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Rockets Likely Done Dealing After Kevin Durant Acquisition: ‘I Like Our Team As Is’
Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Houston Rockets general manager Rafael Stone didn’t dance around the question when asked Monday what convinced Houston to make a blockbuster trade for Kevin Durant.

“He’s Kevin Durant,” Stone told reporters, per The Houston Chronicle’s Danielle Lerner.

Durant, a 15-time All-Star and two-time NBA champion, brings elite shooting and half-court scoring to a Houston team that finished second in the Western Conference last season and believes it’s ready to contend.

“His work ethic is just awesome,” Stone said. “The speed at which he practices and the intensity of which he practices is something that has made him great over the years, and it started when he was very young. Of all the things I hope rubs off, that’s the main one.”

Stone acknowledged that Durant, entering his age-37 season, doesn’t exactly match the timeline of the Rockets’ young core. But he made it clear the franchise no longer considers itself to be in rebuilding mode.

“We were the No. 2 seed last year, and I think a very legitimate one,” he said. “We lost a close series last year, and we thought we had a real chance of contending in the playoffs. We hope to have a real chance of contending in the playoffs this year.”

That shift in mindset was also a factor in the decision to move 2023 first-round pick Cam Whitmore as part of the deal.

“We want to provide Cam with the opportunity to do in his career what we still believe he very much can do,” Stone said. “I think Cam is an insanely talented, really nice young man, and we wanted to provide him with a situation where he could play through mistakes in a way that we never could afford him here.”

Included in the package to Phoenix was also former No. 2 overall pick Jalen Green, a player Stone said was especially tough to part with.

“Jalen is awesome. He did everything we asked,” Stone said. “He’s a wonderful combination of talent and work ethic, along with being just a great human being. Any time you work with someone like that, you should value it. And we did.”

As for what’s next, Stone said not to expect major moves ahead of the season. The Rockets are hard-capped at the first apron and, barring something unforeseen, plan to enter camp with the roster mostly intact.

“I like our team as is,” he said. “We’re hard-capped and we have no space left, so very likely we’ll enter the season looking very similar to the way we look now. It’s pretty hard not to.”

One reason for that confidence is rookie guard Reed Sheppard, the No. 3 overall pick in this year’s draft.

“Reed’s just going to have to be really good for us, period,” Stone said.

Stone also confirmed the addition of Clint Capela points to more two-big lineups in 2025-26.

“We loved that lineup once we discovered it last year. We thought it was really, really effective for us,” he said. “Also, Clint adds something we don’t have — a center who can move on the perimeter and be a lob threat. And we just think depth is super important.”

Stone added that landing Capela in free agency wasn’t something the Rockets expected, but when the opportunity came, they didn’t hesitate.

“We were ecstatic when that materialized,” he said.

This article first appeared on Hoops Wire and was syndicated with permission.

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