Rafael Stone | Houston Rockets Press Conference After Drafting Reed Sheppard | 2023-2024 NBA Season

Rafael Stone | Houston Rockets Press Conference After Drafting Reed Sheppard | 2023-2024 NBA Season

we’ll go ahead and get started first question Jonathan Fagan hi Rafel um you’ve always said you don’t draft for need the guy you took today would seem to fit a need how much of that was or was not a consideration with choosing uh Reed Shepard yeah we so I I I don’t I definitely don’t want to put down anybody in this draft I I I do think it’s a talented draft I think a lot of guys who can and will have really productive NBA careers but um um in in this case we we kind of at the end of our process we we ended up with with Reed as as the best player in the draft by quite a bit uh the best Prospect we thought um again not putting anybody else down and it’s obviously going to be incumbent upon him to to Bear all that out um and kind of the only guy that that that we were really focused on so um uh so if he had not gotten to us I think we would have we would have probably traded down or out of the draft um but but when we had the opportunity to pick him we uh we jumped on it Richard oh go ahead is okay if I yeah sorry why did you feel that way that he was the best player in the draft yeah I just I think he has a special I mean a Time will tell right it’s it’s I would say best best Prospect um but but he just has a special set of skills I mean his shooting is uh historic was historically great um and um his feel for the game his passing his ability to get deflections um and he’s an NBA athlete like he’s he’s not somebody who’s under athletic and so um uh and and like the IQ and feel I think is very real and so we there’s just a lot to like um that’s the answer thank you thanks tomorrow go ahead Vanessa well I was gonna ask what about Reed made him your guy but you kind of just answered it so I guess my followup would kind of be the IQ piece of it he just turned 20 years old what about his basketball IQ kind of impressed you in the short time you’ve been able to get to know him yeah I mean it’s it’s it’s he’s a very nice kid I got I’ve gotten to know him u a little bit off the court but but yeah I don’t I haven’t gotten to his basketball IQ is from watching on film and yeah just he make he makes the easy play easy uh he sees the court really well his decision making his processing is really quick uh even even as I think it’s one of the reasons he shoots so well because the game comes easy to him when he knows whether he’s going to shoot early enough to be ready to shoot his shot preparations like truly astoundingly good so um so yeah that that’s that’s what we saw and then defense ly a lot of stuff he bait he baits guys on defense he picks up cheap steals he can almost cheat the game a little bit by by anti through anticipation and again he’s a really good athlete so he doesn’t have to just rely on his anticipation he’s able to couple it with some you know um you know with some athleticism thank you chrisy Reen um he mentioned when I ret talked after he was drafted that he’s looking forward to uh playing with Van Vleet and learning from him how much do you think he’ll be able to to get from him and playing with him oh I I think that’s like an invaluable experience I Fred was amazing for all of our players last year even for our veterans Fred’s uh maybe the most professional um uh and toughest NBA player I’ve ever been around in 20 years in the league so I I think it’s a blessing for Reed to come into the situation Jackson Gall hey Rafel uh there was some reporting prior to the draft about the team’s possible interest in yukon’s Donovan kingan so when both kingan and Reed Shepard were on the board at three uh what considerations did you guys have internally and what kind of made Shepard the right pick for your organization yeah we had we had shepher very very high so I I like I I think lots of players in in including Donovan were gonna be very successful but but yeah I mean our our evaluation was that was that Reed was you know Reed has a very special skill set that gives him a chance it’s definitely not certainty but gives him a chance to be special in the NBA in a way we thought was unique in this draft lashard Binkley how you doing Rafael hey I’m good lashard um you mentioned before um uh that you had you didn’t have a problem with um several of your players in recent drafts going to the g- league spending some time there is that still the case for re sheer or do you expect him to be in the rotation um from the beginning of the season that’s going to be 100% up to eay but I I love the g-league I think playing basketball is playing basketball and uh and if it makes sense for him to play in the G League he plays in the G league if he beats people out he plays in the NBA that’s great too but um I I just I I think I I like the the G league is so much better than college basketball um it it absolutely uh uh is an important part of our developmental program for all our players and I I do not care where you’re drafted Adam spollen hey Rafel um did you know anything about or how much did you guys know about Reed when he came out of high school and when did he start to pop up as a guy who you thought you might take in the first round and then in the top three um yeah I mean Reed was a top 25 player coming out of high school so we yeah he was very much on the radar um I I do think like there were a lot of question marks um about translation it’s it’s very rare that people dominate college basketball as a freshman the same way they dominated high school basketball and a basketball and he did and so that and that was apparent very quickly so he he was he was on our radar from from the very beginning Michael Shapiro hi Rafel uh I know you noted Reed as as the top player on yall’s board um but the fit potentially with him alongside alurn and the rest of your roster can you kind of speak to that and how you envision him especially offens ly working within this kind of team concept yeah I mean I well he can really shoot and he can really pass so players like that fit in every offense um he’s got a high basketball IQ um um but yeah I mean I like yeah I I think he’s I think he’s a he’s a he’s a good fit with alred he’s a good fit with am men he’s a good fit with Fred and Jaylen like like I I but mainly because I think he’s a talented basketball player um especially