Even if the Houston Rockets wrapped up another campaign on a disappointing note, this rebuilding phase for the franchise is not surrounded all by negativity. There are some positive outlooks for this roster in the next few years and one of them would be the emergence of Jalen Green as a plausible franchise cornerstone for Houston.
After suiting up for the NBA G League Ignite last year, Green failed to reach expectations at the early juncture of the season as Evan Mobley, Scottie Barnes, and Cade Cunningham garnered more league-wide attention. As the season winded down and the Rockets were out of playoff contention, Green elevated his numbers to an exponential level and showcasing his sensational talent the NBA stage. With the Rockets constructing a respectable roster for the foreseeable future, these are some reasons why Jalen Green must be the main asset of the Rockets.
Silas gives him the key to the car
Entering March and April, coach Stephen Silas gave Jalen Green the green light to chuck it up every night and give him the chance to rack up buckets. One could easily spot that there are some retired NBA individuals who failed to flourish in the league because they were not given ample opportunities to succeed. Right in his rookie season, Green answered the call and scored over 30 points in six out of the last seven matches for the Rockets.
Veterans John Wall and Eric Gordon are being sparingly used by Silas, thus giving Green and Kevin Porter Jr. more than enough minutes for them to lead their squad of possibly reaching the NBA playoffs or play-in tournament once again. The athleticism and assertiveness of Jalen Green are a given entering the league, but his ability to do it on a consistent basis is what would make him stand out as the go-to-guy of the squad.
Lethal combination of skill and athleticism
High leapers and extremely athletic individuals have not been a new sight at the professional level. A slew of players have possessed a similar skill set, but Green separates himself because he is stamping himself as a frightening freak of nature attacking the rim. Similar to the ascension of Anthony Edwards in his sophomore year, Green looks like he is on a similar trajectory as Edwards is now one of the leaders of the seventh seed Minnesota Timberwolves.
The attitude and mentality of Green to wreak havoc with the perfect combination of his speed, athleticism, and basketball IQ are incredible strengths that would give opponents a headache every night. One could easily spot the inefficiency and mental lapses in the first few months, but that has since dwindled as the season was wrapping up toward its latter stages. When he develops into a more well-rounded leader for a NBA team, Green could possibly earn an All-Star spot in the next three-five seasons.
Rockets teammates trust Jalen Green
For the NBA fans that have not been tuning into the final games of Houston when they were eliminated, the optimism of the franchise is not solely due to the talent and upside of Jalen Green. There were a bunch of instances wherein folks particularly Porter Jr., Jae'Sean Tate and Josh Christopher were confident and ready to perform when they see Green handling the ball and utilizing his spectacular repertoire.
Succeeding individually is fantastic at the NBA level, but it is a whole different culture and feeling when one's teammates celebrate each other's success. The initiative of Green to facilitate and dish off to his youthful teammates as well is still a facet that he must improve on as his career progresses. Even with that hole in his arsenal, Green has shown flashes of brilliance in spacing the floor by converting several long range shots on some instances, which in turn opens up more space for his teammates to create for themselves and for others.
As the playoff season approaches, NBA fans may not be focused too much on the storylines occurring in the Rockets organization. However, that would not last too long as Houston will be very active to select a talented lottery pick in the NBA Draft while likely signing other guys to bolster their core. Even with these situations occurring, the Rockets fanatics must focus on the ascension of Green who seems to not have a ceiling with his immense potential in the NBA.