While Houston Rockets GM Rafael Stone addressed trading for Kevin Durant, he called out NBA insiders who claimed to have had the scoop before the deal became official. Stone is convinced no one from his camp leaked any information about the deal, leading him to think reporters blatantly lied.
Stone didn't hold back in his strong take on reports surronding Kevin Durant when he was still a member of the Phoenix Suns, per ESPN Houston.
“A lot of the stuff on social media — or the insiders — are just lies. Like, many of the insiders are not insiders. They're literally just talking to get clicks or to get views,” Stone said. “There will be people who say, ‘I talked to a Rockets executive, and they're thinking this.’ And I know what I'm thinking, and I’m definitely not thinking that. And the odds that they somehow randomly talked to one of the three other people who are in discussions on this — who don't talk to the media at all — like, no, they didn’t talk to them. Right?
“There's no way. So they just went out there and lied. And maybe they talked to like, somebody in season ticket sales,” Stone concluded.
The Rockets' historic seven-team trade for Durant sacrificed some of Houston's depth from last season, when they finished with the second-best record in the Western Conference. However, All-Star Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson, and Fred VanVleet is a stong core, featuring Durant. The Rockets also signed free agent Dorian Finney-Smith.
Rafael Stone's confession about Rockets' Kevin Durant trade
Rockets GM Rafael Stone didn't celebrate landing Kevin Durant. While Durant could command a long-term extension as he enters the upcoming season, Stone is happy to finally have KD on his team.
“I definitely didn’t celebrate. It was long. Like, we understood what they wanted to get for Kevin, and it just didn’t make sense for our team — starting, I don’t know, a year ago,” Stone said. “So, there were all these conversations, and it was a very, very long process. I think from my perspective — obviously, we did the trade. We're really happy with it. I’ve gotten to know Kevin a little bit, and I’m really happy with him as a person.
“But the flip side of that is — Dillon and Jalen were just awesome. As people and as co-workers, they were amazing. We were the number two seed last year, on a very, very, very young team. And I thought we played Golden State really tough,” Stone concluded.
The final season of Durant's current deal is worth $54.7 million.
