General Manager Neil Olshey of the Portland Trail Blazers speaks with General Manager Rafael Stone of the Houston Rockets (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
Following the Houston Rockets’ trade that dealt James Harden, Rockets GM Rafael Stone has drawn praise for nailing his biggest test to date.
Very few first-time general managers would envision walking into a situation like the one that awaited Rafael Stone, as the Houston Rockets had a laundry list of franchise-defining decisions that needed to be made. Granted, Stone isn’t the typical rookie executive, as he was with the Rockets for a longer period of time than his predecessor Daryl Morey, who was beloved by the Rockets’ fanbase.