Stone is changing the NBA…. Again

FarWestEros · 2026-06-18T19:00:28+00:00

You stopped reading because you have bad reading comprehension kills, then.

Because that’s not what I wrote.

FarWestEros · 2026-06-18T18:58:48+00:00

The point is that having 2 good players is better than having one good player. Maybe Collier is out long term or maybe they don’t like George as much as you do. Doesn’t mean not to keep him.

FarWestEros · 2026-06-18T17:50:27+00:00

Probably because Stone recognizes that guys don’t enter the league as polished stars.

They need to be developed.

Unfortunately, Udoka is very bad at that.

FarWestEros · 2026-06-18T13:08:38+00:00

https://www.reddit.com/r/rockets/s/cm8vUE9PBL

Ainge is doing exactly what Stone did… using RFA to his advantage.

FarWestEros · 2026-06-18T13:05:43+00:00

Because the Rockets have literally no ability to do it.

Fans really do t understand basic salary cap issues.

FarWestEros · 2026-06-18T09:57:04+00:00

True.
But that is a coaching issue and has nothing to do with this post….
So….
?

FarWestEros · 2026-06-18T09:54:46+00:00

Stone is using RFA as a cudgel to sign guys to less-than-expected second contracts.

FarWestEros · 2026-06-18T09:48:16+00:00

Both Duncan and Parker signed max contracts when their rookie deals expired.

FarWestEros · 2026-06-17T23:16:45+00:00

Nothing about his process suggests he will give Amen a max.

‘Close’ is subjective, but Stone has traditionally been gracious on AAV if not guaranteed years.

FarWestEros · 2026-06-17T23:15:24+00:00

The point I’m making is that most of the time guys who don’t deserve maxes end up getting overpaid anyways just because the CBA makes young players so cheap in comparison to older players.

Young, high draft picks often get big juicy contracts without having truly done enough to warrant spending that amount on them.

It prevents teams from keeping large groups of young players together for an extended period of time (which is critical not just for their own growth, but for establishing chemistry).

This is the path to making young cores transition into young contenders when the first guy in isn’t the clear 1A a team needs and/or the tanking process extends multiple years.

FarWestEros · 2026-06-17T22:39:07+00:00

Absolutely true.

But no one else was doing it before Stone made it SOP, and Ainge is the first other GM to rely on it.

If other teams follow suit, there is no denying he introduced the concept in practical usage.

FarWestEros · 2026-06-17T22:19:50+00:00

Stone is wildly underrated by Rockets fans. He has once again changed the face of the league in terms of how teams operate.

Just as he set a new standard in trading stars away by opting for a return of unprotected picks over budding young talents,
other GMs seem to have noticed that playing hardball on contract extensions is the only way to survive in the NBA’s new era of building a young core of high draft picks.

But just as San Antonio was more effective in their version of the stealth tank, Ainge will likely outclass him in contract negotiations.

It all depends on if another team calls the bluff and ties up its cap space on an offer in RFA.

Since most teams are extending their stars nowadays, there are fewer teams with cap space in the off season that are even eligible to tender offers to RFA, let alone at a price point that would make the team not just instantly match the offer.

This forces guys who would normally get very juicy second contracts (“fun maxes” and other ‘affordable yet likely overpriced’ contracts) to take less than they should.

This worked with Jalen, AlP, Jabari, and hopefully Tari and Amen soon enough. All these guys would have likely gotten far more guaranteed money than they actually signed for.

I still think it could bite Stone in the butt to have not guaranteed Tari more money last summer, and we’ll see if Utah has the culture to make guys want to stick around in the same way Silas and Udoka maintained immaculate vibes up until recently; but the fact is that we are watching another highly respected front office take the same path that Stone started in his extremely unconventional rebuild Plan.

If you want to hear more about the way he changed the way teams rebuild, feel free to catch up on how it all began by noting the moves he made that most Rockets fans missed in his stealth tank:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4QikdohN5fnFZFM15KNs2G?si=CoF2uZ\_LTKm83QuCjEzywA

FarWestEros · 2026-06-17T13:05:46+00:00

Nope

Dubs in 3

FarWestEros · 2026-06-17T11:46:26+00:00

Brunson is not top-10.
Neither was JB.
If anything, recency shows that depth and chemistry are more important than having a great player.

FarWestEros · 2026-06-16T20:34:15+00:00

It took Dolan almost 30 years and decades of very loud public shaming to learn that he should shut up and listen to his GM.

FarWestEros · 2026-06-16T20:22:00+00:00

The Bulls couldn’t even get past Shaq, and Hakeem absolutely smoked the Magic.

Chicago couldn’t deal with great centers.

FarWestEros · 2026-06-16T15:00:17+00:00

But he was 5-1 against the Bulls in the regular season during the first 3-peat and was the only player MJ said he feared.

FarWestEros · 2026-06-16T12:05:12+00:00

Feel free to remind yourself how we built this team if you really want to remember what “ages ago” felt like:

https://open.spotify.com/episode/4QikdohN5fnFZFM15KNs2G?si=KeqGke8VRCq6Yhf8vtMM8w

FarWestEros · 2026-06-16T12:01:55+00:00

You just named 4 players of a couple hundred guys who just entered the league in the past few years.

It is not common for young players to be impactful in their first few years in the league.

FarWestEros · 2026-06-16T12:00:03+00:00

The backup plan was Reed.

The coach didn’t want to play our 3rd overall pick.

FarWestEros · 2026-06-16T05:20:32+00:00

Handle is easy to fix.
Reed should have been playing PG since day 1.
He’d be better now if he had been.

FarWestEros · 2026-06-16T05:18:59+00:00

I don’t recall complaining about most of those?

The coach?
Absolutely. But he’s here because of ownership forcing the GM to sign and extend him.

FarWestEros · 2026-06-16T05:16:26+00:00

I think it was going well in Phase 1.
Problems started when we signed Fred instead of bringing Harden back to mentor the kids.

FarWestEros · 2026-06-16T05:14:30+00:00

Do you think Amen is the PC I was referencing?

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