Why Rockets GM Rafael Stone deserves both grace and scrutiny for the Hawks trade

In case you’ve been living under a rock, the Houston Rockets made a surprise trade that left many within the fanbase wondering what was next to come. The Rockets parted ways with 2021 first round pick Usman Garuba and 2022 first-round pick TyTy Washington on the second day of the NBA’s free agency period.

When the trade was announced, it simply stated that the Rockets were dealing Washington, Garuba, and additional draft compensation to the Atlanta Hawks, leading many to believe the Rockets were possibly on the cusp of adding former Rockets big man Clint Capela.

Why Rockets GM Rafael Stone deserves both grace and scrutiny

This seemed even more logical since it was known that the Rockets were seeking Brook Lopez, who was one of their top free agent targets, along with Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks, both of whom they nabbed. Lopez had already been snagged up by the Milwaukee Bucks, who were able to retain a key piece of their 2021 championship team.

The Rockets walked away empty-handed from their deal with the Hawks, which has drawn a wide variety of reactions from many within the fanbase. But the truth is simple: Rockets GM Rafael Stone deserves both grace and scrutiny, simultaneously.

Both can be true. Sure, it can be fun to debate which is more deserving, but it doesn’t always have to be one thing or the other.

I’ll explain why Stone deserves both for the Hawks trade fiasco.

Let’s start with the positives.

Why Rafael Stone deserves grace for the Hawks fiasco

It's been well-reported that the Rockets thought they had an agreement in place with Lopez. Meaning they legitimately were led to believe that they had done their job.

They had already agreed on a number, and there have been rumblings that the Rockets made a respectable offer (potentially in the $50 million range), so they didn't anticipate any last minute changes or hic-ups at the ninth hour by either Lopez or his representation.

In their minds, they had secured their target. Parting with Garuba and Washington was simply the cost of doing business. And let's face it: maybe those players become formidable rotational players, but that's likely the most you can hope for from a player selected not only outside of the lottery but also in the 20s.

Neither of these players had shown enough to prove their value and/or worth.

Trading them is something the Rockets would do in a heartbeat if it meant adding the 2021 NBA champion and runner-up Defensive Player of the Year finalist that is Brook Lopez. Unfortunately, Lopez had a change of heart and essentially used the Rockets as a way to get the Bucks to pony up and improve their offer.

In the end, the Bucks paid Lopez $48 million over two years, which they surely did not intend to do initially.

In this regard, the Rockets got played. Which happens. And there will always be the possibility of this.

And this also isn't the first time we've seen this.

This happened to the Rockets during their pursuit of Chris Bosh in 2014, under Daryl Morey, who is viewed as a wizard and one of the best in the business (depending on who you ask).

We can't blame the Rockets for losing out on Lopez. They thought they had a deal and he went back on his word. Plain and simple.

And they wanted to keep their word with the Hawks, because they've made it a point of emphasis to improve their relationships around the league, with executives, agents, players, and teams alike.

However...

Why Rockets GM Rafael Stone deserves scrutiny over the deal

Although the Rockets lost out on Lopez, as I stated earlier; this happens. Players change their mind at the ninth hour.

None of these deals are official until the moratorium is lifted at 12:01 PM Eastern on July 6th. This means even if we saw the proverbial tweet from ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski or The Athletic's Shams Charania stating that both parties had reached an agreement, it wouldn't even have been official then.

The Rockets should have had a back-up plan identified for Lopez, and it was abundantly clear that they didn't. They tried pivoting to Dwight Powell at the ninth hour but by then it was too late. They didn't have the necessary time to negotiate with him and he was already on his way back to the Dallas Mavericks (where he re-signed).

Because they didn't think they'd have to. Which is only part of the problem.

The main issue is that Stone didn't have to go through with the deal. The Rockets could have told the Hawks that the trade was contingent on Lopez signing in Houston.

That way the Hawks would've known up front that there was a possibility that the deal wouldn't go through and there wouldn't have been any risk of jeopardizing their relationship because it would have been established on the front end. And Stone isn't a rookie GM, after all.

He's heading into his fourth year on the job. There were many alternatives to the final outcome and solution he chose.

Again, losing players who were long shots to become anything of use for a competitive team isn't so much an issue. Not having any semblance of a back-up plan is the greater issue.

And forcing yourself to walk away empty-handed surely wasn't Stone's goal. Even he wouldn't do this again this way, if he was given a do-over.

Hopefully he's learned from all of this.