Rafael Stone’s ‘nobody’s untouchable’ mindset fuels Rockets trade speculation

After the Houston Rockets were eliminated in the first round, general manager Rafael Stone knows decisions have to be made. He explained what could happen this offseason after the exit.

“The business we’re in, nobody’s untouchable,” Stone said via Kelly Iko on X (formerly Twitter). “But we deeply value everyone on our roster. We have those picks, we accumulated them so we could draft guys or upgrade our current roster.

“We’ll see what makes the most sense.”

Although it was a first-round loss, Houston has a plethora of young talent. Still, they could use someone that has that championship and big-game scoring ability.

One of those names could be Kevin Durant.

While the Rockets have been out of the Durant running, Stone’s comments are interesting. He’s leaving all options on the table for the franchise.

Players like Amen Thompson and Alperen Sengun are deemed untouchable. Judging from his comments, though, anyone could be on the table.

Rafael Stone sees anything happening for the Rockets

As Stone said, all options are on the table for the Rockets. Even though someone like Durant might be off the table, anything can happen.

Acquiring a superstar like that would be ideal for the win-now team. However, they might’ve learned a lesson from the Phoenix Suns about trading young players for aging superstars.

They have time on their side. And at the very least, Stone can bring back his entire core group that helped them secure the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.

At the end of the day, options will come far and wide across Houston and Stone’s desk. Securing the best deal for the team is essential.

Even though they lost in seven games to the Golden State Warriors, they faced the most experienced team in the playoffs. This first year of playoff experience for the Rockets will prove useful in the years to come, regardless of whether they trade for a star or not.