking number two and Clint Capella will be rocking jersey number 21 because Reed Shepard took Clint’s previous number of 15 back when Clint was here for his first goaround with the Rockets. Um, so just wanted to kind of address those points really quickly off the top. Um, and then this is a big one and I I probably should spend more time on it, but I just want to hit it very quickly. Now that all the signings have been made official and officially reported to the league office, we get some terms on these contracts. And the Dorian Finny Smith contract that the Rockets signed was an absolute masterclass by Rafel Stone. The third and fourth years of the contract are non-g guaranteed. So, it was originally reported as a 4-year, $53 million deal with a player option in the final year of the contract. Then we find out that the final year of the deal, the the the player option year is a non-G guaranteed year. And the third year is also a non-garanteed year. So, what that effectively means, to boil it down into the simplest terms possible, the Rockets basically got Dorian Smith on a 2-year, $25 million deal. And then they can just decide if they want to move on from DFS at the end of that contract before years three or four kick in. And so now the Rockets have a lot of payroll synergy here where they’ve got Dorian Finny Smith, Fred Van Vleet all on these two-year deals. And that means that when the Rockets money when their salary cap situation is going to get really tight further down the line, also pending, you know, a Kevin Durant extension, what that looks like, maybe he signs a a onepus one deal, so he’d be on the books for two more years as well. Um, it gives the Rockets a lot of financial flexibility down the line for when you have eventually, right, the extensions kicking in for Jabarisma Smith Jr. and hopefully Tari E and then even further down the line, Amin Thompson. And so it’s it’s very clearly giving the Rockets this like they’ve got a a clear two-year window that they are prioritizing when you look at the contracts of Fred Van Vleet, Dorian Finny Smith, and Kevin Durant and and and all this stuff. So, just a really fantastic job by Refellstone, effectively replacing what was left of Dylan Brooks contract on a cheaper scale because DB was making about 20 million a year and had two more years left on his deal. Now, Dorian Finny Smith is making 12 million a year for only two more years before the Rockets can decide to effectively move on from him or package him a trade or do whatever they need to do to uh be able to juggle whatever uh cap gymnastics they’ve got to figure out down the line to keep paying all the young guys that they still have on the roster. So, with that, coming up, want to run back the media availability for uh general manager Rafel Stone, what he had to say in the aftermath of the Kevin Durant trade. We’re going to get there in just one moment. First, today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. 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Open the FanDuel app today or visit fanuel.com to get started. And continuing on here at Locked on Rockets, your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball. All right, let’s go ahead and dive into general manager Rafelstone’s immediate availability, addressing the Kevin Durant trade and the other roster moves. Jaylen Green, Dylan Brooks, Cam Whitmore departing, the signings of Dorian Finny Smith and the other trade for Clint Capella, all that good stuff. We’ll hear what Stone has to say and then I’ll tackle it with some thoughts in our third and final segment. Let’s go ahead and run it back right now. 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 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 Durant and can take from him as they’re 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 KD’s kind of relationship is pretty well documented. How much was EA 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 hyperefficient or has been hyperefficient 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. The Rockets timeline to contend for a championship is kind of the same as as Kevin’s timeline of being in Houston. 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 Gray? 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 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 required. During the draft, um Cam Whitmore was able to fall to you all at the at 20 and you that draft like you said that he was, you know, a 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. Were there more offers for him as well? Excuse me. Were there more offers uh for you all? There was a lot of interest in camp. 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 with, 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 roll next season? I mean, Reg is going to have to be really good for us, like period. What have your initial conversations with Kevin Dyn 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 Capella 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. Uh 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 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 to today he’s a point guard, tomorrow he’s an off guard, then then he be a power forward, we played 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 a championship window has opened up for you all, especially with a choir 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. OK 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 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 he 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. Go ahead. 