on the offensive side of the ball and I and I do think that one nice thing for us is to the extent like re Reed is obviously not big but we as a team we we do have a lot of length and everything else and um and he and he’s pretty physical so so um so I I I do think it’s a nice fit for us both offensively and defensively and over the course of time no no one is expecting Reed to come in and uh and play 40 minutes a game to to to start with that’s that would not be fair Brian barefield how you doing Mr Stone good um you talked uh before the season last year about jaylen’s uh stepping up and becoming more of a leader his leadership role you even talked a little bit about that at the end of the season how important was it to have him at the draft to be able to take that picture with re shake his hand and welcome it to the Houston Rockets yeah I thought it was really cool I I didn’t I didn’t know Jaylen was going until today so I I i’ had gotten a heads up a couple hours beforehand and uh obviously we didn’t know we were going to get Reed but they say are the same representation and I think really really cool moment for for Reed um so very nice of jayen to do that Jonathan Fagan um while we have you can you discuss what was the motivation behind the trade last night oh um yeah I mean I think uh well mostly we thought it was a good deal um you know I think that uh um we were able to turn um a f a future first round pick and a future first round swap into two future first round picks and two future first round swaps and um you know and I think it made sense it it Diversified our kind of portfolio of picks going out it pushed them out a little bit which is really good for us we are we’re a very young team right now and so uh pushing those picks out and having some some draft picks a little further out I you know we we think makes sense both in terms of our ability to trade those picks but also in terms of just picking them so that um so that we we don’t have quite as many guys in their first second and third year at the same time um yeah we we just thought it was great value so so for us this was we’ve been in discussions with Brooklyn since well for a long time for months and it was the culmination of lots and lots of talks and Sean’s a good guy and he’s great to work with and um and I’m glad it worked out and and obviously they they were able to execute that our deal with them allowed them to then go and do a very very large deal which which I think they they feel really good about so I I I think you know um it’s it’s kind of a win-win in this case thank you Chancellor Johnson hey Rafel um in regards to Reed obviously you guys have been scouting him for a while but what did you notice when you guys had a chance to bring him in person for um the draft workout they may have helped lead to ultimate the decision to draft him you know um the draft workouts I don’t I don’t think impact our decision of drafting him but we did get a chance to know him and uh I I was able to spend a lot of time with him I think probably I don’t know five or six days in total and and really nice young man like um you know kind of all the things you’d hope and uh and so the the level of comfort of kind of investing in somebody is is that’s what that’s what it provided that that time provided me eay um our coaches our our front office staff with the ability to kind of get to know who who the person that you’re investing is and and kind of at the end of that feel very very comfortable with who he is as a person Adam spolan on the Brooklyn trade I guess whose idea was it and just how complex is a deal like that I don’t think that type of a deal has been made before so just what were the complexities of getting that done um I yeah I don’t want to I don’t want to go into who’s I I mean the you know the ultimate deal is a subject of negotiation right so um that you know their idea was that we should just hand their picks back and our idea was that we should get all of their picks so um so I I don’t I don’t want to go into whose idea it was but um um but yeah like it’s lot you like lots of talks and you know like look we the situation Brooklyn is in and kind of the stuff they’re doing isn’t super dissimilar from the situation I found myself in when I when I first took over the franchise and um you know and um and so you know in in our talks Sean and I discussed that at least a little bit and um you know but but they made the they they obviously made the decisions that they thought were best for them and and we made the decisions that we thought were best for us Brian barefield going into day two what are some of the the needs that you’re looking at uh what position do you think is there a certain position that you’re looking to F with that that pick going into the second round absolutely not we’re just we’re going to see we have the 44th pick we may pick it we may trade it we’ll see who’s you know if we pick it it’ll just be the best guy there um if we trade it it’ll be just for the best thing we can get for it we we definitely are not expecting that at this stage we’re going to bring in someone to fill a need um and and frankly we really like our team and we like we like kind of all the returning the returning members and we don’t feel as though we have any glaring needs right now thank you B deos raell with the deal last night you turned two picks into four or two assets into four and you push those further out as you said is there a trend towards greater quantity in these Superstar trade deals or anything that you might look at down the line just speak if you could to the quantity angle of this I mean yeah it seems it does seem as though people are asking for more and more in every trade like that um um that that that certainly is happened happening I think um for us it’s not just the quantity though it’s very much the quality so like the the a big thing for me in this deal is we is that all there are no protections in our swaps or picks so so we’re able to retain you know real upside and um yeah and and for me that that that that’s that’s besides the quantity the quality I think is you know is as high as can be so that that was a big deal for me

Houston Rockets General Manager Rafael Stone’s press conference and reaction to the NBA Draft and selecting Reed Sheppard from the University of Kentucky with the 3rd overall pick.

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