The previous two years, Green has played well to close out the season, giving us all hope that it clicked and would carry over to a much-improved next season. Maybe this is the year that really happens? Right?
which of those things did he do last night? It is fair to criticize him for what he has done. It is also fair to doubt whether he will continue to play well. But this dismissive ”no one is holding him accountable” narrative is just lazy and reductive.
It depends if the Rockets decide to play the long game with him, which I’m fine with as long as he’s paid accordingly (meaning not the max) and he continues to improve. If he regresses is he open to a change of roles? That’s something the organization will have to discuss with him before an extension. I am concerned with trading him so young. Will we look back and regret trading him when he hits his prime at 25/26 years old? Especially on a team devoid of any real stars, can we afford to take that gamble?
The only problem with keeping hm for the long haul is that he provably makes every single player on the team worse when he plays bad. Unfortunately he plays bad about 95% of the time. How long do you keep trotting him out there hoping he develops into what he was last night in Phoenix as the norm rather than regular shitty Jalen? At some point this team will have to move on from him or move him to the end of the bench if he continues to play well only in short stretches with the norm being pure crap for the vast majority of games.
Put off max extension till next year. If he gets good enough that he really merits a max, give it to him. All depends on improving his shot and keeping aggressive.
xxx LOL, max extension? That will NOT happen this summer or next. The question is if he'll even be here next year.
He is 22 now. Yea he is young but he has played over 2 1/2 seasons. He is getting all the chance in the world to prove himself and up to this point has failed miserably save for a few short hot streaks every once in a while. How many chances should they give someone who makes every other player on the court worse most of the time when he is on the floor?
This a very nice sentiment, but pro sports is a bottom line business. There are a ton of really talented and nice kids who don’t make it..very few ever do. He’s already reached a level most kids dream of. He’s in the midst of his chance right now.
If you can't admit that Jalen is part of the spacing problem, not the solution then we can't have an intellectually honest conversation about the subject. Sure, Sengun screws up the spacing with his lack of an outside shot, but Jalen is a guard and his ineffectiveness from outside is much more damaging to the entire offense - his own ability to get to the rim included. If teams don't have to respect his outside shot, they can (And Do) sag off of him, inviting that shot making getting the ball to the paint, by drive or pass more difficult. Jalen can't drive past his defender and he can't pass the ball to Sengun when Jalen's "defender" is ignoring him, essentially fronting Sengun in a pseudo zone coverage between the two. Jalen shooting .270 for the season on uncontested 3 point shots is one of the main reasons the spacing is broken. Udoka telling Jalen to take "less 3's" doesn't solve that spacing problem either. It's the threat of that 3 point shot that opens up the rest of the offense. It's the threat of that 3 point shot that pulls Jalen's defender closer making him vulnerable to the drive. If Jalen is going to shoot 31% on threes overall, he breaks the offense. Blaming the center for being in the paint is ....
There's no universe where he could EVER earn a max extension. That's just not reality. If they keep him and if he finally plays like a decent NBA caliber player next season, he'll earn a second contract.....but we're not talking max.
They’ve neither shown the high end performance nor have they had comparably poor development the season before and the two seasons after joining the NBA. He might be a one of one in this scenario. The closest comparison for me is T-Mac or Kobe because they’re high school draftees who were hovering around the same TS% s as Jalen while taking half the shots and coming off the bench. They both had better development environments. Jalen doesn’t have their physical gifts or in Kobe case the drive but that’s the closest comparison I have found. So what I do is adjust downwards from that comparison (I.e. they have a scoring ceiling he is not likely to reach). I’ve often said, if you were to write a movie about a late bloomer, you’d struggle to find a more believable genesis story than Jalen’s. The peaks and valleys are extremely unique and that’s saying something to us.
Those aren't close comparisons at all though.....neither T-Mac or Kobe were terrible at basketball....Jalen Green is terrible at basketball. You could just put the names of every player that has ever logged a minute into a hat and just randomly draw 2 names out and probably come up with a closer match than 2 literal HOFers.
I know he’s a spacing problem this season but I also don’t believe he’s a 30% shooter. In my view he shot 34% on too many attempts his first two seasons - anyone who can’t imagine him putting up 36% on 4-5 attempts is being disingenuous. Right now on 4-6 feet of space (I.e. not wide open) he’s making 39% on 3+ attempts. His percentages are bad because of the stepbacks and 26 footers he takes. Meaning shot selection. No one is going to convince me that this is a dead situation obviously. Ja Morant shot 32-33% his first three seasons on 3-4 attempts. Was he a spacing problem? Yes. Is that a stupid way to define Morant? Yes. If Jalen had the spacing a JJJ could provide, he would succeed in attacking the rim more, defenders would give him more space and his 3PT% would go up from that as well. On a small scale we saw this with Christian Wood despite how much he sucked at everything else. Jalen is objectively giving more effort, playing more defense, taking fewer shots. He worked on his game in the summer and Udoka/FVV went to check on him several times. Are you going to convince me he got simultaneously worse at getting to the FT line and 3PT shooting? Why are all our perimeter players below expectations either in volume or efficiency getting to the rim? There are systemic problems dragging Jalen’s efficiency down. That doesn’t mean he’s not doing anything wrong or that some parts of this are not in his control. However to me there is clearly something systemic going on. We’re not an average spacing team this season, we’re a garbage spacing team. I don’t want the team to be designed for him, just to be average at spacing aside from him. Part of that is Sengun will no doubt get better at shooting, and we’ve been saying that will be necessary before this season ever started. I’ll bet you $100 his percentages will be up next season regardless which team he’s on. You want to bet against that?
Do you even realize by setting the bar so pathetically low (41%/32%), you actually undermine optimism for Jalen's future? His shooting percentages have declined both years and just by avoiding the same in 2024/25, you propose that as a breakthrough? Whoa! Somebody needs to learn the meaning of faint praise.
Save your money for better usage, while 100 is not considered a huge sum, it could give a few meals to starving kids.
Again you’re assuming the worst out of thin air. I didn’t say it would be a breakthrough. Try to see things without that filter. I’m 100% comfortable and prolific at being critical of Jalen Green. You throw your arms up in the air if someone says he’ll improve from 41/32. It’s really difficult to discuss things with so much outrage.
