3 reason why the Houston Rockets should draft Jalen Green

The Houston Rockets have one of the toughest decisions to make of any NBA front office. Who to select with the second pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. What makes the second overall pick the most difficult selection is the combination of near-endless possibilities mixed with not having your first choice.

Imagine finding out a long-lost super-rich uncle has passed away (R.I.P.) and he has left you an exotic car from an expansive collection. Now, imagine that he has also left a car to your sibling and gave them the first pick.

Chances are there would be one car that clearly stood above the rest, the prized jewel of his collection, and that’s the one that your sibling will select. This then leaves you in the enviable, yet incredibly difficult, position of determining which car is the second best.

It is this exact situation that the Rockets find themselves in as the 2021 NBA Draft quickly approaches. Cade Cunningham has long been penciled in as the top pick, which leaves the Rockets the task of deciding which of the trio of Evan Mobley, Jalen Green, and Jalen Suggs is best.

Many draft big boards have Mobley as the second overall prospect but, due to the presence of Christian Wood, one of Jalen Green or Jalen Suggs, both guards, make for a better fit in Houston. Rockets general manager, Rafael Stone, said that he is looking for “star potential,” and no one has more of that than Jalen Green.

Green is a highlight machine and has the go-to scoring ability that only the best players in the league possess. While the rest of Green’s game will take time to develop, he will walk into the NBA and be a 20 points per game scorer from the get-go.

The Rockets already have an All-Star caliber center in Christian Wood and with the health and age-related decline that has beset John Wall and Eric Gordon, the franchise needs some fresh blood in the backcourt. Jalen Green might be behind Evan Mobley on the big board, but if he were an exotic car he’d be the clear-cut number one pick. These three reasons the Rockets should select Green, and not Mobley, with the second overall pick.

Next: Reason #3

Reason #3 why the Houston Rockets should select Jalen Green in the NBA Draft: Proved it at the highest level

It is surprising that there isn’t more buzz surrounding Jalen Green. He eschewed college in favor of playing professional basketball in the NBA’s G-League and more than held his own.

Over the course of 15 games, the G-League season was truncated due to the pandemic, Green averaged 17.9 points a game on 52.9-percent shooting on 2-pointers, 35.6-percent shooting from 3-point range, and 82.9-percent from the free-throw line. Green was the ninth highest scorer in the G-League of any player that played in all 15 games and the eight players ahead of him had an average age of 23 ¼ years old.

While Cade Cunningham and Evan Mobley won their conference’s player of year awards and Jalen Suggs helped lead Gonzaga to a nearly flawless season, Green was breaking the ankles of grown men on the cusp of making the NBA. NCAA basketball may get more airtime than the G-League but is by no means near the quality.

Every player in the G-League was either a star in the NCAA or previously in a professional league overseas. If the NBA is comparable to the MLB then the G-League is AAA and the NCAA is low A. It also shouldn’t be forgotten that the college 3-point line is more than a foot and a half closer to the rim than the G-League’s NBA 3-point line.

When you add it all up, Green played against professional athletes, had to shoot threes from farther back, and still managed to be one of the top players in his competition. The G-League isn’t the NBA but it is far better than the NCAA, and while Green’s peers took the easy road, he took a risk and proved he’s more than ready for the NBA.

Next: Reason #2

Reason #2 why the Houston Rockets should select Jalen Green in the NBA Draft: Best scorer

Basketball at its core is all about buckets. Scoring has been and will always remain the most important skill in the game. Players can be great through their defense, preventing scoring, or through their passing, creating shots for others, but the fact remains that players that can create and convert their own points will always reign supreme.

As a pure scorer, no player in this draft is as talented as Jalen Green. He bested both Evan Mobley and Jalen Suggs in scoring volume and efficiency and did so against professionals, not Pac-12 and WCC amateurs.

While Suggs and Mobley are viewed as his competition for the second pick, Green, as a scorer, holds his own with the presumptive number one pick, Cade Cunningham. On a per-minute basis, his scoring was essentially on par with Cunningham’s and he did that without the benefit of a college 3-point line or helpless Big-12 defenders.

Jalen Green vs Cade Cunningham per 36 minutes

                              PTS     FGA    FTA     2P%        3P%       FT%

Jalen Green:     20.2    15.3    2.6    52.9%    36.5%    82.9%

Cunningham:  20.5    15.0    5.9    46.1%    40.0%    84.6%

Green is a monster in transition, makes instinctive cuts to the basket, and is near unstoppable in isolation situations due to his combination of burst, body control, and shooting touch. Cunningham has a more advanced bag of tricks, but in terms of raw scoring horsepower, Green is a few steps ahead of the competition.

As Green’s game matures there won’t be a thing defenders can do to stop him. Usually, hyper-athletic guards enter the league with questions about their jump shot, but Green looks set to be an average 3-point shooter from day one.

There are concerns about Green’s passing and defensive focus but when it comes to his scoring there are no doubts. Green looks poised to have multiple seasons where he averages 25 plus points per game and is the best bet from this draft class to win a scoring title.

Next: Reason #1

Reason #1 why the Houston Rockets should select Jalen Green in the NBA Draft: Most upside

Jalen Green has stood heads and tails above his peers for ages. He was ranked by ESPN as the number one high school recruit in the class of 2020 and has represented the USA in international competition since 2017, earning MVP honors at the 2018 FIBA under-17 Basketball World Cup.

Green has been on the NBA’s radar for ages, which makes his age relative to his recruiting class all the more impressive. Green was born on February 9th, 2002 and at 19 years and four and half months old he is the youngest of this draft’s top quartet of himself, Cunningham, Mobley, and Suggs.

Studies have long found that older players are more likely to make it in professional sports. If there is an age cut-off, players who are older, relative to the cut-off, are usually better represented. Evan Mobley and Jalen Suggs were both born in June of 2001, meaning they were 18 for the entirety of their final high school recruiting season.

Cade Cunningham, born in September of 2001, also experienced a slight age-related boost relative to his peers. Green on the other hand didn’t have an age advantage over his competition and in many cases was one of the younger players.

While professional sports tend to be populated by players with favorable birthdays, players that are elite in their sport tend to come from those with the least favorable birthdays. The phenomenon is known as the underdog effect.

Green not only checks the traditional prospect boxes but he also checks the underdog box by virtue of his relative youth. Green has performed against older competition at every level and as a result, he has a long-term edge over his competition.

Jalen Green might not be the top prospect in this draft but he has the most potential. Cade Cunningham might be the favorite to win rookie of the year but five years from now there’s a good chance that it’s Jalen Green who’s dominating the league.