Despite a 38-point outing in Game 2, fourth-year guard Jalen Green struggled mightily in the Rockets‘ first-round playoff series vs. Golden State, averaging 13.3 points per game with a .372/.295/.667 shooting line in the first seven postseason games of his career. Those numbers were well below his regular season marks of 21.0 PPG on .423/.354/.813 shooting.
Speaking to reporters, including Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required), at an end-of-season press conference on Tuesday, general manager Rafael Stone defended Green, noting that “one playoff series doesn’t define a player.”
“Jalen didn’t have the series that he wanted to have, or we didn’t,” Stone said. “But I think it’s a little bit of a double-edged sword in terms of trying to evaluate it, because their goal going into the series was to take him out, and that was obvious.
“… We are not a team built around any one player offensively, whether Jalen or Alperen (Sengun) or Amen (Thompson) or Fred (VanVleet). And so if your goal is to take out one of our players, in theory, what should happen is that our other players should just punish it. And (head coach) Ime (Udoka) frequently talks to the guys about inviting double teams: hit the guy, and you’re the sacrificial lamb. And so, you know, in some games we punished it. In some games we didn’t, and one of the games we ended up with great spacing, and we were able to punish it with him.”
Udoka acknowledged that Green went through some “growing pains” in the postseason as the Warriors focused more defensive attention on him and said he has talked to the 23-year-old about areas to focus on this summer.
“I think physically getting stronger to absorb contact on some of his drives when he has the advantage, or finishing at the rim when he does get the driving lane, all those things are things we talked about with him going into the offseason,” Udoka said, per Lerner. “And (being) able to use him off ball a little bit more, and you got to get a little bit stronger as far as that because they took him out of some of those actions where they couldn’t trap him.”
While Green was more effective during the regular season than in the playoffs, there were still some troubling trends evident over the larger 82-game sample. Most notably, Houston had a +9.4 net rating when he was off the court, the highest off-court mark for any player on the roster. The team was a modest +2.8 during Green’s minutes.
“That’s a really flawed question,” Stone said when asked specifically about that on/off-court data. “I can make data say whatever I want it to say. And so, you know, I think we heavily use it but we’re very careful to try and really parse it out. And I would say that some of our very best lineups include him and so that piece by itself, I just think that’s just, yeah, that’s just not correct.”
The three-year, $105MM+ rookie scale extension that Green signed last fall will go into effect this July, so his cap hit will increase from $12.5MM this past season to $33.3MM in 2025/26.
Here are a few more highlights from Tuesday’s presser featuring Stone and Udoka:
- The most pressing question in Houston this offseason is whether the front office will be looking to pursue a star on the trade market. Addressing that subject on Tuesday, Stone didn’t rule out the possibility, but suggested it’s not Plan A for the front office. “I will give you an inside betting tip that I think continuity is very, very likely,” the Rockets’ GM said, according to Lerner (subscription required). “Last summer, we didn’t make changes because we were really comfortable with where we were, and we’d seen really good things from our team in terms of kind of a good progression. And I think we saw more of the same this year. So I think the bar to make changes is very high.”
- Stone did offer an important caveat to his comments about continuity: “I think continuity for continuity’s sake isn’t what we’re trying to achieve. Continuity is great, but the goal ultimately is to build a championship team. And if we think that there’s a move or a series of moves that make it more likely we will be that then, then we would ignore continuity, and we do those moves.”
- Stone also observed that trading for an impact player doesn’t guarantee he “will be the same player in our environment that (he was) in the last one,” meaning the Rockets would proceed with caution and would be seeking the right fit if they go that route. As for whether or not Houston would target a player who fits the timeline of its young core in that hypothetical scenario, Stone confirmed that would be a consideration but not necessarily a deciding factor. “It’s more important how good you are and what you can bring,” he said. “But we do want to be very competitive for as long as we possibly can.”
