Houston Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta is well known in the restaurant world as his portfolio includes Landry’s Restaurants, Morton’s Steakhouse, and many other franchises. I like to think of the Houston Rockets franchise as another of his restaurants. Less than a year ago, the previous executive chef, Daryl Morey, moved on to an east coast venture after years of serving Rockets fans some delicious hoops. In his wake, Fertitta promoted Rafael Stone and things were immediately rocky.
The two star players, James Harden and Russell Westbrook, each publicly demanded trades which of course weakens your negotiating position. A new coaching hire, first year head coach Stephen Silas, presumably applying for the task of guiding a superstar backcourt, starts the season with a disgruntled star still rounding into shape and a former All-star coming off an injury season.
Through challenges and tribulations, Stone has been a deft navigator. He signed budding star forward Christian Wood to a team friendly deal and managed to procure a major haul of draft picks in return for James Harden. Not every decision has been a hit, however, as the Victor Oladipo trade did not pan out as intended and the Rockets succumbed to the worst record in the NBA. Chef Morey was known for always adding ingredients, always looking for the right concoction of Rocket championship roster, but the jury has been out on Chef Stone.
This brings me to last week’s NBA draft and the start of free agency.
Although most draft pundits are crediting the Rockets with an A grade for their draft haul, it’s important to look at the big picture and determine how these four ingredients add to the overall dish that Chef Stone is serving.
With the Rockets fortunate enough to keep their lottery pick this year (it would have conveyed to the Oklahoma City Thunder if it fell to pick number five or lower) , they selected Jalen Green at #2 overall from the G League Ignite squad. He is an exciting young shooting guard that has drawn comparisons anywhere from Zach Lavine to Kobe Bryant. I imagine if a young Kobe Bryant circa 1996 was available, Detroit would certainly love to have him so it does bring a kind of comfort in that the Pistons debated before selecting Cade Cunningham with the number one pick.
Many experts thought Chef Stone was really in his pantry when he managed to trade two future protected first rounders for the opportunity to select Alperen Sengün with the 16th overall pick. He is a versatile offensive center who should bring an element lost when Kelly Olynyk moved on to the Detroit Pistons in free agency.
As of this writing, I am staying up late to watch the Rocket’s 23rd pick in the draft, forward Usman Garuba. Just to note: He appeared to be unplayable against top competition as the United States started making their run while he was on the floor in the first half and he received only spot minutes in the second half. Rafael Stone has mentioned that he is the best defender that is not yet in the NBA so Garuba will have a chance to prove that.
Lastly, the Rockets selected Arizona State’s Joshua Christopher with the 24th pick of the NBA draft. The Rockets have done well with Arizona State shooting guard alums so they hope to hit pay dirt with this pick as well.
One thing I noticed from Rafael Stone in his draft selections was that there was a focus on chemistry and familiarity that he wanted to establish amongst the newcomers. For instance, according to reports, Segün, when he was drafted, immediately texted his best friend Garuba who happened to also be a Rocket’s draft pick just minutes later. Josh Christopher and Jalen Green both played together growing up on the AAU circuit in California. So all of these picks come in with a sort of built in camaraderie already. This should narrow the learning curve on the court.
I understand that this was the thought process when the Rockets brought childhood friends James Harden and Russell Westbrook together but it didn’t pan out as intended. Let’s just hope that youth breeds a willingness to make things work. All of these draft picks are just 19 years old.
It’s highly unusual for an NBA team to go into a season with four first round draft picks signed to the main roster. Rockets fans in the valley should rejoice as they can expect a lot of minutes by those rookies in a Viper uniform. I will take a deeper look into how these draft picks play as summer league commences.
With free agency underway, I like the signing of center Daniel Theis who has reportedly agreed to a four-year deal. The re-signing of David Nwaba to a multi-year deal is also an underrated move as he is a tremendous role player when healthy. Other items likely on the agenda include finding a new home for guard John Wall should he not want to continue in Houston and shoring up both the developmental program and NBA transition program. These players will be navigating a new city and, in some cases, a new country and it is critical that they establish a routine and hit the ground running. For the players on the active roster, there is not much practice time available during the season so summer league and training camp are crucial for development.
The big picture that Rafael Stone is drawing up appears to be a youth movement with veteran mentorship at all positions. I see coach Stephen Silas’ work cut out for him with 25% of the roster in the NBA for the first time. The likelihood that we can keep all four newcomers into their second contract is small should they all pan out. However, if this is the best NBA draft since 2003, we shall benefit greatly from having four picks in it. Hopefully Rafael Stone is dishing out a championship meal.
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