Houston Rockets: What Jae’Sean Tate brings to the table

Take a deeper look into Jae’Sean Tate, one of the Houston Rockets’ newest signings who could play a big role in the 2020-21 season.

The Houston Rockets have made a bunch of big splashes this offseason, signing Christian Wood and DeMarcus Cousins and trading Russell Westbrook to the Wizards in exchange for John Wall, but one offseason acquisition that has largely gone unnoticed it the signing of Jae’Sean Tate.

Tate, a 6’4″ forward who spent last season playing in the NBL for the Syndey Kings under Will Weaver, who joined the Rockets as an assistant coach under Stephen Silas, signed a three-year deal with Houston in November.

After going undrafted in 2018 out of Ohio State, Tate went overseas and played a season in Belgium before going to Australia in 2019 to join the Sydney Kings.

While the NBL is not talked about in the U.S. much, it is a league full of talent and quality competition. Typically, the NBL’s best players are fringe level NBA players, with some of them being capable of being role players for an NBA team.

In Sydney, Tate really made a name for himself. During the 2019-20 regular season, Tate averaged 16.4 points on 65.8 percent shooting, including shooting a fantastic 72.3 percent from 2-point range, pulled down six rebounds per game, and dished out 1.9 assists.

Tate’s per 36 numbers are even better at 21.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 2.5 assists.

Tate further stepped up his production in the playoffs, scoring 18.7 points and shooting 45 percent from beyond the arc to help lead the Sydney Kings to the NBL Grand Final.

While Tate was successful in Australia and certainly proved he can be a valuable asset on a good team, the big question is if his game will translate to Houston, an organization that has undergone a large number of offseason changes including a new coaching staff and several key new players.