Houston Rockets: Jae’Sean Tate proves he belongs

When the Houston Rockets signed Jae’Sean Tate to a three-year contract the move was met with little fanfare. The reason was quite simple, Tate may have starred in Australia’s National Basketball League with the Sydney Kings but he was a relative unknown to most NBA observers.

American exceptionalism aside, the NBL is not known for producing high caliber NBA players on a regular basis. In fact, 2020 might be a banner year for the NBL, as two first-round picks LaMelo Ball and R.J. Hampton both played in the NBL before being selected to go along with Tate and Justinian Jessup, a second-round pick of the Golden State Warriors.

Jae’Sean Tate’s path to the NBA proves a roadmap for his future

What was once a retirement league for former NBA players is quickly becoming a hotbed for young prospects and overlooked college players to realize their NBA dreams. Tate’s rise in the NBL was part of a long and winding path that saw him persevere through adversity that has ended many careers.

Jae’Sean Tate has proven he belongs in the NBA and the Rockets, along with himself, are the clear benefactors. While Tate likely won’t win rookie of the year, he has a strong case to the claim of best rookie this season.

The Rockets found a gem in the land down under and Tate looks to have a long and productive NBA career ahead of him. Let’s take a quick look at the road less traveled that Tate traversed to make it to the NBA, then how he is already making an impact, and finally, what his future holds.

Next: Jae'Sean Tate's path to the NBA

Houston Rockets: Jae’Sean Tate’s road less traveled

Jae’Sean Tate wasn’t always an overlooked prospect fighting for his dreams. Coming out of high school he was the number one ranked recruit out of the state of Ohio and the number 60 overall prospect in the 2014 recruiting class.

Even as Tate began his college career at the Ohio State University he had already overcome the terrible tragedy of his mother being murdered by a solitary stab wound when he was eight years old. The murder went unsolved for more than two years until detectives reinterviewed witnesses and determined his mother’s boyfriend was the culprit.

Tate spent almost three years mourning his mother’s death without the closure or justice he deserved. In reality, the most impressive obstacle Tate has overcome came when he was just a child and puts into perspective the basketball journey he has embarked on.

Tate likely went to college with his eyes on the NBA. He was a nationally ranked recruit at a big-time school and would have plenty of time to showcase his tremendous gifts. After four years at Ohio State as an undersized power-forward, his name was not called in the 2018 NBA draft.

The disappointment did not last long as he signed on to play with the Milwaukee Bucks summer league team until a fractured finger once again dashed his NBA dreams. Tate, whose father played professionally overseas, decided that to make it to the NBA he needed to hone his craft in an unfamiliar location.

Jae’Sean Tate: Far from home, far from done

Following in his father’s footsteps, who played professional basketball overseas for many years, Tate signed to play with the Antwerp Giants in the Pro Basketball League of Belgium. In his lone season with the Giants, Tate was a key contributor on a team that won the Belgian Cup and was named a league All-Star.

The successful season in Flanders, the Dutch-speaking half of Belgium where Antwerp is located, was a launching point for Tate to move to the NBL and the Sydney Kings. In Australia, Tate hit another level, he averaged 16.4 points and 6 rebounds per game on 65.8-percent shooting from the field as the Kings won a franchise-record 20 games from their 28 game regular season.

What’s even more impressive about his stat line is that he only averaged 27.5 minutes and attempted 9.8 field goals per game. His ability to post gaudy totals in an efficient manner wasn’t the only thing he showed, he also let everyone know that he was built for the spotlight.

In the NBL playoffs, Tate averaged 18.7 points in only 25.8 minutes per game and led the Kings to their first-ever playoff victories. In one season, Tate became a legend down under and proved that the NBA was where he truly belonged.

Next: Tate's magnificent rookie showing

Houston Rockets: Jae’Sean Tate, seasoned veteran, NBA Rookie

It was announced that the Houston Rockets had signed Jae’Sean Tate in late November of 2020. In a testament to the Rockets’ faith in Tate, they didn’t sign him to a two-way contract but a two-year deal worth $3 million with a team option for a third year at $1.7 million.

However, Tate wasn’t out of the woods just yet, his contract was only guaranteed for $50,000 until the start of the season when his guarantee would grow to $500,000. While this amount of money is nothing to sneeze at, in NBA terms, Tate could still be cut and cost the team an accounting error.

It has only been 16 games but Tate has proven to be a crucial part of the Rockets rotation. He has a positive plus/minus and has spent time at shooting guard, small forward, and power forward this season as the team has had to endure blockbuster trades and an ill-timed covid outbreak.

His defense has been fantastic and the stats back it up, his defensive rating of 108 points per 100 possessions is well below the league average of 110.4 points. Fivethirtyeight’s RAPTOR metric, used to quantify the number of wins a player contributes to his team, has him as the most valuable rookie that has played over 300 minutes this season.

Tate’s defense is fueling his unexpected rookie season and if he can keep it up he’ll carve out a long and NBA career. However, it’s his offense that holds the cards to his upside and the early indications look promising.

Next: Jae'Sean Tate's NBA future

Houston Rockets: What the future holds for Jae’Sean Tate

Jae’Sean Tate’s journey to the NBA has been such a triumph that it can be easily forgotten that it’s nowhere near over. At only 25-years-old there is still a lot of basketball to be played in his future.

While Tate’s defensive abilities are his calling card now, his ceiling will be determined by how much he can improve on the offensive end. His NBA career is young but he has promising indicators that he could be a plus on offense.

Tate’s offense is primed for improvement

The most important shots in the NBA are lay-ups, 3-pointers, and free-throws. Almost no player is elite in all three areas but one has to be adept in one of these areas to become a true offensive force.

Players that are good at creating and converting lay-ups tend to be some of the best offensive players in the league. The reason is two-fold, first, lay-ups are the highest conversion shot in the game, and, second, players get fouled a lot more around the rim which leads to free-throws.

Tate is already good at getting to the rim, he takes 44.2-percent of his shots there, and then he finishes well with a 67.4-percent conversion rate. If neither of these numbers experience change, it is still an incredible offense base from which to build around.

Due to Tate’s adherence to shots at the rim, his free-throw attempt rate of 27.9-percent is well above the league average of 25.2-percent. In short, Tate already possesses the type of offensive profile that one wants and he’ll likely only get better as he acclimates to the NBA.

The area where Tate has struggled most is that his free-throw shooting has been decidedly below average. He’s only hitting 65.5-percent of his free-throws, which is actually an improvement in that area from when he was playing in Australia last season.

The other area slowing Tate down is that he’s been below average on corner 3-pointers. For the season, Tate is hitting 34.5-percent of his 3-pointers but only 30-percent of his corner threes.

Something has to give, either Tate is well over-performing on the more difficult threes or he is underperforming on the easier ones in the corner. If he is in fact underperforming from the corner then Tate could see his 3-point shooting spike and suddenly he’s a well-rounded offense beast, but if not, then he’ll have to hit the gym long and hard to get his shot where it needs to be.

Jae’Sean Tate’s potential is massive

Tate’s potential is massive and if he improves to league average on his corner threes and free-throws he’ll be a two-way stud. His ball-handling and playmaking likely will prevent him from becoming a number one option but he could become an elite finisher on offense that hounds players on the defensive end.

Throughout his life, Tate has had to overcome a multitude of obstacles, and each time he has persevered and then prospered. He may never become an NBA star, but betting against Jae’Sean Tate has been a bad bet since he was eight years old.