The Matt Thomas Show with Ross - Rockets General Manager Rafael Stone On Rookie Reed Sheppard: 'He's Going To Play Right Away'

Episode Date: October 23, 2024

After going 3-1 in the preseason, the Houston Rockets are ready to host the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday for their first home season opener since 2019. The Rockets finished last season 41-41 after going 22-60 in 2022-23 and look to improve upon that record and make the playoffs, which Houston hasn't done since 2020. General manager Rafael Stone joins "The Matt Thomas Show with Ross" to preview the upcoming season and discuss signing Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun to contract extensions as the pair enters the final season of their rookie contracts. "We are a very attractive market," and the Rockets were able to "provide them with some flexibility" with different contract lengths and structures, Stone said. Sengun agreed to a five-year, $185 million extension that includes a player option for the fifth season in 2029-30. Green agreed to a three-year, $106 million extension, which includes a player option for the third year, giving him the ability to opt out of the contract before the 2027–28 season to become a free agent. Green has shown "a much greater level of consistency," Stone said. "You either work hard or you don't, and both [Sengun and Green] definitely do." While both Green and Sengun took big steps forward in their player development last season, many expect the same from younger players such as Amen Thompson. The fourth overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft averaged 9.5 ppg and 6.6 rpg last season and was named to the NBA All-Rookie Second Team. "He's just blessed with athletic gifts that no one has," and "I think he's going to be a huge part of what we do every game." Rookie Reed Sheppard started four games at the NBA Summer League in Vegas, averaging 20.0 ppg, and has earned an established role in the Rockets rotation. "I think he's going to play right away," Stone said. "He's not a static guy on defense" because "he's trying to make plays."

Let's talk to the general manager of the Houston Rockets on this opening night. Rafael Stone with us here on the show. Rafael, good afternoon. Thanks for joining us. And congratulations. Was the two guys and the signing of their contracts? Was that unlike your to-do list that you kept saying, all right, day one, day five, day 10. I got to knock this off my checklist.

No. But it was obviously a really big thing for us and for them. But I think, you know, just kind of the way, the way the collective bargaining agreement works and their contract structures, it was, you know, it was definitely the checklist was make sure we're having good conversations with them and we're touching base and we're talking through things.

But if something didn't happen this offseason, we would have just gone into the next off season. They, for sure, both those guys factor under our plans long term. And so, you know, that was kind of something we took for granted. but in terms of like we have to get it done now. No, it wasn't a have to. It's a very, very, very nice to, though. I'm really excited for those guys, and I'm excited for the team.

I think they're very excited. I think the lot of Rocket fans are excited. You've got two different contract links. I don't know if that was intentional or that's wiggle room or just what the client and the player and the agent and yourself wanted. So where do we fall on the three years for Jayland and five for Alpi? Yeah, no, it's really just. just that what those guys preferred.

You know what I mean? And so I think, you know, one thing about being in Houston, I don't want to say we take it for granted, but we're a very, very attractive market. And, you know, and, you know, I've now lived with Jalen and Alperin for three full years. And, you know, I know they love it here. And I know they want to spend their careers here.

and I know they love working with EMA and their teammates and everything else. So we, you know, so from our perspective, I guess we, sometimes I think teams operate out of fear that players might prefer other destinations. That that's, that that wasn't and kind of isn't, you know, for us, really something that that worries us. And so, so it was more just, hey, we want to find a good agreement. that works for us and for them. And, you know, when you do that, everybody's got to make some concessions here or there. And certainly they made some and certainly we did too.

But in terms of like the length and the structure, I think, you know, we wanted to provide them with some flexibility so that they felt more comfortable. And that was an area we could provide some, that was, you know, that we could give on, you know, depending upon what they preferred. And so we did. But, you know, again, like we think we're an extraordinarily attractive play. So we're not terribly worried that they're not always going to want to be here. Rafael Stone, Rocket's general manager with us here on the Matt Thomas show with Ross on Sports Talk 790.

