Rockets general manager Rafael Stone spent nearly two weeks in Türkiye this summer visiting with All-Star center Alperen Sengun, writes Matt Young of The Houston Chronicle (subscriber link).

“It was a great experience,” Stone said on Friday. “I loved the country. Truly beautiful, really nice, sweet people.”

According to Young, Stone’s trip was the result of Sengun pushing Houston’s top basketball executive to be a more vocal presence around the team.

“I thought it was important for me to do,” Stone said. “We had some good conversations at the end of last year and part of it was him putting pressure on me that, ‘You have to communicate better.’ He said, ‘You’re always around, but I want to hear from you more: Good, bad or ugly.’ I said, ‘Alright, that’s fair.’ His first couple of years, I was always on him and I’ve tried to back off a little bit. He doesn’t need me yelling at him 24/7, but I took that in, so one of the things that came out of that was, ‘Hey, let me go spend some time with you in Türkiye.’”

Here’s more on the Rockets:

Former third overall pick Reed Sheppard has added some muscle to his frame this summer as he prepares for his third NBA season, per Young (subscription required). “A lot of it is just getting older, but also eating good and staying in the weight room, doing what I need to do for my body, but at the same time, staying on the court and doing that stuff,” Sheppard said. “I think just all-around, working out and getting stronger and staying in the weight room.” The 6’2″ guard was listed at 185 pounds in 2025/26, Young notes.
Varun Shankar of The Houston Chronicle (subscriber link) grades each of Stone’s significant offseason moves. Shankar is highly complimentary of the two-year, $12.4MM deal given to free agent addition Marcus Smart, handing out an “A+” for the transaction. He also liked the decision to bring in veteran shooting coach Chip Engelland (“A”) and the five-year, $81.5MM contract Tari Eason signed (“A-“) as a restricted free agent.
Shankar was less high (“C+) on the the Rockets’ decision to trade up to acquire No. 31 overall pick Bruce Thornton and wasn’t a fan of the way the team handled Dorian Finney-Smith’s time in Houston, giving Stone a “C-” for parting with three second-round picks to shed the veteran forward’s salary a year after signing him to a multiyear contract in free agency. Overall, Shankar gave Houston a “B+” for its offseason moves.