New additions give plenty of options<\/a><\/p>\nAs for this season? So far, so good.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt looks like everybody\u2019s on track to be a full go at the start of the season, which is awesome,\u201d Stone said, before adding a note of caution. \u201cBut we gotta make it there. The guys who are rehabbing have to finish their rehab and the guys who are healthy have to stay healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n
VanVleet is on track to be a full-go going into training camp, Stone said.<\/p>\n
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The Rockets could take a cautious approach with VanVleet and Adams, both 32 and coming off serious injuries. Houston sat some players who were coming off injuries on one half of back-to-backs last season.<\/p>\n
If they take a similar approach with VanVleet, the addition of Smart should help.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re just really excited. I did not expect we were going to be able to exit this summer with him,\u201d Stone said of the veteran guard.<\/p>\n
Stone said he wanted to add ballhandling and passing without sacrificing defense. Smart offers those traits with no defensive drop-off\u00a0\u2014 the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year could make the Rockets even better on that end.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The other major move for Houston was retaining Tari Eason, a restricted free agent, on a five-year, $81.5 million contract with a player option in the fifth year.\u00a0\u00a0The two spoke on the phone recently and Stone said he told Eason that nothing had ever been given to him\u00a0\u2014 Eason earned it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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\u201cHe was never anointed. It\u2019s like scratch and claw and fight for everything,\u201d Stone said. \u201cAnd he very much is deserving of this security that he\u2019s gained for himself and his family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stone said he and Eason both tried hard to agree on an extension before last season. They weren\u2019t able to, something Stone said he didn\u2019t like.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cEspecially when you\u2019re looking for your first big deal, there\u2019s real pressure that comes with it that I would rather guys not have to go through,\u201d he said\u00a0\u2014 a dynamic worth monitoring as the Rockets negotiate with Amen Thompson on a rookie-scale extension this summer.<\/p>\n
At his season-ending press conference, Stone said he expected Eason, Thompson and the other young Rockets\u00a0\u2014 Alperen \u015eeng\u00fcn, Reed Sheppard and Jabari Smith Jr.\u00a0\u2014 to be \u201cway better\u201d basketball players next season. Stone, asked about the status of that growth Friday, said all the players have been in the gym and working out.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI just rode in a car with Reed,\u201d he said. \u201cHe looks like he\u2019s picked up like 10 pounds. I don\u2019t know what it is, but he looks way bigger.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Stone said that the extent of those improvements won\u2019t be known until camp and the season but that the Rockets are \u201cdependent\u201d on those players. He called them the \u201cbackbone\u201d of the team and said their growth will determine the team\u2019s quality.<\/p>\n
The additions and returning players should make the Rockets a deeper team than they were last season, something that could help them limit Durant\u2019s minutes, a desire Stone expressed during his in-game interview with ESPN<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\nWhen speaking to media before the game, Stone noted that Durant hasn\u2019t had continuity for the last chunk of his career. The star hasn\u2019t played three full seasons with a team since his years with the Golden State Warriors. Stone believed that continuity could help Durant and the Rockets next season.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe time I\u2019ve spent with him, he seems happy, serene. He\u2019s going to know his teammates. They\u2019re going to know him,\u201d Stone said. \u201cI did feel like almost game-by-game everybody\u2026 got more comfortable as the season went on and so I\u2019m hoping that we start next year where we ended this season in terms of people understanding what he\u2019s about, what his strengths are, what his weaknesses are and vice versa.\u201d<\/p>\n
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