Rafael Stone, GM of the Houston Rockets, comments con Jonathan Feigen the movements of the last market days.
LA TRADE DEADLINE
“We are trying to build something and I think we have improved the team, at least in terms of what we are trying to do….Eric Gordon is a very good basketball player and for me he plays the way he should play. Every team that adds Eric adds a great player and if they lose, they lose one. But this summer we will have the largest cap space of any NBA team. We will have a lot of space (about 60 million dollars) to sign Free Agents or make trades, to really transform the team. And we have decided to place a lot of value on this flexibility. And so, in this context, we think we have improved the team.”
YOUNG PEOPLE
“As for the core of youngsters – above all Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun and Jabari Smith Jr-… at this point it’s just about continuing to grow. They have to go from being young talents settling into the NBA to being good players who can compete and win in the NBA night after night. That’s the challenge… We want them to be great players, but they’re not yet. It’s not just about getting better, it’s about getting really strong. And let’s be realistic. We knew they wouldn’t be in this time frame. Until they have achieved the goal, we will not be satisfied. We like them, we appreciate their work ethic. We are excited about their future. But we are aware that we all have a lot of work to do.
THE HOUSTON ROCKETS OF THE FUTURE
” Phase 2 of the project will be full of successes, I am very confident. We have plenty of space available. I think the team has a lot of talent,” continues Stone. “These are definitely talents who haven’t proven anything yet, but I’m very optimistic about our players and their future. Now that we have a lot of flexibility, we can start growing and building. So, I think it’s fair to say we’re right where we hoped to be.”