I've always wanted to ask you this. If you took, if I went to your office and did an internship with you, how long, now, don't make fun of my intellect, but how long would it take for me to learn the collective bargaining agreement in the NBA? because me trying to explain it to my radio audience is just foolish on my part. It is so convoluted in such a mess. Do you have to constantly cross-check every single nuance to that thing? Yeah, I mean, before you do something, yes. Like, you have to, yeah, you have to go back and, well, you ask me a bunch of questions in there. I'm going to answer the last one, right?

Which is, do you have to double-check everything? And the answer is yes, you for sure do, because you need to make, you know, it's so much money and it's so, and it's people's lives. You need to make absolute sure that what you think you can do, you can do. And so you pull up the specific section and you reread it, and then you confirm it with lawyers at the NBA. And then you go forward. By the way, one of the things that I think never. occurs to people is that even when you confirm it with lawyers at the NBA, if they're wrong, you're still in trouble because it's collectively bargained. So it's lawyers at the NBA

and at the Players Association who write the language. And if they don't agree on what the language means, the lawyers at the NBA don't get it dictated. It then goes in front of, you know, an arbitrator or something like that. We've actually had that in the past where people interpret things differently and and the team has kind of been stuck stuck on the hook long in the past like i don't know 15 years ago or something like very very long ago but but it was a great learning lesson for me that you have to be really really careful and so again it's not enough even just calling the league and asking not not that they would ever be wrong intentionally but but human beings make mistakes you have to be careful and you need to make sure you do the work yourself as well

um in terms of the first part of your question about how long it would take to learn you know Yeah, it's not quick. But if you, you know, if it's an enormous part of your job and if you've got a little bit of background in contracts, you know, I think it's something that in a couple of years you can become really fluent in. I'm lucky in that one of the guys I work with understands it even better than I do. And I'm, I'm pretty good at it. So between the two of us, we, yeah, we're very comfortable. So we have kind of a depth and breadth of knowledge that I would stack up against any other teams. A lot of teams struggle more than maybe we do with that aspect of it.

Rockets GM, Raffell Stone with us here on Sports Talk 790, and specifically on Jalen Green, as we know we've seen the ceiling and what he can provide on the floor. This contract, of course, a vote of confidence in his abilities. What have you seen from him that has allowed you to give that vote of confidence? confidence in what he can grow into and be consistent as far as an all-star caliber player. Well, I mean, the first thing we've seen is kind of since the all-star break last year, we've just seen pretty consistent play. He's been, you know, you're not, he's a score and shots don't always go in.

So it's not, when you talk about consistency with a score, it's not, it's not necessarily does the guy make, you know, three out of seven threes every single game, because that doesn't happen one game he'll make five month game he'll make one whatever um but but what you do see is that is that a player is getting the specific spots where and knowing and reading the defense well each and every time and contributing in other ways like their defenses is is improving their recognition on when to kick and when to go is improving all of those things and so we we've definitely seen a much greater level of consistency with jalen um that that that's started, like I said, kind of midway through last season, and we've seen it in the preseason.

We've seen it in our training camp practices. And so we're just, you know, really, really excited about his future because of, because we're seeing greater consistency and because of his improvement arc. He's, you know, he's definitely somebody who came in with really, really unique and special talents, but had to learn a lot of the game. And it's gotten every year he's gotten a little bit better. and in someone that young and that talented, that's the big ask is please get better every year,

work really hard at it. And he's definitely done that. And with he and shingoon, with talking about that and improving and getting better, how much of that do you use the on-court data? And obviously it's a mix, but as far as things on the personal level, putting in the work and being coachable and all that type of stuff,

how much do you lean on coach you? doca for those things and other parts of your staff? Well, I mean, we're very much a collective. We have the smallest staff in basketball, and it's very intentional because it allows us all to lean on one another and have real input. If you get to, there are some staffs that are 60, 70 people, and there's nothing wrong with that, but at that point, not everybody can weigh in and not everybody can, you just can't coordinate that amount of people. And so, um, so it's, for us, it's very much, we're small and

it's a collective and everybody's listening to everybody. And, and obviously, uh, email is, you know, has a, has an enormous voice. Um, uh, but it's also like, so that's our process, but with both Jaylon and Alperin, like, it's obvious, you know, like, and I've been around them. And, in that respect, I've got an enormous advantage over EMA and the rest of our coaches. Because because I've been around them so much longer. And for both of them, kind of, you can in real time watch them grow up. And it's just exciting and it's fun, right? And they came to us as teenagers.

