Jalen Green Showing Early Signs of Stardom for Rockets

Jalen Green is finally coming into his own as a Houston Rocket.

Oct 28, 2024; San Antonio, Texas, USA; Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green (4) reacts after scoring a three-point basket during the first half against the San Antonio Spurs at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images / Scott Wachter-Imagn Images

Drafted at No. 2 years ago in the 2021 NBA Draft, Jalen Green has long been the alleged crown jewel of the Houston Rockets rebuild. But he’s never quite been able to put the finishing touches on his volatile game.

And with a freshly-inked three-year contract with the Rockets, many were wondering whether Green would ever reach the level they’d hoped for.

Now, through just a few 2024-25 regular season games, Green is showing early signs of NBA stardom.

His magnum opus came in a bounce-back win against their rival Spurs on Monday night. Green went scorched earth, scoring 36 points on 11-for-22 shooting, hitting a white-hot seven of his 13 3-point attempts. He was obviously the most impactful Rocket on the night in just the 5-point win over Victor Wembanyama and San Antonio.

In four games so far, Green is averaging 28.8 points on 43% shooting, adding 3.8 rebounds, 2.8 assists and nearly one steal per contest. Perhaps most importantly to the stat sheet, the former G League Ignite standout is shooting 41% from beyond the arc.

As with many high-level stretches of play from Green over the past few years, some fans are likely waiting for the eventual drop-off back to poor efficiency and decision-making.

But there’s reason to believe his star-level play could be sticking around, this time.

Firstly, Green is still just 22, quite a bit younger than the beginning of most player’s primes. Despite having played three full seasons, he’s far from a finished product as a player.

Even more positive to his case, Green has seen a general uptick in his play dating back to last season. In March of 2023, with star Alperen Sengun out due to injury, he averaged a blistering 27.7 points on near-50% shooting, adding 6.3 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.2 steals while shooting over 40% from three on a whopping nine attempts.

He closed out his last 23 games of his junior year averaging 24.0 points on 46% shooting — well above his career averages in points and efficiency.

Now, Green seems to have carried over that hot streak to both preseason and the 2024-25 regular season, most importably alongside Sengun.

If the guard is able to keep pace as one of the league’s top scorers alongside the already-broken out Turkish center, Ime Udoka’s Rockets will become a feared Western Conference team. If they can re-find their defensive will and intensity from last season.

Green will of course need to continue improving to earn the subsequent All-Star, All-NBA and other various bids that come with the league's best scoring. But if he can build off his hot start to his fourth year, he'll have as good a shot as any to come away with hardware.

The now-.500 Rockets will take on another in-state rival in the Mavericks on Thursday, Oct. 31 at 7:30 p.m.

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