The Rockets will need more from Jalen Green in Game 5 against Golden State if they want to stave off elimination on Wednesday, writes Kelly Iko of The Athletic. As Iko details, an aggressive Warriors defensive game plan has been a problem for Green, who went off for 38 points in Houston’s Game 2 win but has scored just 24 total points on 10-of-34 shooting in the team’s three losses and wasn’t on the court during crunch time in Game 4.
“It’s his first experience in the playoffs, and teams throw different looks at you,” teammate Fred VanVleet said after the Rockets’ Game 4 loss. “There’s a lot of ups and downs. There’s a lot that you have to deal with, and I’m proud of how far he’s come since I’ve been here as a player. But we need him to be playing at his best and at a high level, and he takes our team to a different gear. So we’ll look at the film and see how we can help him be more effective.”
According to Tim MacMahon of ESPN, Green’s struggles in his first playoff series have once again highlighted the fact that the 52-win Rockets are missing the “elite offensive engine that all great teams need.” While the roster, built on defense and toughness, feature a handful of solid scorers, it lacks the sort of dynamic offensive player who can be trusted to get a big basket in a half-court situation with the game on the line.
“We know in the playoffs sometimes, it boils down to if you have an unguardable guy in the last five minutes that can close the game,” VanVleet told ESPN. “We got everything else. I don’t think it’s like some savior that’s going to come here and save all our sins, but it’s like, do you have a guy you could throw it to the last five minutes in a playoff series that can win you games when it matters the most? I think that if we had that, I think we would be considered more title favorites.”
As MacMahon outlines, the Rockets are still holding out hope that one of their rising stars can become that sort of player rather than focusing on bringing in someone from outside the organization. “We are not in the business of predetermining ceilings for our players,” general manager Rafael Stone recently told MacMahon.
“We’re all on the same page as far as what we have in our organization and wanting to see it through and seeing what all these young guys can become,” Rockets head coach Ime Udoka added. “When you have this many high draft picks, you want to see who becomes what. I understood when I came to take the job that we were going to try to develop these guys and see what we can get to. I think they’ve all shown growth and potential. And the next step is, who can be that consistent leader for us?
“So to try to expedite the process by going out and getting one piece now is kind of doing a disservice to what we all talked about coming into it. That’s our vision, and I think the playoffs this year will give us a good picture of that and put guys in different situations and high-pressure situations to see how they react to it.”
Green is one young player whom the Rockets still believe has untapped potential. He has averaged over 20 points per game through his first four NBA seasons, but he hasn’t always scored those points efficiently or consistently. Still, VanVleet thinks it would be hard for Houston to find another shooting guard with the 23-year-old’s “upside or talent level.”
“I don’t know what Jalen will look like when he’s 26, 27, 28 after playoff series,” VanVleet told ESPN. “And that’s the upside, where it’s like potential can get a little intoxicating. He has the talent. There’s no reason for him not to reach that level. He’s got to go through it; he’s got to fail.”
Based on his production through four seasons, 22-year-old center Alperen Sengun has earned comparisons to Nikola Jokic or – more realistically – Domantas Sabonis, as MacMahon notes. Rockets front office staffers have also mulled the idea of whether 22-year-old Amen Thompson, who is considered untouchable in trades, could eventually run the offense as a Russell Westbrook-type point guard, according to MacMahon.
“He’s already become a really good NBA player,” Stone said of Thompson. “He should be much, much better than this year next year, and that should go on for the foreseeable future. Great kid, works really hard, is really smart. Everything we’ve asked him to do, he’s done. He’s done it quickly and at times shockingly easily.”
Meanwhile, even though 2024’s third overall pick Reed Sheppard didn’t play much as a rookie, there are some people within the organization who believe he has the most offensive upside of any of the Rockets’ youngsters and has the potential to become a star, per MacMahon.
“I think Reed’s just a really, really talented player,” Stone said. “Very few people shoot as well as him. Very few people pass as well as him, and more even than pass, see the offense so clearly and so easily. That’s not really a skill that is taught, not at the level he can do it. We think that he has a chance to be really special.”
Because they want to see what their current young core becomes, the Rockets have held off on entering the fray for any of the stars who have become available on the trade market in the past year. But as MacMahon points out, turning to the trade market would be a solid Plan B for a Houston team that could put together a very appealing package for any star using some combinations of its draft assets and young players.
Patrick Fertitta, who is the son of team owner Tilman Fertitta and works with the Rockets’ basketball operations department, told MacMahon there’s “no question in my mind” that there are players on the current roster capable of becoming the best player on a championship team. “With that being said,” he added, “any time a guy at that level becomes available, it would be remiss not to do your due diligence.”
While Stone, Udoka, and the Fertittas are committed to letting the Rockets’ young core continue to grow together, there’s an expectation that the front office will at least have internal discussions this offseason about pursuing a star via trade, according to MacMahon, who observes that Kevin Durant, Zion Williamson, and perhaps even Giannis Antetokounmpo are among the impact players who could become available this summer.
Will the results of this first-round playoff series significantly impact the Rockets’ thinking as the front office weighs roster changes in the coming months?
“Probably a little bit but not a lot,” Stone told Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required) earlier this month. “I’m definitely a believer in getting a lot of information and the playoffs will tell us a little bit about our team, but 82 games tell you a lot. … Every big intense game tells us a little bit more than just an average game, but it’s still just a game or series, and definitely not the case where you want to let a small sample size overwhelm a big one.”
