On January 15, Beijing time, as of now, none of the rookie players in this year has averaged more than 20 points per game. It's true that Mobley, Cunningham, Wagner Jr. and Barnes are doing great, and they're not the kind of rookies who score for scoring, but it's a shame that none of the players have a burst of scoring power. Some fans want to ask, saying that this year is the "big year" of rookies, but in fact, from the point of view of scoring alone, it seems that these rookies do not look like future superstars at all.
In fact, the reason is very simple, these rookie players are not the kind of super scorers, but the all-round players dominate. Mobley is an all-around center who can score, be more defensive and have good passing skills. Barnes is also an all-around swingman, as is Wagner Jr. Cunningham is a full-blown backcourt, assisting, scoring, and controlling the court. Jaylen Green is arguably the best scorer, but he's averaged just 15.2 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists this season, which seems to be a huge gap from the title of "Kobe Jr."
But now, Green is arguably the Rockets' best rookie player of the season. We know that the Rockets selected Jaylen Green with the first round of the No. 2 pick this season, the No. 23 and No. 24 picks Garruba and Christopher, and then traded in exchange for the No. 16 rookie Shin Kyung, but until now, in the latest rookie ranking, only Jaylen Green is on the list and ranked 7th.
Compared to his previous rankings, Jaylen Green slipped one place, from No. 6 to No. 7, partly due to a significant decline in Green's feel and stats in several games in the past week, and mainly due to the Rockets. Fans who often watch Rockets games must have this feeling, Jaylen Green does not seem to have the freedom of Cunningham and Mobley on the Rockets, and his importance on the court is far less than that of Porter Jr. and Wood.
The Rockets have lost 3-1 in their last four games, and Green's scores have also been 12, 10, 14 and 14, respectively, and none of them have scored more than 20 points. Look at Green's shots, basically between 8-14 shots, not at all like the future cornerstone of a rebuilding team, but like a role player. If you put such data on Matthews or Brooks, no one feels inappropriate.
What's more troublesome is that in addition to Green, Shin Kyung has fallen out of the top 10 of the rookie list due to not playing for two weeks, and Garruba has no chance this season, and he is still struggling to enter the rotation lineup.
Christopher did well, and Silas recognized his efforts, but in this season's games, Christopher has not played much, he has only entered the rotation lineup in the last 20 games, and although toefl has occasionally performed well in recent games, the Rockets have not given him much playing time and offensive opportunities. More often than not, the TOEFL is used as a shooter, which is why the TOEFL did not enter the rookie list.
Compared with the stable Barnes, Mobley and the late Canningian, Jaylen Green, Shen Jing, TOEFL, Garuba four Rockets rookies have invariably suffered "Waterloo" in the recent past. The reason is not that these players do not work hard, nor is it that they are not talented enough, but the Rockets do not pay special attention to the cultivation of rookie players compared to the Pistons, Cavaliers, Magic and other teams, and Green and TOEFL have not received strong support from the Rockets, which is the root of the collective silence of the Rockets rookies.