1 Insane stat that shows how valuable Rockets' Tari Eason is

If you love the Houston Rockets, you love Tari Eason.

That's a rule. Everyone is entitled to have their opinion about this roster - besides any negative one about Eason. Sorry, it's a rule.

What's not to love? Eason outworks everyone on the floor. He has magnets for hands. Eason seems to have a superpower for just getting the ball. Here's hoping that he's a Rocket for life. If he isn't, another fanbase is going to quickly fall in love someday.

It's not just the eye test that speaks to Eason's impact. The stats back it up.

He's ranked shockingly high in one of the most well-regarded advanced metrics.

Rockets' Eason near top of the league in this metric

Eason currently sits 5th in the NBA in Box Plus/Minus (BPM) at 8.7.

For the uninitiated, BPM aims to calculate a player's contribution to winning. A BPM of 0 represents a league-average player. So, Eason is adding 8.7 points per 100 possesions more than an average player.

Some people put a lot of stock in metrics. Others think they're useless. To be sure, some stats will yield results that don't match up with common sense. Is BPM one of those stats?

Let's look at who's joining Eason in BPM so far.

Top 5 NBA Players in BPM

1. Nikola Jokic (13.6)
2. Buddy Hield (10.1)
3. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (9.9)
4. Jayson Tatum (9.2)
5. Tari Eason (8.7)

Look at that. Three of the best players in the NBA, Eason, and Buddy Hield.

The results will discredit the stat for skeptics. Buddy Hield is not the second-most impactful player in the NBA. Case closed.

Well firstly, a stat doesn't have to be perfect to be useful. Any stat should also be contextualized. Hield's inclusion on this list likely speaks to how potent the Warriors' system becomes when he's spacing the floor along with Steph Curry. Curry's BPM of 7.0 is 9th in the league, but we all know that he's better than Hield.

What's the contextual explanation for Eason's BPM?

Rockets have a keeper in Eason

Forgive me if this is too scientific, but here's one theory:

Eason is really, really good.

He's not the fifth-best player in the NBA. Still, likely, Eason's impact is accurately captured by BPM. The stat doesn't account for a player's ability to generate offense - it only measures raw impact. For example, the Magic wouldn't trade Eason for Paolo Banchero. Banchero's BPM is 5.2, but functionally, you can build an offense around him.

You can't (as of now) do that with Eason. Still, he'll compliment any player the Rockets decide to build their offense around, whether it's Alperen Sengun and/or Jalen Green, or an outside star.

How could you not love that?