Patrick Fertitta agreed that it wouldn’t be in the team’s best interests to weigh the postseason too heavily.
“This league and this business is a very emotional one,” he told ESPN. “There’s the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat, and it’s important that you don’t make wholesale changes, or even changes on the margins, based on emotion. … Even though it can be exciting to feel like you are as close as you may be, it’s important to move with the same level of patience that got us to where we are and to make sure that we’re always making decisions based on not just today but the future.”
FVV agent is ELITE. WOW, that contract was horrendous.
Like I said in an earlier article. 49-11 with VanVleet and 11-11 without. Doesn’t turn the ball over, knows how to run the offense, a decent defender and hits enough threes to keep the defense honest. Counting stats are just a small part of a player’s value.
Yes and Fred was shooting great from deep a few games in this series…
Freddy is a winner and leader. It’s not a coincidence that the Rockets rebuild accelerated significantly after he joined the team.
Sounds like those boys want Trae Young & that’s perfect timing bc I’d love for us to trade him this summer. I’d take pretty much any guard/forward combo of Jalen Green/Cam Whitmore/Amen Thompson/Dillon Brooks/Jabari Smith Jr/Reed Sheppard. Trae is the best playmaker in the league & has been for the past half decade or so. He would definitely help unlock Sengun & their other young guys offensively. And if there’s any team in the West that can offset Trae’s defensive liabilities it’s the Rockets.
You’re close, Trae is an elite playmaker but the best playmaker in the league for traded to the Lakers. Before Luka five years ago? That guy also plays for the Lakers. There’s also Haliburton. Just as good of passer without the turnovers and better shooting.
I don’t think Trading Trae is in the Hawk’s best interest anyway. They’re not going to get his true value with that contract attached. Best bet is to run it back and hope the continuing development of Daniels, Johnson and Okongwu are enough to take them to next level.
Houston doesn’t want Trae Young bro.
Agreed, swapping out FVV for Trae makes Houston a legit contender, not a pretender. Dillion Brooks is never going to win a title in this league either, move on from him, he’s not even a legit “enforcer” he got clowned by Jimmy every second of G3.
@aristotle, Point Guards dont need to be good defenders, most aren’t great. The falloff from the offense Young brings to the defense he doesnt, would be easily absorbed by Houston with Sengun and Thompson.
Trae Young is an Atlanta Hawk for 2 more seasons, until his contract expires. At $47M/yr, he’s a negative contract. Nice offense, but the worst defender in the league, with a reputation for softness and being a coach-killer.
No team in the league would want Young less than Houston, and no coach would tolerate Young less than Ime Udoka.
He’s actually not bad. I wouldn’t overpay for him. Hawks were trying to move him to Lakers for nothing. The way things stand today. I say Giannis is the one they want. FVV is on a team option. They can say Giddey.
Giving on Young already bro.
What Fred was saying in the early part of this article is exactly why Milwaukee traded for Damian Lillard.
You can’t fault them for doing what so many teams would like to do and that’s get a playoff sniper who can win a game for you.
No problem sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t work out.
That’s what I like about VanVleet. He knows what it takes to win. He’s also a leader. He wants to see his guys succeed even if his numbers take a dip as a result.
can see the Rockets getting LaVine.
They do need shooting
Zach is basically an older, more expensive version of Jalen Green
As a trade, it makes a ton of sense. Lavine is far superior to Green. It would be a huge upgrade for Houston in the near-term.
FG%: Lavine 47% vs Green 42%
3PT: Lavine 39% vs Green 34%
Lavine is, at least, a willing defender that weighs 20 lbs more than Green. Green is Houston’s single defensive liability.
It’s a year late to move Green. There won’t be many takers for his $35M/yr contract now that, after he’s had 4 years as a starter, his deficiencies are so clear. He now projects more as a Lou Williams / Malik Monk / Jordan Clarkson / Jordan Poole type of player more than a Zach Lavine or Demar Derozan.
Well, who knows what the rockets will look like next year. The player is saying one thing but management is saying another?
I would say if Houston loses tonight they’re going to have to add something instead of running it back and counting solely on maturity and growth process.
Management is saying exactly what they’re supposed to be saying, as their team is in the middle (end) of the series. Can’t have any player thinking/wondering, “Am I outta here?”, while the series is being played.
Meanwhile, management is gearing up for back channel discussions on what it would take to get Giannis or Durant to begin in 3… 2… 1…
Udoka needs some balls to play Adams instead of Sengun. Sengun is cooked in this series.
Adams +- compared to Senguns in this series is huge diff.
You’re right in the last two minutes but from what I saw, Alpie can score at Will against the Warriors.
He gets the ball at the top of the key, goes to work, a couple of spin moves and a basket. Seems like that happened time and time again and it was just the end of a few games this series where his floaters don’t drop.
Sengun needs to make a few free throws too. That certainly would help. I don’t recall this last game but 1-7 the game before. Shooting 80% FT would change the game.
The fact of the matter is that Steph/Dray/Jimmy are in all of the Rockets heads, but especially Sengun’s. I would bench him first if GSW shoot out to a 10 point lead in 1Q today.
Rockets should trade for Giannis or KD. I doubt either player goes back to Milwaukee or Phoenix. Both teams have nothing to win with and need to sell high to reset quicker. Milwaukee has a longer rebuild cause they only have Giannis while Phoenix has Booker to sell too.
I still believe in Green. But he is getting exposed by Warriors. He is still young. Needs to learn it’s about winning not scoring…… But going for 40 can’t hurt.