Rockets Front Office Ranked in Top 10

Houston Rockets general manager Rafael Stone has pushed the team a long way to get to where it is now.

After being towards the bottom for four years, the Rockets now find themselves in contention for a playoff spot for the first time since 2020.

That's why CBS Sports writer Sam Quinn ranked the Rockets at No. 9 in his front office rankings for the NBA.

"The Rockets aren't the Thunder because they don't have their version of Gilgeous-Alexander. Otherwise, they've executed a pretty similar rebuild by turning holdover stars from a previous era (in their case James Harden) into a trove of draft assets that will eventually lead to a sustainable contender. The draft track record isn't perfect. Jalen Green over Evan Mobley was a miss, and thus far, Reed Sheppard hasn't proven he can even play in the NBA. But there are plenty of hits here too. Amen Thompson is a budding star at No. 4, and the trade up for Alperen Sengun has worked out wonderfully. They've amassed this young talent despite being relatively unlucky on lottery nights. Their draft position was worse than their place in the standings in all three years of their all-out tank. The whole world thought Paolo Banchero was falling to them in 2022 before the Magic surprised the world by taking him. That left Houston with Jabari Smith," Quinn writes.

"They've managed the jump into winning with the proper prudence. Both the Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks contracts have worked out well, and both were structured in relatively team-friendly manners: VanVleet's includes a team option, while Brooks' contract descends in annual value. They've thus far elected not to make a major trade for a veteran yet, and that's probably the right decision. It never hurts to see your young core in a playoff run first. That's what Presti did a year ago. Ime Udoka was the perfect coaching hire for this team, giving them the defensive personality that they so often lacked during the Harden years."

The teams ranking ahead of the Rockets are the New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Memphis Grizzlies, Utah Jazz, Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs, Boston Celtics and Oklahoma City Thunder.

Things haven't been perfect for the Rockets throughout the last four years, but they have made enough moves in the right direction to ensure that they are no longer rebuilding and are back to the contenders they have strived to be.