Growing Gains: Which Young Rockets Player Will Have Best Season?

The Houston Rockets have a handful of talented young players on the roster, but a few of them will stand out from the rest.

USA Today

Young NBA teams usually go through quite a bit of growing pains before figuring out how to win games. However, the Houston Rockets hope their youngsters can see more growing "gains" throughout the 2022-23 season, which tips off on Oct. 18.

After being a bottom-dwelling team for the previous two years, no one is expecting the Rockets to morph into a playoff team over night, but they still must show that they're heading in the right direction. 

Although Houston has some useful veteran players on the roster, including Eric Gordon, Trey Burke and Boban Marjanovic, the surge it seeks will have to come from the younger guys on the roster.

Jalen Green, Alperen Sengun, Kevin Porter Jr., Jabari Smith Jr., TyTy Washington and others highlight the Rockets' slew of young talent. Out of all of them, which one is primed to have the best 2022-23 campaign?

Many believe it could be Sengun, as he's put together some dominating performances for Turkey in international play this summer. Others believe it could be Smith Jr., who was the No. 3 overall pick in June and possesses some stellar All-Defensive potential.

However, out of every young player on the roster that could be selected, we still keep coming back to Green as the player most likely to be the Rockets' MVP this season.

Last year, Green averaged 17.3 points, 3.4 rebounds and 2.6 assists for the Rockets through 67 games. He showed off his otherworldly athleticism at times with acrobatic finishes at the rim and hustle plays, but he only shot 42.6 percent from the field and 34.3 percent from deep.

If Green can raise his efficiency just a couple more percentage points in both of those areas – and we expect him to do just that in his sophomore season – not only will he be Houston's best player, but the Rockets will be better than most people expect them to be.

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You can follow Dalton Trigg on Twitter at @dalton_trigg

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