With Houston aggressively involved in trade talks leading up to the 2022 NBA draft, Rockets owner Tilman Fertitta made it clear Tuesday that long-term perspective is most important when it comes his team’s rebuild.
As part of a business partnership expansion announcement with Memorial Hermann, Fertitta and general manager Rafael Stone took questions from local media members after the event at Toyota Center.
“Tilman’s made it clear to me the job is to get to the end goal,” Stone said, referring to the eventual goal of building another title contender. It appears Houston is committed to not taking shortcuts in that process.
In several of his responses, Fertitta pointed to the importance of the NBA draft in building a contender, and he made it clear that the longer-term impact is more important than a short-term increase in wins.
“This year, we want improvement in every area,” Fertitta said. “But we’re really looking out there and seeing the window of what’s happening in the Western Conference, and how teams are getting older.”
“It’s so funny to look at, but when we were our best (2018), the worst teams were Phoenix, Dallas and Memphis,” Fertitta added. “Look at those teams now. Because of the draft.”
.@RafaelStone12 on Rockets moving up or down in Draft: “We’re gonna be aggressive. That’s probably the biggest commonality that Tilman & I bring.Doesn’t mean it’ll happen.” @TilmanJFertitta:”We could get traded another 1st round (pick)& draft 4 guys or we might not draft anybody” pic.twitter.com/TG1IJhhUT4
— Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26) June 21, 2022
The Suns, Grizzlies and Mavericks were three of the West’s top five teams by record during this past season. In a separate answer, Fertitta pointed to the growth of the Celtics and Warriors as 2022 NBA Finals participants — led by internal draft picks Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green — as another example of internal growth and development thanks to a draft emphasis.
“When you look at Boston and you look at Golden State, those are teams that are great because those are all players that were drafted,” Fertitta said Tuesday afternoon. “Their big core was drafted players. Sometimes bad things have to happen for you to be great.”
With Houston holding three first-round picks in Thursday’s draft, including the No. 3 selection, Fertitta and Stone are hoping to add at least one piece that will eventually help them accomplish that goal.
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