RedNinetyFour

@JTGatlin So embarrassing.

Meanwhile the Rockets can't function without Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams

@TheDave25 Up to this point, fans and media have not taken a very critical approach to assessing this entire thing

@RedNinetyFour I can believe that he did the KD trade and all of a sudden he went from shit to GM of the year... he had 0 ability to eval talent - but he did sign TATE to a team friendly deal... or something

Can’t believe James Harden is going to have a real shot at going to the Finals at age 36. So happy for him right now. Rough game for him tonight, but the Cavs aren’t even here without his Game 3 and Game 5 heroics. Also, so funny that this Cavs team has a starting lineup 3/5 comprised of guys Rafael Stone said “no thanks” to during this rebuild. 1. Victor Oladipo over Jarrett Allen in the Harden trade when Allen was considered Brooklyn’s best young asset. Stone was killed for this at the time by the national media but the leaked rationale was that having Allen would make it hard to tank + not wanting his extension on the books. I never thought having Allen alone would lead to wins and I also wouldn’t mind having him right now at what is a pretty reasonable salary for his production. 2. Reaching on Jalen Green over Evan Mobley, when Mobley was the consensus second best prospect in the draft. This has been relitigated to death but the angle I still can’t believe there hasn’t been any reporting done upon are the rumblings that Mobley’s family didn’t want him here because of the presence of Kevin Porter Jr. If that was really the case and it impacted Stone’s decision on how to use the most important lottery pick of the rebuild. . . huge yikes. 3. Fred VanVleet over Harden, twice. Enough said there.

@TheDave25 @HorryForThree It’s been way too cavalierly brushed under the rug when evaluating him in terms of philosophy that that was the original vision for the team

@RedNinetyFour @HorryForThree he wanted to build a team around KPJ and Christian Wood.... fucking malpractice

@AdamInHTownTX Not enough scrutiny has been given to these various decisions

Even worse is that Stone then tried to sign an aging Brook Lopez to be our starting center. He got lucky that Lopez screwed over the Rockets in order to remain with the Bucks. Honestly outside of negotiating extensions, Stone kinda sucks at his job. He doesn't seem to have a clue when it comes to personnel decisions. Some of that is due to Ime's influence on roster moves, but these issues date back to the Silas era, so it's mostly on Stone.

@saul621 🫡

@RedNinetyFour He was a team high +31 so his presence alone helped the team Win

@RobertLoris1 You think the Cavs would be “lucky to not be swept” by the. . . New York Knicks? Okay “Robert Lois.” Think you’re alone on that one, buddy.

@RedNinetyFour 😂😂😂 a real shot? You don’t know ball do you? They’d be lucky to not be swept. They got Mitchell and nothing

@GhostTheScreen @ogbonnaya6383 Yep. And so the question I have with this is, if it’s true, and it had sway, that means they decided to choose KPJ over the guy that was considered the better prospect. That would be absolutely wild in terms of prospect evaluation.

@ogbonnaya6383 @RedNinetyFour damn thank you for the lore drop. That’s crazy but I guess his dad was right

@HorryForThree Forgot about this. This is even worse, lol.

@RedNinetyFour The leaked rationale was almost certainly revisionist as it emerged later on. At the actual time of the trade, the public (and leaked) rationale was that Christian Wood was the centerpiece of the new team and Stone relished the idea of Wood as a versatile, new age stretch 5.

@TheDave25 I fully agree

@RedNinetyFour If castle was in Imes system… he’d be a poor shooting backup PG If Reed played with Wemby… he’d be shooting 40% on 3s at volume and we’d be pissed that we passed on him

Just so curious to know what the internal deliberations truly were that led to Stone taking Reed over Castle. Because any way you slice it, what Castle is doing right now on the big stage is a complete embarrassment for the Rockets and their talent evaluation processes. And I’m saying this as someone who thinks Reed can become a star in the right setting and still holding out hope that he can eventually become the better player when the dust settles. But that’s shaping up to be an extremely high bar. We just saw Castle close out the Wolves with 32-11-6 with 5 threes, while playing elite defense to send the Spurs to the WCF. Meanwhile, Ime Udoka doesn’t even trust Reed Sheppard to close out meaningless regular season games in January. Complete failure by the Rockets organization from top to bottom.

@SangRockets Oof

I’m not putting it all on Stone. That’s why I called it an organizational failure from “top to bottom.” Reed very well may end up being the better player - I truly believe that. But if the organization is committed to Udoka, which has become clear, that’s a moot point to draft a guy who very obviously would be antithetical to his preferences when there was a guy right there who had Ime written all over him. It’s just pure dysfunction between GM and coach.

@SangRockets Get off private

@BBB8421 I absolutely believe people would be talking about Reed like he’s the next Steph Curry if he was on the Spurs rather than this clown show we have over here. Said it all season.

@RedNinetyFour What you rockets fans don’t get is that if Reed played for the spurs he would be better than what you’re seeing. The Rockets aren’t good developing young players. This applies to all their young guys too. They don’t develop guys like the spurs

@AdamInHTownTX Yeah and just to clarify, this isn’t meant to bash Reed - you all know my thoughts on him from this year. It’s just a topdown organizational breakdown to select a guy that it was inevitable wouldn’t fit with the coach’s preferences.

It ain't complicated. The Rockets openly admitted their top priority in the 2024 draft was shooting and Reed had hit 52.1% of his threes at Kentucky. Castle would've been redundant with Amen, Tari, and Dillon(and even Jae'Sean) on the roster. I'd also add two things. First, Reed has been far from a disappointment so far as a pro. The team went 17-4 with him as a starter in the regular season and he hit 39.4% of his threes. Second, if you put him in a coherent offensive system like the Spurs'(with Wemby protecting the paint at the other end, no less), he'd be thriving even more. On top of that, let's be honest. Castle would've barely played in 2024-25 given how wing heavy the roster was. He would've been glued to the bench alongside Cam.

@CG_In_Houston Which is kind of ironic given the recent media tour downplaying the importance of “fit”

@RedNinetyFour They were desperate for shooting, likely came down to that

@KeldenRobertso1 100% this

@RedNinetyFour People might think you're being sarcastic putting Fred up there but that's how the front office and coach looks at it especially coach. That's his damn girlfriend. They prioritize Fred over everything else

Watching these first 2 rounds has been incredibly depressing realizing just how far away we are simply by comparing franchise players alone. OKC: Shai SAS: Wemby LAL: Luka MIN: Ant HOU: Fred VanVleet

@CryLawson Not a Morey disciple. If anything, he kind of came in from Day 1 trying to distinguish himself from Morey

@RedNinetyFour Why did they promote a Morey disciple in the first place.

This is what someone who thinks he’s playing 4D chess, but really isn’t, sounds like.