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 guys for building. That does it for Rafel Stone’s media availability. Coming up, Rafel says the Rockets are not a developmental team anymore. What does that mean for the young guys, as well as the pressure on Reed Shepard next season? We’re going to get there in just one moment. And final segment here at Locked On Rockets, your daily podcast, home for everything Houston Rockets basketball. Really quickly before I get into the thoughts that I have about what Rafel Stone shared with us during his uh media availability, the Rockets did formally announce their summer league roster. They’re always one of the last teams in the NBA to do so. I don’t know why they keep it so secret. Um, yes, Reed Shepard is playing in summer league and we will talk about we will we’ll do like a minor like summer league preview at some point later on this week. Um, so we’ll talk about that. Re both Reed Shepard and uh Rockets assistant coach Garrett Jackson spoke as well. Um Garrett Jackson will be the head coach of the summer league roster. So some stuff to look forward to there. We’ll revisit that in a future episode. But let’s start with a few of the points that Rafel Stone made that that seem to be you know making the rounds amongst Rockets fans um on social media. So the first big one when asked about you know what went into the Cam Whitmore trade the decision to move on right uh Stone’s answer of we are not a developmental team anymore. And there’s really nothing wrong with that answer. The Rockets aren’t a developmental team anymore. But what that answer doesn’t say is it doesn’t say we are not in the process of developing the young talent we have. There’s a difference between taking a young player like a Cam Whitmore who is still incredibly rough around the edges or or for example had they not made the KD trade, drafting with that 10th overall pick and adding another fresh-faced rookie to the mix and trying to develop those types of talents. It’s very different trying to develop and find time for development for guys like that as opposed to the somewhat more proven talents that they do have on the roster. The exception to which being Reed Shepard who is not really a proven talent, although internally the Rockets organization is so high on Reed and and they wanted him number three overall for a reason. And even though he didn’t have a substantial role on this team as a rookie, they’re incredibly optimistic about the role that he will have moving forward. And they’re he’s going to need to have a big role moving forward, right? They’re putting a lot of confidence in him as the backup guard behind Fred Van Vleet going into just year two of his career. But this idea that Stone saying we are not a developmental team anymore means that Emeoka is not still trying to develop and grow and nurture Alpin Shingun or Amin Thompson or Jabari and Tari or Reed Shepard, you know, these members, these remaining members of the Rockets young corps is kind of a ridiculous sentiment, right? Players are constantly growing and changing and developing and getting better and improving their games. It’s just that all the young talent that the Rockets have right now, with the exception to a lesser degree of Reed Shepard, is proven talent. We know what Jabari and Tari are capable of. We know that Amin Thompson and Alper and Shingun are both on starle trajectories in their NBA careers. Aimeda and his coaching staff will absolutely continue to refine and develop that talent. they just don’t have time to bring rookies into the mix or, you know, first and second year players who don’t really have, you know, a a a kind of established role or a baseline of who they can be and who they are as players on the floor. There’s not really enough time to commit to ironing out those those kinks, ironing out, you know, those issues and really refining a player and making them the best version of themselves. And that’s ultimately why Cam Whitmore was moved on to Washington, right? And part of that is, you know, Cam had Cam had some time to work on those issues, right? He had two years and even though he didn’t really get like a super duper extended stretch in the rotation, which I still maintain was a misstep by the Rockets coaching staff and their kind of developmental plan for Cam, regardless of what was going on behind the scenes given his talent level. Um, Cam did have opportunities to prove that he was worthy of rotation minutes and just couldn’t ever get the necessary buyin from him. But you know who they haven’t had issues with buyin from? Reed Shepard. You know, he got a chance as a rookie, lost his spot in the rotation, kept doing all the work behind the scenes, kept working on his game, refining it, getting better, uh, working closely with the coaching staff, and now they’re in a position where he’s headed back for summer league part two. Um, and hopefully he looks like the best player on the floor in the, you know, however many summer league games he ultimately plays because he’s going to have a really big role on the team this next season. And speaking of that really big role for Reed Shepard, uh, one of the questions Stone was asked, right, where do you hope to see Reed’s growth? And and point blank, Stone said, Reed is just going to have to be really good for us, period. That was it. No elaboration, no added anything. Just Reed is going to have to be really good for us. And some Rockets fans are still concerned, right, about putting all those eggs in the Reed Shepard basket. Um, I wouldn’t say again necessarily that they’re all in the Reed Shepard basket because again, he’s your third ball handler behind Fred Van Vleet and Amin Thompson. And again, I think Amin Thompson projects to have a substantially larger role as an onball presence this upcoming season with the removal of Jaylen Green and with how many more on ball reps we saw Amin Thompson getting as last season progressed. Um that certainly seems to be a direction that the Rockets are going. Uh we’re certainly going to see a lot of the