Jalen was an all or nothing guy. When his shot was on he could play at a superstar level. Problem was his shot was almost never on. When his shot was off he was a liability who brought all the other players down. He was also a poor defender although he did improve in that area during his time here. Reed is a MUCH more consistent shooter, a better passer, and a better defender. If he hasn't lapped Jalen yet he will. Alpi, Amen and Reed will be our home grown big 3 of the future with KD to help until they reach their potential. Our future is VERY bright. .
Thank you, this is the point I'm trying to get at. Having the option to take open mid-range shots is critical when an elite defense isn't giving you anything else and your contested 3 point shots aren't falling. In clutch time, in a one possession game where you're up by 2, there aren't any playoff coaches who would tell their team to just give KD or Reed an open middie because that's what the numbers tell them to do.
Why are people talking about the mid range. Jalen wasn't particularly efficient at any shot on the floor, truly a jack of all trades and master of none on offense. If he had perfected one thing on offense, he would be an all star, instead it was a mystery box every game
Sorry - but no, Sheppard is already better than Jalen Green. I don't want to pile on Jalen Green, he worked hard after they got Udoka - he tried, but his skill set just wasn't right for the Rockets and possibly the NBA, in the role he has asked to serve. Having said that - Sheppard is just a better player, and while Jalen plateaued offensively early, it looks like that won't be the case for Sheppard.
no doubt, Green was terribly inconsistent but he went through stretches where he looked like a future scoring champ. We can’t erase the things he accomplished because he sucked in the playoffs.
That’s fair but that’s not what was posted. I was responding to the ‘lapped JG’ claim which is hyperbole
That's fair. But Green didn't accomplish a damn thing in his time here. Nothing. A couple of decent scoring runs in March and early Novemeber is about all he did. There was the Cade poster and the loose ball he dove on vs the Warriors to finally get that monkey off our back. But if memory serves me right, he had a bad game there too outside of that moment. Reed already has more signature games to his belt. Which is crazy. And they've all been prime time cup games.
We are probably in agreement that Reed is a better basketball player and will have a better career but I think there is some amnesia regarding how good JG was on offense for significant stretches. I’m also not sure why Reed’s success is used to diminish Jalen’s legacy. Jalen gave us hope in a dark era and also was good enough to bring in KD.
Your outlook is healthier than most (inlcuding my own at times). We can appreciate Reed without denigrating players that were flawed and overstayed their welcome but also were vital in getting the franchise where it's at.
Precisely! I’m no Green apologist, I thought Mobley was the obvious pick at the time and have long thought JG would best be used as a 6th man on a contender. But he did everything asked of him by the franchise and I wish him success in Phoenix. Would love a first round matchup with the Suns.
I don't like piling on Green. He wasn't disruptive, after he got a real coach, he played hard. Green just wasn't a good fit with the Rockets. As for all the comments about Daryl Morey--- he has his flaws and has made mistakes. However, he also drafted a guy outside the lottery that turned 25 years old earlier this month and is averaging nearly 35 points a night..... drafted a 19 year old rookie getting 15 a night, and traded for another 25 year old guard that is getting nearly 20 a night. You win some and you lose some.... Daryl has done both.
Jalen has a legacy in Houston? I mean i know he does, but you're making it sound like its a positive one. Jalen provided zero hope. At least to those who watched him play without rose tinted glasses on. The writing was on the wall before he was even drafted when his highlight video showed zero fundamentals. Zero iq Uber athletes tend to fade away into obscurity. Heck Rockets fans should recognize that better than most with Stromile Swift and Terrence Williams in recent memory. Sensible ones added Jalen to that list long before year four. The only thing Jalen contributed to getting KD, was his contract. It sure as heck wasnt his play.
Jalen had one elite skill and that was his first step. He could get by anyone in the league. The problem is he was one of the worst finishers in the league, especially through contact. If there wasn’t an angle to dunk it, it was probably a miss.
Simply false. Reed does not have more "legacy" games than Jalen. Reed has had 3 games this year where his game score is above 17.6. Last year he only had 1. https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/s/sheppre01/gamelog/2025 Last year alone, Jalen had 25 games with a better game score https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/greenja05/gamelog/2025 Not only that he had an elite game in the Playoffs where he scored 38 points and led the Rockets to a win.
This is a huge overreaction. The writing wasn't on the wall when we drafted him - he was a consensus top 4 pick at the time and I think most thought Jalen was in the 2nd tier after Cade along with Barnes and Mobley. Given the situation that we had just lost Harden - the workman heliocentric scorer who facilitated for a team of players with limited offensive skills - Jalen was the obvious pick because Barnes and Mobley both had fairly well documented offensive limitations at the time. Houston had no facilitator at the time and attempted to pick up two in the draft. It ultimately wasn't Green's fault he wasnt cut out to be the player we tried to make him into by making him play PG and attempting to have him facilitate an offense - that was never his game but it also CERTAINLY wasn't Barnes or Mobley's game either. Don't forget we went from one of the worst teams of all time to a playoff team with Jalen playing heavy minutes during his tenure here so whether you like it or not, he WAS a part of this org turning around their fortunes just as much as he was a part of the org being bad. It just so happened, his departure for KD had a huge impact on raising our ceiling as well but a lot of that has to do with KD being on the best players of all time still performing at a high level despite his senior age. KD otherwise wouldn't have been available to us had he been in his early 30s or earlier and of course as you mentioned - Jalen ultimately served as reasonable trade fodder for an org stuck somewhere between a roster built to contend and need to rebuild around younger players. Jalen was the right type of player at the right time to facilitate that trade and if you need one more examples - Jalen's inefficient stat line directly contributed to us getting opportunities at some of these other players whom we call our future as well.
I rooted for JG, but I was relieved when we traded him for KD, because I felt his trade value was only going to go down with another year of inefficient volume scoring and the wild swings in productivity. That GSW series is what sealed it though. JG played like that was the first time he'd seen a defense geared to slow him down, and it was his fourth year. Having listened to several of his longer interviews, I already suspected the guy had a great work ethic and low b-ball IQ, and that series confirmed that suspicion. I listened to the LockedOn Suns podcast where they analyzed what he'd bring to the Suns, and this line stood out as the top concern on their list: "Jalen is a volume-scoring shooting guard who isn't a good shooter." I mean, that's exactly why the Rockets traded him while they could. I wish him the best of luck with his career, but I am happy he is playing for the Suns and not the Rockets.
I feel like Jalen in reality wasn't quite as athletic as I thought. He had a great vertical, and although he definitely wasn't slow, he didn't seem lighting quick laterally. Combine that with so-so shooting, lack of strength, and tunnel vision...and really you got a guy who's maybe an average starter and that's it.
I think Reed will be a better player than Jalen long run, but the hyperbole around Reed is very thick right now. Jalen seems like a decent guy that tried hard for us, but was a bad fit for the Rockets. I don’t care whether he is great this year or not, although if he plays good Phoenix would likely not feel like they needed to make big waves in the off-season. I hope he sucks next year when it will help the Rockets. Acting like Reed has had more good impact games this year than Jalen did with us in his career is extreme exaggeration. Jalen had several months where he was the best Rocket on the floor and one of the best SG’s in the league. Reed will probably surpass him, but isn’t even close at this point in the season. You can say that Jalen had way more negative impact games than Reed, but it’s hard to make a big deal of that since Reed didn’t have any role last year and has only about 10 games under his belt as a heavy contributor. Just celebrate Reed and quit with the false narratives about other players to pump him up.
