The expectations for Green are high, but the results are inconsistent.
As a quick and explosive scoring guard, Green entered the league with high expectations surrounding his future in the league, and those expectations only rose after such an impressive rookie season. In only his second year, he has already gained the respect of several stars, though, and received some high praise. Luca Doncic, for example, said that Green had a future as a superstar and after Green led the Rockets to a win over James Harden’s new squad, the former Rockets star told the media that he was proud of Green and his performance so far.
Compared to last season, Green upped his scoring by around four points to an average of 21.5 points, and also improved his assist and rebounding numbers. Out of all his talents, Green mostly impresses with his ability to be a dynamic scorer on drives and around the rim. His slim frame allows him to slide and weave past and through defenders, while he is developing a wide array of crafty finishing moves.
Green leads his team in touches, shot attempts, and scoring, even though he has been a rather inconsistent and inefficient scorer thus far. On good nights, he can score efficiently from all three levels on self-created shots, but on other nights he struggles to put the ball through the hoop.
Despite averaging only 41.7 percent on field goals and 32.6 percent on threes, Green still scores plenty of points. That, however, is only possible because the team’s focus is on development rather than winning, and he gets a great number of touches even if he is not having a good night. The youngster is not allowing his shooting struggles to discourage him from continuing to take shots, but sometimes it might be wiser for him to get his teammates involved more instead of taking wild shots.
For Green to develop into the offensive weapon the Rockets are hoping he will be in the future, he needs as many reps with the ball as possible, but basketball is not a one-man game. With plenty of dribbling and unreasonable shot attempts by just one player, the Rockets’ offense seems rather stagnant at times. This is certainly not just on Green, but especially he could be very effective as an athletic cutter from the weak side if they moved the ball more as a team.
The biggest reason for Green’s scoring inconsistency and inefficiency is his shot selection. He tends to take difficult shots rather than looking for the extra pass, but that will hopefully evolve as he matures as a player. After all, Green is only 20 years old. The same should apply to his defense.
His off-ball defense looks stagnant a lot of times, and he is often not an effective help defender. On some possessions, you can see him rushing to the basket to block a shot attempt, but at other times, he just seems to watch as players get to the basket even though it would be his job to provide help defense.
Sometimes, he also seems to just quit too early on a defensive possession, which was quite noticeable against the Dallas Mavericks offense. These issues can be fixed, though, because Green has the tools to be a good defender on the ball as well as away from it and to grab rebounds on both ends of the floor. He just needs to hustle a little more.
At times, it feels like he might be more engaged on a competitive team where he would have to fight for playing time and have a smaller margin for mistakes. But again, his second season as a pro is not even over yet, and we need to be patient with young players’ development. Only a few players turn into stars overnight or right off the bat.