Rockets general manager Raphael Stone spent nearly two weeks in Turkey this summer visiting the All-Star Center Alperen Sengunwrites Matt Young of the Houston Chronicle (subscriber link).
“It was a great experienceStone said on Friday.I loved the country. Really beautiful, really kind, lovely people.”
According to Young, Stone’s trip was the result of Senggun pushing Houston’s top basketball executive to be more involved with the team.
“I thought it was important for me to do itStone said.We had some good conversations at the end of last year, and it was partly because he was putting pressure on me: ‘You have to communicate better.’ He said, “You’re always there, but I want to hear more from you, the good, the bad, or the ugly.” I said, “Okay, that’s fair.” His first couple of years I was always on him and tried to back off a little bit. He doesn’t need me yelling at him 24/7, but I understood that, so one of the things that came out of it was, “Hey, let me go spend some time with you in Turkey.”»
Here’s more on the Rockets:
- Former third overall pick Reid Sheppard he added some muscle this summer in preparation for his third NBA season Young (subscription required). “A lot of it is just getting old, but I’m also eating well and being in the gym doing what I need to do for my body, but at the same time staying on the court and doing it” Sheppard said.I think it’s just all-around, training, getting stronger and being in the gym.” Young notes that the 6’2″ guard weighed 185 pounds in 2025/26.
- Varun Shankar of the Houston Chronicle (subscriber link) ranks each of Stone’s significant offseason moves. Shankar is highly complementary to the two-year, $12.4 million free agent deal Marcus Smartgiving out an “A+” for the transaction. He also liked the decision to bring in a veteran shooting coach Chip Engelland (“A”) and a five-year, $81.5 million contract Tara Eason signed (“A-“) as a restricted free agent.
- Shankar was less high (“C+”) on the Rockets’ decision to trade up for the 31st overall pick Bruce Thornton and was not a fan of the way the team operated Dorian Finney-Smithtime in Houston, giving Stone a “C-” for parting with three second-round picks to shed the veteran power forward’s salary a year after signing him to a multi-year free agent contract. Overall, Shankar gave Houston a “B+” for his offseason.