Rockets GM Rafael Stone draws national praise

Houston Rockets’ Stone draws praise

Former 11-year NBA veteran and NBA champion Brian Scalabrine commended Stone and the Houston Rockets for their ability to land such a historic return, in spite of the perceived difficulties they faced due to Harden’s behavior.

“I thought they didn’t have leverage because of what James Harden said, but the Rockets did well for themselves. They ended up getting Victor Oladipo, four first round picks, and four right-to-swaps.

I was like man, what kind of position of power were you in when it looks that way? What would have happened if James Harden was doing everything he was supposed to do? Would you have gotten eight picks?

I was shocked by the price that was paid. And to me, that was maybe a little bit of force by Kevin Durant.  Kevin Durant probably came in and said, “Listen, if this guy is available we’ve gotta do it. We have a window, we can’t really mess around with this season.

I thought Houston was not in a position of power, but maybe they were.”

Next: Stone speaks out on trade