And watching them become young adults is awesome on a very personal level, having nothing to do with basketball. And then on the court, you know, I'm at every workout. I'm at every practice, and you can tell us something. Not everybody has a great day every day, but either people work harder, they don't. And both those guys definitely do. Lastly, Rafael, I was so excited about the development of Amen Thompson last year. I mean, EMA puts him in so many different positions from the point guard to the power forward defensively,

all the intangibles you knew about when you drafted him. I'm excited about his year-two development. And then I think there is so much preseason hype about Reed Shepard. give us a thought or two about what you've seen just from Reed in particular from the time you drafted him throughout training camp to preseason and then obviously some expectations about a men for the season I will let me let me invert him let me start with the men we're yeah we're we're really excited about him then he he actually had a really hard year last year because if you remember he he didn't even make it through his first summer league game he sprained his ankle missed the rest of summer league um came to can't had a really good camp and then immediately sprained his other ankle and was out for 20 games and then got sick and like I still don't know what was wrong with him but he was coughing for two and a half months last year and lost about 15 pounds and just had a really really hard year

and wasn't feeling good or feeling like himself until I'd say maybe January maybe halfway way through January. And then we started to kind of see him pick up a little bit. And then kind of like Jaylon post All-Star break, he really put it together. And we're really excited about him. He's, you know, he's just a really good basketball player and he's just blessed with athletic gifts that no one has. He's so big and strong and fast and jumps so high. And because he's a really good player, he's able to use those advantages on both sides of the ball and

rebounding. And he's just, he's really been good for us this summer and in preseason. And so, you know, I think he's going to be a huge part of what we do every game. And the quicker he's able to translate that play, which is some of it is like confidence

and some of it is like his teammates and some of it is just him. But the quicker he's able to play like the player we've seen, the better will be. And we're excited about that, whether that translates immediately at 100% on day one or it takes 20 games or whatever. We're really excited about his future. I'm equally excited about Reed's future, but he's a rookie. And so, you know, I think he's going to play right away.

And I'm excited about that because he had to earn that. That, you know, it was not, even though we were drafted him so high, like nobody told Coach Udoka that he had to play. And, you know, it's, you bring in talent and I hand it over and then, you know, he made his job is to win games. And so, so, but I do think he's carded. He's earned, you know, a spot in the rotation to start the year, which is really exciting. The game of basketball comes very easy to him. He's somebody who kind of makes the right read over, like, no pun intended, over and over and over again. And then defensively, he's a playmaker.

have a couple of those guys. Fred is one. Dylan is one. Tari is one. And a men is one. So we actually have a bunch. But he's a playmaker. He's not a static guy on defense. He's he's reading what the opposition is trying to do. He's trying to take the ball away. He's trying to touch it. He's trying to make plays. And, you know, that's translated a bit. The flip side is he's never played a regular season NBA game and everybody's really big and really strong and really good. And the things that you get away with at lower levels, including Summer League and even against bench units, you just cannot do against some of the better players.

So there's just this natural adjustment period that every player in the NBA goes through and he's going to go through. And some guys get through it a little quicker, some guys a little slower. You know, we'll see how that goes. But we're very, very excited. about him and his future. And yeah, we do think he can be really dynamic.

Awesome stuff. Raffel, thank you very much for the time. Best of luck, not only tonight, but the entire season, and we will see you at the T.C. later this evening. Appreciate the visit. Really you do. Awesome. Thanks, guys. I will see. That's Raffel Stone, general manager of the Houston Rockets,

with us here on Sports Talk 790.