Houston Rockets: 3 reasons James Ennis is a great pickup

1. Provides the Rockets with youth

In spite of winning a franchise-record 65 games last season, the Houston Rockets featured one of the oldest rosters in the NBA, as the team that finished the year with the best record in basketball was the fourth-oldest squad in the league.

Houston’s core of Chris Paul (32), James Harden (28) and Clint Capela (24), were surrounded primarily by older pieces — Nene (35), P.J. Tucker (32), Trevor Ariza (32), Gerald Green (32), Luc Mbah a Moute (31), Ryan Anderson (29) and Eric Gordon (29). Only two players on their postseason roster were younger than the age of 26 — Zhou Qi (21) and Chinanu Onuaku (21).

While having a slew of veterans is not a bad thing by any means, having youth to fall back on makes for a nice security blanket. The signing of Ennis provides the Rockets with someone who can produce at a moderately similar level to Ariza and Mbah a Moute at a slightly younger age and lower price tag.

Next: 2018 NBA free agency tracker: Grades for every deal so far

James Ennis arrives in Houston in his prime on a two-year, veteran’s minimum deal, with less than 5,000 minutes played in the NBA. He will seek to provide D’Antoni with a fresh body who can play a heavy load of minutes and be the piece the Rockets need to survive another long playoff run.