Jalen Green's Recent Struggles Are Concerning for the Houston Rockets

Jalen Green's career has been a successive cycle of ambition and disappointment. Though it's hard to grasp that the same player who was playing at a borderline superstar level last March can also be unplayable at times, it is a reality that Rockets' fans have become accustomed to.

The Jalen Green experience has invoked many different reactions from the fanbase, but beneath the polarization, all of us have hoped that somewhere along the way that his strengths would eclipse his flaws and culminate in a star player. In the season's initial games, this seemed as imminent as ever. Through 5 games, Green was averaging 27.6 ppg, 5.4 rpg on 43.1/40.7/81.5 shooting splits.

Beyond just a statistical level, Green was impacting the game on both ends of the floor while looking as comfortable a ball handler as he ever has. Since then, he has not just cooled down, but he has also entered a vicious shooting slump. In the past 13 games, he has shot below 40 FG% in 10 of them. To add to this, any progress he made behind the arc has seemingly been undone as he is shooting 25% from three in November.

A deeper dive into his shooting from various distances helps diagnose the nature of this slump. While Green has shot just 23.7 FG% from 20-24 ft and 32.2 FG% from 25-29 ft, he has shot an excellent 65.9 FG% from less than 5 feet. It is also worth noting he has attempted just 85 shots from less than 5 feet compared to the 156 shots he has taken from 20-29 ft.

From these stats, it becomes clear that Green's shot selection is at the heart of the problem. Comparatively speaking, Green has always excelled as a finisher rather than as a shooter. His best basketball, even in this slump, has come when he's looking to aggressively attack the basket. To put it bluntly, he is not suited for the niches of a spot-up shooter or isolation player who operates in the mid-range.

Jalen Green Brings a Limited Skillset to the Rockets

Irrespective of the strides the Rockets made in the 2023-24 season, one weakness stood out above of the rest. Their poor 3-point shooting. Even with the acquisition of Reed Sheppard, it has still remained a huge issue for them. In the modern NBA, being a formidable 3-point shooting team is a prerequisite for being a contender. Without this, the Rockets' ceiling is only as high as a competitive first round exit.

With Fred VanVleet's rocky start to the season, a lot of pressure has fallen on Green to step up and assume a greater role in the offense. However, without a consistent three ball, he hasn't been able to do much.

While there is definitely something there with his finishing, it goes without saying that a shooting guard needs to be able to...shoot. Even if we were to cast aside his struggles from behind the arc, his midrange game hasn't exactly been a strong suit either. He has shot a dreadful 11/45(24.4%) from 10-22 ft.

In order to be a contender in today's NBA, you need to have a 1-2 punch of star players, which in more recent years was seen with Luka & Kyrie and Tatum & Brown. Rockets' fans have held onto the hope that Green can develop into their franchise player, but over time those hopes have gradually started to fade. With Sengun's breakout season last year, there have been hopes of him possibly being the player the Rockets build around.

If Sengun does end up being the franchise cornerstone, then it would be ideal for Green to be the second option. But once more, Green just hasn't shown that he is capable of fulfilling this role. Furthermore, many skeptics have raised concerns about if the two even fit well together, considering Jalen's best career stretch came with Sengun injured.

Throughout Jalen Green's Rockets stint, year after year, fans have convinced themselves that "this will be the season that Jalen finally breaks out." As it is now the 4th season of more of the usual, it might be time for the Rockets to consider making him touchable in the trade market. With the numerous trade ideas the Rockets have been attached to(eg. Devin Booker and Giannis Antetokounmpo), the Rockets could consider placing Jalen Green in their proposed trade packages.

If Jalen Green really is the player we've all been hoping he would be, now would be the time to prove it. As of right now, the shot clock is winding down for him in a Rockets uniform.