Jalen Green Can Become A Superstar Talent

19-year-old Jalen Green has not started his NBA career as expected. Green was drafted with the 2nd pick in the 2021 NBA Draft and had very high expectations. Too high expectations…..

Jalen Green is listed at 6’6 and 178lbs with a 6’7 wingspan. Green is a lanky guard who is very explosive and is extraordinarily athletic. Jalen Green is known for his incredible scoring ability in High School and the G-league but how has that converted to the NBA?

Jalen Green strained his left hamstring against the Chicago Bulls on the 24th of November but in the 18 games Green has played, he averages 14.0 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.3 assists. A lot of NBA fans have been blaming the Houston Rockets losses on Jalen Green but what we forget is Green is coming into the draft as a pure scorer and is not a creditable defender or playmaker. He is not going to make a huge impact straight away because he needs the ball in his hands to make an impact and since Houston Rockets have better offensive players right now such as Kevin Porter Jr, Christian Wood and Eric Gordon, Green will not be the main guy on offense. Fans are forgetting that he is a longer-term project much like Green’s ex G-league Ignite teammate Jonathan Kuminga. Green is an undersized guard who needs the ball in his hands so we should have known he was not going to be amazing straight away.

Jalen Green will no doubt improve his defense and offensive capability’s as he plays more in the league and gets a bit more experience. Luckily for him, he has five-time All-Star John Wall mentoring him along the way as Wall is sitting out for what looks to be a while. We should not be worried that Green is playing terrible and inefficient because he is a player that will take a couple of years to develop until he becomes an All-Star talent or better or…Worse

Green possesses insane Potential especially if he bulks up a bit. Michael Jordan did not come into the league too big himself and then soon enough bulked up and became well in my opinion the Greatest Player Of All Time. Zach Lavine was very similar to Jalen Green when entering the league. Lavine was listed 6’6, 180lbs with a 6’6 wingspan. In a scouting report made by Jorrye Nixon, Nixon quotes this about Lavine “Blessed with truly high-level explosiveness”. Nixon also quotes “LaVine needs to develop more consistency”. This sounds a lot like Jalen Green don’t you think? Coming into the draft both players were the most athletic and explosive in their respected draft classes but both players were not consistent enough on the offensive end. Both players had a very similar build when entering the league too. Lavine is now arguably a top 10 player in the league so could we possibly see Jalen Green having a similar path to greatness?