The Houston Rockets have been on a spending spree this offseason, signing Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks to what have been controversial but perhaps necessary contracts before adding Jeff Green, Jock Landale, and Aaron Holiday on smaller contracts).
Though now projected to be $5 million over the 2023-24 salary cap, the Rockets have the ability to sign players to minimum contracts, and that's just what they do here (barring a move that frees up further cap space) by bringing in veteran wing Danny Green.
What Danny Green brings to the Rockets
Defense
Looking at a common thread among the Houston Rockets' offseason acquisitions, defense seems to be the theme, which each player having developed a sound reputation on that end of the floor.
This is unsurprising given that the Rockets opted to hire Ime Udoka as head coach, who had the same reputation himself during his playing days. Nonetheless, if one was to assess what type of players Houston would be open to bringing in, they wouldn't be wrong to start with the players who can make a positive impact defensively.
Though 36-years-old, Green still plays strong perimeter defense. With that said, now more than a year removed from his ACL injury, Green should be even more capable of being a difference-maker defensively. Understandably, it takes time for a player to regain the full extent of their explosiveness after a major knee injury. That said, with his lateral agility intact, Green's defensive tenacity could allow him to shine in Houston.
Shooting
Danny Green can be a streaky outside shooter at times, as most 3-point specialists are. However, his career numbers — 40.0 percent from 3 in the regular season and 38.8 percent from 3 in the postseason — highlights just how impressive of a 3-point threat that he is, which could be what makes him more than just a depth signing for the Houston Rockets.
Among all of the players that the Rockets have brought in this offseason, less than half of them have proven themselves to be above-average 3-point threats.
Among them, two play point guard: Fred VanVleet and Aaron Holiday.
In a frontcourt that projects to have defensive specialist Dillon Brooks, soon-to-be second year forwards Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason, and 27-year-old forward Jae'Sean Tate manning the rotation, Green will be the odd man out to start. Considering how fond the Rockets are of rookie forward Cam Whitmore, this could be even more true. However, every team needs to have at least one key 3-point threat in their rotation; Brooks, Smith, Eason, and Tate all shoot 34 percent or below from deep for their career.
Championship Pedigree
If the Houston Rockets are set on reaching the NBA Playoffs (as they should be), then having a three-time NBA champion in Danny Green will provide the team with an invaluable perspective.
Outside of Fred VanVleet, none of the players currently rostered by the Rockets have NBA Finals experience. Veteran forward Jeff Green is the only one that accomplished the ultimate NBA goal once, let alone three times.
Not even Rockets head coach Ime Udoka can lay claim to that accomplishment.
Subsequently, Green arrives in Houston as a necessary voice in the locker room, able to let even Udoka and VanVleet in on lessons and tidbits that he learned from his championship journeys. Having won a championship with three different franchises (the San Antonio Spurs in 2014, the Toronto Raptors in 2019, and the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020), every stands a lot to learn from being around Green.
Having also been a key contributor on those teams, starting in every game, the young Rockets can also be sure Green won't have the playoff jitters that they may have.
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