His handle was looser than before. He has improved. Doesn't mean his starting point was "bad". His starting point wasn't as bad as Amen or Cam starting point was for example. Green was splitting double teams with a live dribble as a 19 year old rookie. Here is the thing. There is no objective single stat to measure ball handling ability. I could just leave it at "eye test brah, trust me". And then you'd b**** about me not backing my claims at all. What exactly are you using to justify your claims? Nothing? Do you want me to use tov% on drive attempts? Green in his 3rd season is at 8% turnover rate on drives to the rim. Ant Edwards in his 4th season is at 7.5%. My God look how much better Ant is at protecting the ball driving to the rim
VOTE: Do the Rockets end up extending Jalen Green? https://www.thedreamshake.com/2024/...rockets-end-up-extending-jalen-green-nba-2024 I voted no because that is what I hope for. But the answer may be yes.
It’s well treaded ground but I’m assuming we can all agree that only 2 out of our core 6 appear to be good shooters, with Tari projecting to be average. So that leaves Amen, Sengun, and Jalen as bad shooters. The fundamental imbalance of our roster is a growing concern as we try to become a playoff team. Acquiring talent regardless of fit was important the last 3 years, but as we try to compete, and guys come up for big $ extensions, we have to make some tough decisions and start addressing gaps. I buy the idea that you can’t have more than 1 or 2 non-shooters on the floor at the same time. Unless one of those 3 prospects makes a big improvement in their shooting, I don’t believe we can keep them all together. I also dont believe an Amen/Jalen backcourt can work…again because it’s a bad shooting back court. so in conclusion, we need to figure out which of Jalen, Amen, or Sengun we should move. Since Amen has the longest runway on a rookie scale deal he’s probably not available. As Sengun and Jalen are coming into restricted free agency, they are the top candidates. Sengun is a better player and has shown more improvement. He’s probably less likely to develop into a shooter than Jalen, but his position requires less shooting than Jalen’s. my conclusion is that we are going to have to trade Jalen eventually if we want to stick with the rest of the core. So my question is, why wait? The longer we wait, the less options and the less we’ll get in return. I say trade him this offseason; recoup as much value as possible, and move forward with finding an elite shooting wing that can play in the backcourt with Fred and Amen.
I have been pushing back the "trade Jalen while he still has value" sentiment that was so prevalent on this board throughout the season. And Green's March surge added the hesitation. But time is gradually running out. I am actually less averse to trade Jalen now then a few months ago. But since I have not totally given up hope on him being a star level player, I'd wait till maybe January to see how he does. I know by that time, his value may have plummeted if he goes his usually stinky way at the first part of the season. But I think it's worth the gamble. Losing a not very valuable player for next to nothing is better than getting something for him and seeing him turn into a star on another team.
I agree that the prudent thing is to wait till the deadline, but I’m convinced there might not be a deal worth making at that point. So u kind of have to be willing to lose Jalen for nothing if we wait. But you may be right that it’s worth losing Jalen for nothing as the price to see if he can be an allstar. I just think it’s putting a lot on a few months of play this fall. I still think the SGA-type potential is there, but I’m not a believer in the 3pt shooting getting to average and consistent. That really means you have to load up even more on shooters…and as I previously noted, most of our core is non-shooters. Tough decisions ahead.
Lets say Jalen is lights out the first 3-4 months this coming season. Who among you will be convinced that he is the real deal and we hand over a max extension to him? For myself, I wont be. 3 months of good play doesn't erase 3 years of bad play. Just that simple (for me). If most of you and the Rockets FO wont be either, there is no reason to wait, I agree.
There are levels to it - he buys himself more time if he's consistent the first half. He needs to play pretty good consistently next year to maybe get a max this summer, and even then I'd have my doubts and would want to see at least maybe another 6 months at that level. I think the most reasonable thing for us to do next year is let him go to RFA unless he turns in an all-star\close to all star level performance this year and gives us confidence that whatever slumps or off-nights he has are flukes.
I think there are some people who would if this somehow reaches the western conference finals where Green is carrying(not saying it would happen) there would still be people who would be like "is this a fluke". He's 22. Not 27. Him increasing level of play would be natural for his age group.
I agree. Despite my words, I haven't written him off completely just yet. But, he is going to have to have a very solid 2024/25 and hopefully we get to the play-in, and Jalen excels there as well. If after that, he opens the 2025/25 season on fire, then I would take the gamble.
But it's not as simple as 3 years of bad play. He did show he could string together star level games in fairly long stretches. It's just not sustained and never at the beginning of the season. Those stretches is undeniable evidence of his potential. I've said it many time. It's not just pan in the fry Linsanity kind of thing. So if he could sustain 3 months of high level performance right at the start, it does give you pause on giving up on him at that point.
One of the hardest things to prove is consistency when your achilles' heel has been inconsistency. I agree he has shown potential. More this past season than in previous ones I admit. But that isnt what he needs to prove and I am not sure if he has enough time left with the Rockets to do so given that time is limited before they have to decide something..
There is nothing consistent in his life and lifestyle either other than his mom Bree and maybe money income for the foreseeable future.
In the NBA, people are always looking for the 3rd year leap where everything clicks for those players that will become stars in the league. There are actually a good number that don’t take it until the 4th year (and, of course some click even earlier). If you look at the top 25 players in the league, or even the top 50, you will see that pretty much every one of them had made that leap by year 4. Jokić took his biggest leap in year 6, but he was already receiving MVP votes by year 4. We’ve invested a #2 pick on him, so I think it’s prudent to give him that 4th year. We will know by January whether it is clicking or not. Unfortunately, the rest of the league will, too. He will have likely tanked his value at that point if he hasn’t taken that leap, but I can certainly understand the team gambling on him. I’ll also understand if they want to use him to get someone more established while there’s still value to extract. The easiest way for this team to improve is for Jalen to take the leap, so I’ll be hoping for that. It still won’t stop me from including him in trade proposals between now and then.
There is a market if you are a 30 year old big guy with an NBA body. But there is not a big contract for a 29 year old who has not broken out and is inconsistent. I think there is a reason why people have more patience with big men. I think he can still turn it around for sure but people are harder on guards and wings.....
While you and I may agree with this, I am not sure what Ime and the FO think. I am afraid that if things are still going badly by January, he will continue to get starter playing time and continue to contribute more to us losing rather than winning. I want the Rockets to be relevant and it stifles that goal to have a starter playing big minutes that has struggled as much as Jalen generally has.
I’m on the fence with Jalen Green and giving him the extension, with leaning toward giving him the extension. Folks dog him for taking a step backwards on offense, but at the same time he made monumental improvements defensively. Sure he isn’t going to be any sort of all NBA defensive team player, but he’s covering his assignments. He needs credit for the hard work and dedication For his entire basketball career, he’s always been projected to be a good shooter. But playing defense and adding muscle will hinder shooting until the body acclimates to the increased strenuous physical demands, and the fatigue. I absolutely see him able to elevate his jump shot so he can start swishing them. A good sign was that he was able to look like an all world talent in a 15-20 game span after Sengun got hurt. I firmly think he’s got that type of a game in him for an entire season, but he needs Gametime conditioning which you can’t attain in they gym or the fitness room. But the Rockets coaches see him everyday, and if he isn’t cutting it, they need to be stealthy and try and maximize a return for him. So I would not fault them for parting ways. Nevertheless, Green has all world talent that may make it a bitter pill for many Rockets fans to swallow if he become the MVP candidate, many foresaw when he was initially drafted.
Can Jeenathan Williams become James Harden? LOL, these kinds of threads give me a laugh every time they get bumped.
