Last season, the Houston Rockets were one of the surprise teams in the NBA, with head coach Ime Udoka being able to quickly change the culture of the team, which has been struggling ever since the departure of superstar guard James Harden.
Even though the Rockets failed to make the NBA playoffs, finishing the regular season at .500 with a record of 41-41, Houston showed a lot of promise for a bright future, with some talented young players on the verge of taking the next step while helping elevate this team to the next level in a highly competitive Western Conference.
The team also brought in some veteran players to help improve the team’s chances of being a force to be reckoned with sooner rather than later, adding Fred VanVleet and Dillon Brooks in NBA free agency.
Although Brooks, VanVleet and Alperen Sengun are the stars of the show in Houston, the Rockets have a lot of faith in Jalen Green becoming the future face of the franchise and showed that ahead of the 2024-25 campaign by signing him to a contract extension, which has made history, according to Shams Charania of ESPN.
Jalen Green is the first NBA player to successfully negotiate a 2-plus-1 rookie extension on a nine figure deal. Green became a pioneer as the first NBA G League Ignite signing in 2020. Now lands the most unique rookie extension ever. https://t.co/xw2SlsGbez
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 21, 2024
Although Green’s numbers dipped slightly last season, averaging 19.6 points per game compared to 22.1 points per game the previous season, the Rockets clearly like his potential to become a star in this league, especially with Udoka leading the charge on the sideline.
It’ll be interesting to see if the Rockets can make a jump in the standings this season, even though the West has only gotten better.
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