We have to get rid of KPJ

NBA said it was just too shameful of a display

 

Trash player, can't even get triple doubles.

 

Which is why he's still a net positive even when his offense struggles. Other young guards should take notes.

 

Imagine if he could shoot league average from 3 and ft.

 

Shooting much better than Green, just saying.

 

I am very happy KPJ has been playing so well. But to say that he has proven to be a great PG after 3 good games is probably worse than pronouncing he would never be good at the PG spot after 15 games.

 

Who has said that?

 

All in good time, right now you'll take him making leaps forward as a defender and PG and hope his shooting numbers improve eventually.

 

Sorry I didn’t mean it to come off as a diss. I’m just saying he’s been playing good defense and limiting turnovers when/if he turns around shooting that’s a solid player.

 

Def agree. He’s not as careless with the ball and watching the help defender on passes. He’s making progress. I just meant if the shooting numbers pick up now you got something special.

 

That would be very nice. The dream scenario is KPJ becomes something special and Green ends up a quality SG so the Rockets have a more than solid guard duo for the future.

We'll see how that works out.

 

In some areas but TS% favors Green over KPJ, probably because KPJ is shooting 62% FT.

 

His defense has been really good
Hope it’s not one of those mood things where if everything is going well he tries on both ends but when it’s going poorly he lacks effort

 

His offense will naturally take a step back as he steps up his D and has to learn how to better manage energy/fatigue. But so far I have been alright with his progress and development and feel he just needs more time to measure growth.

 

With several rookies on the team, and how it takes a few years to see their true trajectory, I wanted to see if there was someone on the team we can look at right now. There was one: KPJ, who is in his 3rd season. The 2019 draft class, aka Ja / Zion class. Most of these names are recognizable. Fans can also see if these guys are move towards budding or busting.

Going by an overall stat; in this case NBA.com's Player Impact Estimate (pie, highest to lowest).

KPJ was listed as a SG in his draft. Here are the other 1st Rounder SGs.

Team	Name	Draft #	Age	PIE	True Shooting %	Usage
Grizzlies	Jarrett Culver	R1 pick 06	22	13.7	56.0	19.1
Heat	Tyler Herro	R1 pick 13	21	11.9	53.9	28.6
Warriors	Jordan Poole	R1 pick 28	22	10.1	58.2	24.6
Knicks	RJ Barrett	R1 pick 03	21	8.3	51.0	22.4
Rockets	Kevin Porter Jr.	R1 pick 30	21	7.5	46.4	24.6
Lakers	Talen Horton Tucker	R2 pick 46	21	7.3	48.9	19.3
Pelicans	Nickeil Alexander-Walker	R1 pick 17	23	7.0	45.8	23.9
Celtics	Romeo Langford	R1 pick 14	22	6.2	51.1	12.2

PGs in his draft class.

Team	Name	Draft #	Age	PIE	True Shooting %	Usage	PPG	APG
Grizzlies	Ja Morant	R1 pick 02	22	15.3	56.4	31.0	24.1	6.8
Cavaliers	Darius Garland	R1 pick 05	21	12.4	59.3	25.0	19.1	7.3
Thunder	Ty Jerome	R1 pick 24	24	7.8	51.9	21.5	6.5	1.2
Rockets	Kevin Porter Jr.	R1 pick 30	21	7.5	46.4	24.6	12.8	5.8
Bulls	Coby White	R1 pick 07	21	3.6	40.6	19.8	6.0	1.4

Booming 3rd year players:

• Morant, Garland, Herro, Poole.

Mid guys:

• Barrett is important to the Knicks, but he's also a 3rd pick, he does a lot, but not super efficient.
• KPJ
• THT (really late 2nd round pick, but proved a spot in the NBA)
• Nickeil Alexander-Walker

Lack of playing time or busting trajectory:

• Langford, White, Jerome, Culver

Notes:

• Morant and Garland have a high PIE, great TS% while having high usage. No brainer they are core pieces their team should build around.
• Culver has the highest PIE but this year only averages 8min a game.
• KPJ has a decent usage, but TS% is among the lowest, a drop from his previous two years.
  • this CFers knew, and could be due to the 2 big lineup and Rockets trying to see if he can be a PG first time.
  • So far KPJ's grade is not great, one could argue KPJ is having some better showing than a few picks ahead of him.
  • One could also say it's hard to be a bust at 30th.. But 30th also doesn't necessarily warrant too much patience and investment by the front office or fans, if relative to his peers the growth is slow.

KPJ might be serviceable on this bottom-record Rockets team, but personally speaking if he doesn't make a huge leap 2nd half this season, Rockets front office should consider other options for PG.

He really needs to show there is potential to be a core piece. Otherwise, consider putting in better minutes to guys like Josh Christopher or the next draft pick (if we can't get Chet or Paolo). Even if KPJ goes to a wing SF spot, it also should be by merit.

PIE (highest to lowest)

Team	Name	Draft #	Age	PIE	True Shooting %	Usage	PPG	APG
Rockets	Kenyon Martin Jr.	R2 pick 52	20	11.2	59.8	16.2	7.6	1.2
Rockets	Josh Christopher	R1 pick 24	20	9.2	59.8	19.8	5.8	1.5
Rockets	Armoni Brooks	2019 R Pick	23	7.6	53	17.6	6.6	1.3
Rockets	Kevin Porter Jr.	R1 pick 30	21	7.5	46.4	24.6	12.8	5.8
Rockets	Garrison Mathews	Undrafted	25	7.3	62.4	14.8	12.5	0.6

Right now KJ is one of the more impactful bench wings (and slightly younger than KPJ). Garrison for his cold drought, still has a very good TS%. Kevin Porter Jr. might be the better defender of the lot, but he is not head & shoulder above them.

 

amazing post! The ts has to be dragged down by his ridiculously low shooting numbers. Don’t think two big lineups have anything to do with his blown layups and terrible ft shooting. If he can correct just those two and not even the three ball I bet his ts number leaps up

 

i think the writing is on the wall. we need to sign him cheap on an extension asap or trade him. He's not a good enough 3 point shooter to start for us. he's good enough to develop off the bench as a sixth man type. Christopher needs to start. Even Kenyon martin junior is more important than him. With the emergence of matthews. KPJ is expendable. We need to sell high on him or sign him cheap. He may develop down the road, but we already have green to develop. Christopher needs to be molded into our pick and roll guard until we find someone better. Christopher is better at defense, 3 poitn shooting, rebounding, transition defense and offense, and all the dirty work. He's our future all star.

 

Very good post, thanks for putting in the work. I’m thinking KPJ is going to be really good, but if he gets enough playing time this year and doesn’t improve substantially it might be worth trying him at another position or coming off the bench.

 

KPJ is fine, learning a new position when you have been a scorer all your life will take some time...he was getting it when he got his boo boo.

DD