Houston Rockets general manager Rafael Stone cited the “flexibility” provided by the historic haul of first-round draft picks the franchise received in the James Harden trade as the reason he chose to deal the perennial MVP candidate to the Brooklyn Nets over other offers.
In the four-team trade officially finalized Saturday, Houston received three unprotected first-round picks (2022, 2024, 2026) from the Nets, the Milwaukee Bucks‘ 2022 first-rounder via the Cleveland Cavaliers and the rights to swap first-round picks with Brooklyn in four other years. Former All-Star shooting guard Victor Oladipo, guard Dante Exum and forward Rodions Kurucs also went to Houston in the deal.
Sources said the Rockets also had in-depth discussions with the Philadelphia 76ers, who offered a package with All-NBA guard Ben Simmons as the centerpiece, in the hours before agreeing to send Harden to Brooklyn on Wednesday.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate to talk about the other [offers],” Stone said in a virtual media availability Sunday. “I would say what’s super exciting about this deal is it gives us flexibility. In the NBA, picks, especially high picks, are the best currency. Everybody likes them. Everybody values them. That was great organizationally. It gave us flexibility to do different types of deals as they come up this year, next year or whatever.
“Then we were able to get Victor Oladipo as part of it, along with [Kurucs and Exum], but Victor’s a guy that we’re really excited about. I think he’s excited to be here, and we think he’s very talented, so that was not insignificant from our perspective.”
The Rockets also received a $10.6 million trade exception in the deal. Stone said the Rockets “will aggressively be trying to use” that exception before the deadline in late March.
Stone said Harden’s harsh comments after a lopsided loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night, when the superstar declared that the Rockets “just aren’t good enough” and that he didn’t believe the situation could be “fixed,” did not expedite trade discussions.
“I can guarantee you it didn’t affect us,” said Stone, a longtime Rockets front-office employee who was promoted to general manager after Daryl Morey’s resignation in October.
Stone said the Rockets entered the season engaged in the process of finding a deal for Harden, who requested a trade during the offseason and briefly held out of the beginning of training camp to make it clear that he wouldn’t be changing his mind.
“He came to the decision he came to, and we all will move forward,” Stone said. “He’s a great basketball player. I wish him nothing but the best.”
Oladipo, a two-time All-Star with the Indiana Pacers whose career was interrupted when he ruptured his right quadriceps tendon in January 2019, joined the Rockets for Sunday’s practice.
“What’s super exciting about this deal is it gives us flexibility. In the NBA, picks, especially high picks, are the best currency. Everybody likes them. Everybody values them.”
Rockets GM Rafael Stone, on the four-team trade that sent James Harden to the Nets
Oladipo, who averaged 20.0 points, 5.7 rebounds and 4.2 assists in nine games for the Pacers this season, is in the final year of his contract. He acknowledged the business side of his situation but expressed excitement about joining the Rockets, saying the team has “the same mentality” as he does.
He said his sole priority this season will be winning and that he will wait until the offseason before evaluating his long-term fit with the franchise.
“Essentially, it’s like a business plan,” Oladipo said. “You’ve got to go through every aspect of the business plan before you kind of figure out if you want to invest in it. For me, I’m just going to go out there and play to the best of my abilities with an open mind and an open heart and do whatever I can to help this team win.
“When that time comes to do everything else after the season, then I’ll reflect. But for now, I’m just focused on winning and playing and helping this team win. I’m not really focused on anything else but that.”
Oladipo said he was especially looking forward to his backcourt pairing with former All-Star point guard John Wall, who will miss his third consecutive game Monday because of a sore knee. Oladipo said he already has a relationship with Wall, who is also coming back after missing extended time with a serious injury, and has immense respect for the point guard’s competitive fire.
“I’m looking forward to going out there, and the biggest thing is competing with him, because I know his mentality,” Oladipo said. “He wants to win, and I want to do the same. We both have chips on our shoulders, obviously, but I’m definitely looking forward to seeing the damage we can do out there.”
Stone said he is looking forward to evaluating how Oladipo fits with the Rockets.
“Your hope is that it’s a perfect marriage,” Stone said. “He’s an extremely talented player. He’s a two-way player. He’s played at an extraordinarily high level. He’s obviously had a significant injury. He’s back. He’s already really, really good, but I think in his own mind and in ours, there’s still room to grow, which is really exciting.
“I think for him and for us, this is like a really exciting time where we get to see if it works out. Hopefully, it just works out gangbusters, and then we take it from there.”