LAS VEGAS — Jalen Green enters a transition that a lot of young players go through and will continue to go through.
A high selection in the 2021 NBA Draft, No. 2 overall, Green has shown glimpses of reaching the standard a pick that high is held to, but ultimately has not done so consistently enough four years into his career.
So, coming off his rookie contract, it was time for Houston to decide how to go about extending him last fall. A max didn’t seem wise, so the Rockets settled on an unconventional three-year deal worth $106 million that included a player option for Green in Year 3.
The Rockets wanted to keep him, and rightfully so. He was 22 years old at the time, still with plenty of potential left to become the player they fully envisioned.
But as Green attempted to do so this past season, other young players surpassed him in the pecking order like Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson, all while Green was indeed Houston’s leading scorer still. It does not feel like a coincidence that Houston picked guard Reed Sheppard third overall last summer, either.
Along comes the opportunity for Houston to trade for Kevin Durant, in an outstanding position of leverage to keep its top-five and arguably top-10 assets out of the deal entirely, while also using the trade framework as a way for someone else in the league to find out if Green ever truly taps into his ceiling.
That is now for the Phoenix Suns to figure out.
The most interesting part of this for Green specifically is that he is just coming out of a situation that began ascending, one he played a direct role in. Houston went from 22 wins two seasons ago to 41 and then 52 with a playoff berth.
How Jalen Green is dealing with trade to Phoenix Suns
There are layers to how that affects Green. For starters, well, this kind of sucks for him as you could imagine.
“It hurts,” Green said Friday. “Houston is home to me and forever will be home to me. I started my NBA career there and built a lot in that situation. Obviously, it’s sad to leave. But it’s a business, though. You gotta understand that when coming into the NBA. I’m just thankful that I have an opportunity to play basketball again for another team that has been in the playoffs, been to the Finals and winning basketball in general.”
The other layer is he now knows what it takes to be a part of a winning environment.
“Winning is more than just scoring the basketball,” he said. “Defensively, playing hard and just being engaged through the whole game — I learned that from over there and imma take that and take it to Phoenix.”
Green wants to go “glass half-full” with this and embrace the opportunity that he has in Phoenix.
A lot of that has to do with playing alongside Devin Booker, a caliber of player he has never had as a teammate before. While there is much to be said about how the overall fit works, Booker is in a position to make Green better in a way Green has not had yet from an experienced cohort that has All-NBA nods and MVP votes to their name.
“We are two people who are going to accept the double-team and be able to play off each other,” Green said. “When you look at something like that, we’re two people who know how to score the basketball, we’re two people who know how to attack the defense and everyone is gonna set up around us. When we’re doing something like that, you gotta pick who you want to score tonight.
“Me and him both, it’s gonna be a deadly scoring duo no matter what the situation is. People are gonna say what they wanna say but this is a great opportunity for myself, and D-Book is a winning player in general, so it’ll work out.”
“He called me when I was out in Phoenix trying to look for a house.” Jalen Green on Devin Booker.
“He’s ready to do what we got do to this year. He understands the situation we’re in right now. People don’t expect us to do anything.”
Green showing fit incoming. #Suns #Rockets pic.twitter.com/YaKENRhTww
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) July 12, 2025
Green got his first taste of playoff basketball, so in a similar way to how Booker found out what the height of the sport’s competition level is like in getting to the Finals, Green knows what the postseason brings.
“The hunger is already there,” Green said.
Speaking on the feeling of being “wanted” and having “motivation” can be a serious tool for players like Green to change their trajectory. It’s just a matter of seeing if he’s capable of doing so and that Phoenix is the right situation for that to occur.