HOUSTON (SportsRadio 610)- The Rockets aren't winning many games, but general manager Rafael Stone said Friday he's happy with the current state of the team's rebuild.
"I feel very, very good and very, very comfortable about where we are," Stone said in a post-trade deadline press conference. "We are trying to build something that's really cool, and very sustainable and that will lead to tremendous success as a franchise, and I feel very good that we are doing that."
The Rockets are less than 13 months removed from the James Harden that signaled the start of a massive roster overhaul. Of the 17 players currently on the Rockets roster only Eric Gordon remains from the team that lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2020 Playoffs. Since dealing Harden, the Rockets have acquired Kevin Porter Jr and Alperen Sengun in trades while drafting Jalen Green second overall and Josh Christopher later in the first round, so while the Rockets sit in the cellar of the Western Conference with a 15-40 record, Stone believes they are headed in the right direction.
"By no means did we expect (the rebuild) to be done in 13 months, so I'd say we're on course, and I feel really, really good about it."
The Rockets are two losses away from clinching back-to-back losing seasons for the first since 1983 and 1984, and the team has not finished below .500 three straight years since it first moved to Houston from San Diego a half-century ago. There's a good chance the Rockets hit that low next season, but that will not deter Stone and his staff from staying the course.
"We knew at the beginning of this what we were in for, and we feel good about the process and about the pieces we put together. We really like this group, and we need to move forward with it and everyone at every level needs to do a better job on a going forward basis like it's it is about constantly improving internally for us."