Amin Thompson, Dorian Finny Smith, Tari E, Jabari Smith Jr., Kevin Durant lineup. like that fiveman lineup is going to be featured I think pretty heavily uh with Amin Thompson running that point guard position full-time with with no Fred Van Vleet or Reed Shepard on the floor and so Reed’s role you know he is going to have to be good for this team but he’s only going to have to do it in these you know 12 to 15 minute spurts maybe slightly more than that if he’s really on fire one night but I think there’s enough there and we saw enough in some of those brief glimpses as the season progressed and as Reed became more comfortable with the speed of the NBA game, understanding how he can be impactful defensively, understanding how to pick and choose his spots on offense, choosing when to hunt his own shot versus facilitating for a teammate. These are all things that are going to be a lot easier for Reed Shepard going into year two. Point guard is the hardest position on the floor to play at the NBA level. Trying to quarterback an entire offense, trying to be, you know, the point of attack for the D, you know, a POA defender defensively. um and being, you know, one of the smallest, if not oftenimes the smallest guy on the floor for Reed, right? He was picked on at times defensively and that’s going to be something he has to adjust to or continue to adjust to in his NBA career. But again, the Rockets are very high on Reed Shepard and what he’ll bring to the table next season. Um and they should be, right? He was a number three overall pick for a reason and hopefully he does, you know, a couple crazy games at summer league and shuts up all the doubters. Uh the other part that Rafllstone addressed very briefly was when he was asked about guard depth. Um he went on to say that we are very like or we very likely we enter the season looking very similar to thank goodness for that mute button so you don’t have to hear me sneeze on the podcast. But uh pardon me uh Stone did say about the possibility of adding an an additional guard. He said, “Very likely we enter the season looking very similarly to how we look right now.” He mentioned being hardcapped at the First Apron. That is true. Again, we’ve addressed it here on this show, though. if the Rockets had an opportunity to add somebody that they felt impacted the roster, if they felt the need to add another uh perimeter player, another ball handler maybe to help offset um how young and inexperienced Reed Shepard is if they if things maybe don’t pan out with Reed Shepard the way they want them to this upcoming season. The Rockets are more than capable of waving Nate Williams because of his non-g guaranteed salary, which gives them about $3.5 million to work with before they hit that first apron hard cap, which is more than enough room for them to go sign somebody on a one-year vet minimum deal or even absorbing a player on a, you know, about $3.5 million or less contract just outright into uh their cap space. I believe they they would be able to figure that figure that out. Uh I actually let me let me take that back a little bit. They would have to absorb the player into a traded player exception which I believe they generated through uh the Cam Whitmore trade if I’m not mistaken. So, with that, the Rockets have avenues to improve the roster if they deem necessary, but to Stone’s point, this is likely going to be the roster that we see going into going into training camp, going into uh opening night, all that good stuff. So, I would not be expecting the Rockets to make another substantial move or even another minor addition somewhere down the line. Now, maybe something crazy opens up. Maybe Damen Lillard comes knocking on Houston’s door and he’s like, “Hey, I saw that Steven Adams rehabbed while, you know, a member of your team and I’d love to come by. Uh, can you guys sign me to a super cheap two-year deal? Uh, maybe that’s an avenue that they’re willing to go. Who knows?” Um, ultimately though, the Rockets roster is largely set. Um, very curious your thoughts on what Rafllstone had to say addressing the media in the aftermath of the Kevin Durant trade. Curious your thoughts on the different signings, the Dorian Finny Smith deal, the Clint Capella edition. Um, give me all your thoughts about what Stone had to say in the YouTube comments. But that’s going to do it for today’s episode. As always, thanks so much for checking out the show. Remember, the best way to help us grow the show is to listen every single day on a podcast platform of your choosing. and then like, comment, subscribe on YouTube. But as always, thank you so much for watching. Thank you so much for listening. And we look forward to having you back right here at Locked on Rockets, your daily podcast home for everything Houston Rockets basketball.

Rockets Kevin Durant Era OFFICIALLY Begins | Rafael Stone Speaks | Reed Sheppard READY For Big Role?

Houston Rockets shake up NBA landscape with Kevin Durant acquisition. Is this the dawn of a new era for the franchise?

Host Jackson Gatlin (@JTGatlin) shares thoughts on Rafael Stone’s media availability addressing the KD trade, where he breaks down the blockbuster trade, highlighting Durant’s exceptional work ethic and practice intensity. The discussion covers the Rockets’ shift from a developmental team to a win-now mentality, Dorian Finney-Smith’s contract details, and the implications for young talents like Reed Sheppard. Stone offers candid insights on trading Jalen Green and the team’s evolving strategy.

Discover how the Rockets are reshaping their roster and identity. Will Durant’s arrival propel Houston back into championship contention? Tune in for an in-depth analysis of the Rockets’ bold moves and their potential impact on the upcoming NBA season.

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