Houston Rockets Management Earns Top Five Ranking Among NBA Front Office Rankings

It's no shock how much acknowledgment and praise Houston Rockets general manager Rafael Stone has received throughout this offseason as he and his team gear up for the 2025-26 regular season coming up this fall.

After a slew of moves, including a blockbuster trade for Kevin Durant and extensions for Jabari Smith Jr. and Fred VanVleet, the Rockets have been recognized as one of the top front offices on CBS Sports' NBA front office rankings by Sam Quinn.

Quinn would also speak on the moves made by Stone and the Rockets front office, even calling Stone the NBA's best negotiator.

"Rafael Stone is the NBA's best negotiator. He not only convinced Alperen Sengunto to re-sign at a number below the max, but also to take less than the maximum allowable 8% raises. Dorian Finney-Smith was the second-best 3-and-D wing on the free-agent market. How did Stone convince him to take only two guaranteed seasons? Steven Adams is on a descending-salary contract. Jabari Smith's extension includes an immediate descent, meaning his salary doesn't actually increase until the fourth season of the deal. Clint Capela passed up chances to start so he could be Houston's third center at only slightly above taxpayer mid-level money. All it took for him to convince Fred VanVleet to give up $20 million this season was a player option for next season. This is contract sorcery." stated Quinn in his rankings.

CBS Sports put out a list in February that ranked the Rockets No. 9, and already being recognized as a top ten front office, Stone's moves this offseason would only rank them higher going forward, as in the July rankings, Houston would jump all the way to four.

With all of the Rockets' other new additions, such as Dorian Finney-Smith and Josh Okogie, they clearly were prepared to engage in the market, as Stone would even ensure that he would be doing everything he could to make Houston a contender.

It's safe to say that the Rockets are well prepared to contend and could be following a blueprint laid down by the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder.

"They don't have their own Shai Gilgeous-Alexander yet. They may never develop a homegrown MVP candidate. But otherwise, they've mimicked the strategy executed by Oklahoma City better than any team in the NBA, and now figure to challenge the Thunder for years to come," said Quinn.

Even with no perennial MVP candidate on their roster, thanks to general manager Rafael Stone and the work his team has put in this offseason, Houston is still poised to challenge for the NBA championship this upcoming season.