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

Where does Jae’Sean Tate need to improve?

There are two main areas in Tate’s game that he needs to improve on in order to establish himself as an everyday player for the Rockets.

First and foremost, Tate must improve as a 3-point shooter, especially since he is joining a Houston team that leads the NBA in 3-pointers attempted in every year since 2016.

During his four years at Ohio State, Tate shot a career 27.7 percent from beyond the arc. Tate did show some improvement last year in the NBL, shooting 37.3 percent from 3-point range, but it was a very small sample size so it is hard to really say if he has truly improved as a shooter or if last season was just a fluke.

In no way does Tate need to transform into a sharpshooter, but he just needs to be able to knock down the open three, shooting in the mid-30s, so that opposing defenses are forced to guard Tate out on the perimeter which will give the Rockets guards more room to work with and create something.

The other area Tate must improve in is at the free throw line. Tate was a career 55.5 percent free throw shooter and college and his struggles at the charity stripe continued in the NBL, as he shot just 59.8 percent. This is an area he must improve in because he does get to the line his fair share of times with his style of play down low.

3-point shooting and free throws could ultimately be the determining factor on whether Tate establishes a role for himself on the 2020-21 Houston Rockets. Nevertheless, Tate has the potential to develop into a key role player if he can put it all together.