Jalen Green thanks Houston, looks forward to teaming with Booker and a traded Brooks
Jalen Green in The Players' Tribune painted a picture of his time with the Rockets and what he's looking forward to with the Suns.
Watch: Exclusive: Which NBA matchups does Dillon Brooks have circled on his calendar? | 8 mins
Jalen Green used the canvas provided by The Players’ Tribune to paint a picture of the good times he had in the city of Houston and to credit all of his Rockets teammates who helped him grow from teenager to father at his first NBA stop.
Green also used the opportunity to look forward to Phoenix, where he and star Devin Booker will be tasked with rebuilding a winning culture from the ground up.
“Listen, nobody likes to get traded,” Green wrote. “But I can honestly say that I get it, bro. This is a business, and if I was up there in the executive chair, I probably would’ve made the deal, too. I think it’s a better situation for both sides, and I’m just excited to get it popping with Book, and to create that winning culture that we figured out down here in Houston.”
The Suns, of course, traded Kevin Durant to the Rockets for Green, Dillon Brooks and the No. 10 pick used on Duke center Khaman Maluach.
Green is the centerpiece of the deal headed to Phoenix.
The 2021 second overall pick is still just 23 years old and has stagnated to some degree in the past few years.
Last season, he averaged 21.0 points and 3.4 assists per game for the second-best team in the Western Conference, numbers that are not personal bests (his sophomore season in 2022-23 was a few ticks better).
Green then struggled in his first postseason, a seven-game series where he averaged 13.3 points on 37.2% shooting. He will be faced with shedding the narratives that he’s topped out as a scorer.
“I got a team out in Phoenix who wants me to be me,” he wrote. “I get to play alongside one of the best in the game in Book. It’s another opportunity to build a winning culture. Another opportunity to show people how deep my love for this game really is. And another opportunity to shut up y’all petty-ass haters, too. (I see everything, and I thank you for it.)”
Green also wrote that there might be a little extra juice to Brooks’ game this season.
The 29-year-old who’s earned the reputation as one of the NBA’s biggest instigators averaged 14.0 points and 3.7 rebounds last year, shooting a career-high 39.7% from 3.
“Thank God at least DB is coming out to Phoenix with me,” Green wrote. “I can’t wait to see a traded DB. He’s gonna be out there creating chaos, bro.”
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Comments
20 Comments
Thunder had SGA dish for 6.4 assists. J-Will had five and Hartenstein almost 4 apg. They averaged 27 apg as a team.
Pacers had Haliburton with 9 apg. Nembhard with five and McConnell over four and Siakim a little under four apg. They averaged 29 apg.
They met in the Finals
So no, there isn't an incredible difference between playing the 1 and 2. Perhaps 30 years ago but not today. The last two true passing points are Harden (36) and Chris Paul (40). The league has gone to combo big combo guards.
Nothing. I’m saying we have a double DB pairing: Dillion Brooks and Devin Booker😎
I just don't think this is accurate. Pre Paul (really pre rubio) years, they had a joke of a team around him. Nothing to compare or take from that.
Is Book not a ball dominate player? Did Book not take the ball up court and initiate the offense even when Paul was on the team? Of course he did. What do you think Book does well then if you think he should be primarily used off ball? Yes he does well coming off screens and what not, but sticking him in the corner to shoot threes? Half of what makes him so great is him, having the ball in his hands, getting his match up then attacking the basket. From there he creates the offense. Tell me the name of the guy you want the suns to realistically get to run the offense over Booker?
The numbers show it, lack of a natural PG was not the issue the last two years (well, last year everything sucked so maybe it was even if the defense and rebounding wasn't so bad. The shot efficiency would say otherwise...but we did have KD so that may be unfair point by me).
What do you mean they went at him btw? That may be true, but that's a defense thing and has nothing to do with him being a PG/offense initiator.
IDK, Booker has been initiating the offense his whole career, even when Paul and Rubio were around. The thing that was nice about them, is they had someone else that could do it as well and help get book open too. Elite shooting guards initiate offenses. Heck elite players do. You want the ball in your best players hands more often than not. That's why i don't understand this narrative. If Marcus Smart came here or Tyrus Jones resigned, would you really want them handling the ball more than Booker? Of course not. I would wager anyone that can handle the ball/offense better than Booker, their is 0 chance the Suns can get them as that player is locked up on their current team.