- Referring to this year’s Rockets as governor Tilman Fertitta‘s “favorite team he’s ever had,” Stone expressed confidence in the young core’s ability to continue improving after taking a significant step forward in 2024/25. “I think we’re on a very solid trajectory,” Stone said, per ESPN’s Michael C. Wright. “But just because you’ve done it in the past doesn’t mean that you’re guaranteed to do it in the future. So, we have to continue to put in the work, which kind of starts on an individual basis, and not just with our players, (but) myself, my staff. We have to figure out around the edges, are there things we can do, including doing nothing. We have to do our jobs. Ime and his staff, they have to do theirs. We all have to come back a little better next year. But today, I’m very comfortable with our progression.”
- Veteran center Steven Adams will be an unrestricted free agent this summer after playing a key role off the bench — his +9.4 net rating during the regular season and +14.1 mark in the postseason were both team highs. According to Stone, bringing back Adams will be an offseason priority for the front office. “He’s a really important part of the group, and kind of the continuity I talked about and the value earlier, he’s an important part of that,” Stone said, per Jonathan M. Alexander of The Houston Chronicle (subscription required). “It’s a two-way street. He has to want to be here. Every indication we have is that he does.”
- In case you missed it, Stone also expressed optimism on Tuesday that VanVleet will “be with us for the foreseeable future.” The Rockets and VanVleet are reportedly exploring pushing back the decision deadline for his $44.9MM team option.
Psst…the Warriors were always better than Houston this season. They were never stopping them. The Jimmy injury is the only reason why it was close.
SMH Davey there is no reason to talk about the past and rub it in on Rocket fans. You give other warrior fans a bad name. Rockets pushed the warriors to 7 games and their future looks very bright with all the talent they have.
SMH acr89 what’s GSW’s record vs houston in the playoffs? Are you even a Warriors fan? We own them. It’s ok to say this. Why are you acting otherwise?
You are doing the “making up ANY reason to mess with Davey” thing again. Yawn.
Its not OK to do this. How old are you? Never rub in a win over another team. Rockets will soon be one of the top teams in the NBA with all the young talent and assets they have for the future. There is 0 reasons to mock the Rocket fans.
I will NEVER not mock a team who employs Dillon Brooks.
He is beyond help lol. You must know that. Internet has all kinds.
Its crazy how when the warriors win it was preordained and when they lose lose it was everyone else’s fault. At least according to most of their fans.
I never say it was everyone’s fault when they lose, I say it’s Steve Kerr’s fault. I am not a homer. All GSW losses are almost always directly due to Steve Kerr and his horrific rotation use.
Do you run it back with the current roster and hope for someone to assume lead scorer and then make a deadline trade if that doesn’t happen, or do you just make the trade this offseason and see how it goes from there?
Stone is in a weird situation where he has too many good players with great upside. Not sure I’ve seen that kind of stressful situation in a while
Im a Rockets fan so clearly biased but..
Nobody can offer more young players with upside or higher quality DPs than Stone. When you have that much leverage you let the market come to you or outbid the competition if the ideal fit becomes available.
Otherwise punt on roster renovation for another season. I think we can afford one more season before cap rules start heavily restricting roster construction options. At least according to Iko on the Athletic.
Rockets core is one of youngest in NBA. They have a lottery pick this year. They are just fine. Losing in playoffs is all about learning and getting better. All young teams have gone thru this. I’d say Jaylen Green is a concern. It’s nothing major imo.
You have to lose to learn how to win. Rockets will be scary the next few years. Warriors took a few years before Steph and Draymond made it out of the first rounds, every team goes through it. Get ready for at least half a decade of thunder rockets dominating the league…
Unless Wemby adds 50lbs and learns to play…
Jalen is a good player. But keeping Fred and Adams tops. Keeping team same not so sure. We need a shooter. Doubt Reed is that fully. Yes this team bettered itself immensely. Maybe we can stave off Durant and Booker. The GM wants to keep Durant and Beal and find a coach that will fit with him. Dump Tate, Landale and Holiday. But myself you need another Vet. Now where we end up for the draft with the lottery too. Green was not steady. I can see why we lacked with him in compared to when he was not in where we did better. Jabari, Tari I like and Sengun. But if can get someone for less. Yes this was the teams first playoff experience and hope do not regress but who knows what will be come end of June with Free agency and what comes with Fred.