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Houston Rockets: Danuel House Jr. is exceeding expectations

By Michael Knight

ATLANTA, GA - MARCH 19: DeAndre' Bembry #95 of the Atlanta Hawks hugs Danuel House Jr. #4 of the Houston Rockets after the game on March 19, 2019 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Jasear Thompson/NBAE via Getty Images)
ATLANTA, GA - MARCH 19: DeAndre' Bembry #95 of the Atlanta Hawks hugs Danuel House Jr. #4 of the Houston Rockets after the game on March 19, 2019 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Jasear Thompson/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The Houston Rockets have found a diamond in the rough this season and the rotation is now a little bit younger. How good has the versatile forward been for the team?

The Houston Rockets sure are lucky to have found Danuel House Jr. The third-year man has never had a place where he had consistent minutes, but now, he’s found them. The level of play that House has shown is mind-boggling for someone who was undrafted and floated around the NBA and G League post-college.

With the contract disagreements out of the way at least until the summer, House and the Rockets can now focus on winning this season. In the three games back in Rockets red, he’s been absolutely incredible, just like the rest of the year.

House is shooting the 3 with confidence that he’s never shown before at a professional level and is all the way up to 41.8% on the season from downtown after hitting 6 of 11 last night. He shot just 25.9% from 3 last season with the Suns.

It’s more than just open shots

The true craziness in this whole situation is that Danuel House is not just making open 3s created by James Harden and Chris Paul. That is the case a lot of the time, yes, but House is also more than capable of creating his own shot. He’s also incredible in catch-and-shoot opportunities.

He does stuff that normal role players shouldn’t be able to do. Check out how he handled John Collins yesterday.

House has also shown flashes of being an excellent playmaker. Here’s a moment yesterday where he finds Kenneth Faried open for a nice dunk.

https://twitter.com/HoustonRockets/status/1108177408878886912

His rebounding and defense have also been nice to see at times. He has some serious potential at just 25 that the Rockets need to capitalize on heading into the playoffs. House is the best player off the bench right now for the team.

The Golden State Warriors decided to go with Alonzo McKinney to fill out their roster instead of Danuel House Jr. this year. Thank goodness for that! How devastating would that combination have been?

Long-term issues

Paying House this summer could be a real issue for the Rockets. While he will be a restricted free agent and has stated his interest to be with Houston, the team doesn’t own his bird rights, so they can’t go over the salary cap with his contract.

A young 3-and-D player with athleticism and playmaking potential beyond catch-and-shoot opportunities will have a high demand. Depending on how the rest of the season goes, he may find himself being offered something in the $10-15 million range by some teams.

Next. James Harden has crazy scoring feat in win

The Dallas Mavericks offered Chandler Parsons around $15 million a year to leave the Rockets in 2014 after his age 25 season. The money landscape has changed a bit since then, so it’s not hard to see House being given a similar deal. Will the Rockets be able to find a way to secure him before that happens?

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