From lottery pick to heart surgery, Jeff Green is the Rockets’ X-Factor

How Jeff Green’s career has been revitalized with Rockets

Green has been great since arriving in Houston, and has turned into the x-factor for the Rockets’ chances of advancing past the first round of the 2020 playoffs. As mentioned earlier, the Rockets are Green’s ninth team in his NBA career.

Before signing with the Rockets, Green shot 32.7 percent from downtown and had a -8.7 rating through 30 games with the Utah Jazz. To make matters worse, Green only received 18.7 minutes per game under Jazz coach Quin Snyder. From the start, Green was a bad fit with Snyder’s Jazz, who are more of a traditional team.

Since coming to the Rockets, Green has been one of the best bench players in the league. Through 18 games, Green is shooting 35.4 percent from 3-point range and has had career-highs in offensive rating (112.8 points per 100 possessions) true shooting percentage (68.2 percent), and effective field goal percentage (65.8 percent).

Green has also been the perfect pick-and-roll option for Harden, and is easily the most versatile big man the Rockets have had in a long time.

Next: Why Green is the x-factor against OKC