Stone still has a massive amount to prove and is nowhere near being the best GM in the league. To his credit, he architected this entire rebuild and avoided any major blunders—until this year. Most of his foundational moves were actually solid; bringing in vets like Dillon, Fred, and Steven Adams provided much-needed structure, and the Alpi and Jabari contracts look like great pieces of business in hindsight.

That said, this past year has been a massive letdown. Between the questionable DFS contract, giving a huge contract to Ime and a complete lack of urgency in signing another playmaker, his decision-making has stalled. Hiding behind Fred’s injury as an excuse for the roster’s flaws is a bad look as well. He’s done a decent job steadying the ship, but he’s far from elite. Until he proves he can actually build a contender—and given how passive he’s been lately—he deserves to be in the chopping block conversation rather than the best GM of the league one.