Former Rockets guard Jalen Green reflected on his time in Houston, along with the trade that sent him to the Suns, in a lengthy post on The Players Tribune. Green was part of the price the Rockets paid, along with Dillon Brooks and the 10th pick in this year’s draft, to acquire Kevin Durant. Although he’s sad to leave the city, Green said he understands the reasoning behind the deal.
“Listen, nobody likes to get traded. But I can honestly say that I get it, bro,” he wrote. “This is a business, and if I was up there in the executive chair, I probably would’ve made the deal, too. I think it’s a better situation for both sides, and I’m just excited to get it popping with Book (Devin Booker), and to create that winning culture that we figured out down here in Houston.”
Selected with the second pick in the 2021 draft, Green represented the first step in the Rockets’ rebuilding process after trading James Harden. He went through a lot of losing during his first two years in Houston, but things turned around in 2023 when Ime Udoka was hired as head coach and Brooks and Fred VanVleet were brought in to change the culture. Green reflected on the growing process that led to a 52-win season and the second seed in the West.
“My rookie year, we won 20 games. Twen-tee, bro,” he added. “Within three years, we had the Toyota Center packed out for a home playoff game. I’ll always be proud of that. To flip it around like that, it’s about culture. We had our young core, but we also had vets like Fred VanVleet — guys who had really won in this league — showing us the way.”
There’s more from Houston:
- Dorian Finney-Smith talked about his decision to sign with the Rockets as a free agent in an interview with WAVY-TV during a recent visit to his hometown of Portsmouth, Virginia (hat tip to Ben DuBose of Rockets Wire). “I already know who they are. They play hard,” Finney-Smith said. “Coach Ime is one of the toughest coaches in the league. I’ve never seen him smile much when you’re playing against him. The first time I’ve ever seen him smile was when we had dinner, like two weeks ago. I like that, because I’m a competitor.” Finney-Smith added that he was planning to remain with the Lakers when the offseason began, but he was swayed by the opportunity in Houston.
- Durant hasn’t arrived in Houston yet even though it’s been more than a month since the trade was agreed to, Michael Shapiro of Chron.com writes in a story charting the offseason workouts of Rockets players. Durant has been seen at Fanatics Fest in New York City and the Wireless Festival in London, according to Shapiro, who adds that VanVleet recently made a visit to Turkey to train with Alperen Sengun.
- The Rockets’ decision to sign free agent wing Josh Okogie rather than another guard is a sign of confidence in their current backcourt players, especially Reed Sheppard, who will be counted on for a larger role after playing sparingly as a rookie, observes Danielle Lerner of The Houston Chronicle.
Rockets win it all this year. WCF is the real finals.
If this team doesn’t finish Top 4 in rankings this year, it will be a major disappointment and set back. I look forward to this season and quite excited about how deep this team is. People think guards is in short supply with this club. Guards are as follows: Sheppard, FVV, Thompson, Okogie,and Holiday. They have a surplus for forwards and a guy like Eason or Tate could switch to guard in a pinch. Forwards are: Eason, Tate, Durant, Jabri Smith, Finney-Smith, and Jeff Green. Centers are Sengun, Capella, Adams and Dante. Even with 14 man roster, this team is deep and not enough minutes for half the people listed here. That is a good thing because injuries happen and having a plan B and C is strength. Last year when Smith, Eason, Brooks, and Sengun went down with injuries, Ime had to mix and match to get the possible best out come. Now he has flexibility when injuries happen. I love this team as it is seen on paper.
Houston has made some strong off-season moves, but have taken a huge risk in not shoring up the backup PG role. They elected for the most expensive backup center combination in the league (Adams and Capela will cost $25M) to a young AllStar (Sengun) while choosing to ignore the position their depth was considered weakest: point guard.
Meanwhile, the drop-off from Van Vleet to backups Reed Sheppard and Aaron Holiday is conspicuously large. Holiday is a journeyman and very limited offensively, falling short of the standard for a contending team’s backup.
Reed Sheppard‘s rookie season was underwhelming.
He’s better off the ball than on it , but he lacks the size to defend big guards and wings. IMO, he’s a long way from being a backup PG on a contending team.
Pray that FVV stays healthy.
Amen is the back up point guard.
Exactly, clearly hasn’t seen that kid play.
I didn’t know that about Amen, but it seems like a bad idea to learn the position on the job.
He has been a combo guard since HS. He can play it. But is a 2 in NBA. Sheppard is the guy they want to be the PG. He is still learning. He can do it.
Reed wasn’t given much leash, like whitmore , by udoka. Yet, they’re pretty high on him for this year. To act like the #3 pick in the draft is a huge risk as a back-up .. is a stretch. If for some crazy reason he turns into a flop, and can’t even handle back up minutes, they can always make a move in-season. FVV also lacks size
> To act like the #3 pick in the draft is a huge risk as a
> back-up is a stretch.
It’s not about Sheppard’s potential. It’s about this year. KD is in his late 30’s. The Rockets aren’t in rebuilding mode anymore.
To contend for a Championship, you need an experienced backup PG. Check out what OKC did to opposing ball-handlers in the playoffs last year.
I’m not knocking Sheppard’s potential as an NBA player, but let’s have reasonable expectations. He was drafted as a combo, not point, guard in the worst draft in 20 years. His performance in his rookie year is the measure of his readiness.
Fred was awful last year.
Brogdon would be a great signing!
“And he spent time working out with Russell Westbrook on some California sand dunes”
The video that paragraph is leading to is 5 years old, and was made by a random dude. There are no KD or Westbrook in it. I guess the link is wrong.
There are some photos out there from a few weeks ago of him doing sand workouts, but I couldn’t find any confirmation that Westbrook was involved this time (he has been in past years). I removed that section entirely.