On February 19, Beijing time, after the end of the game between the Rockets and the Clippers, Shen Jing, Jaylen Green and Tate will rush directly to the All-Star Game venue - Cleveland in the East. Here this morning, several of the Rockets' rookies will participate in the All-Star Rookie Challenge, and while the event isn't as closely watched as the Dunk Contest or the All-Star Game, it's also the opening of All-Star Weekend and is worth paying attention to.
How the rocket's three new rookies perform is also very exciting. However, in the game against the Clippers, the Rockets were another big defeat, and the spirit displayed by the Rockets in the previous game with the Suns seemed to have disappeared directly in this game. Fortunately, the Rockets' Jaylen Green and Christopher performed well, and although Shin Kyung did not have a beautiful 19+14 single-game stats, he also showed his ability in the limited playing time.
Schroeder has delivered another nine assists, and it wouldn't be a surprise if the Rockets offered a contract to keep him this summer. In fact, another small highlight of this game is the Rockets' "3rd center", only 23-year-old newcomer bruno Fernando. We know that the Rockets traded Theis for a combination of Fernando and Schroeder in a recent trade, but compared to Schroeder, who started as the starter, Fernando was not valued on the Rockets. He only played 4 minutes in the Rockets' game against the Jazz.
In the game against the Clippers, the Rockets fell behind by a large margin early, and Silas saw the situation and directly replaced the main player, replacing the 23-year-old Fernando. Fernando had nine minutes to play in this game, and he shot 4 of 6 and 2 of 3 from the free throw line in the limited 9 minutes, contributing 10 points and 5 rebounds (2 offensive rebounds), with plus-minus of +2.
Although he only appeared in garbage time, in these few minutes, Fernando showed a strong interior explosiveness and rebounding protection ability, which was a small explosion. He grabbed five rebounds in nine minutes, including two rebounds in the frontcourt, which was a perfect reinforcement for the Rockets, whose interior defense was weak.
Fernando, 23, is just a second-rounder and earns just $1.51 million a year this season. The rookie contract will expire after this season, and there will be a 10+5 stat contribution in 9 minutes with the Clippers, so why not give Fernando more games in the future games? Wood has another year on his contract, the Rockets wanted to trade him earlier, if you send Wood, shen jing to the starter, let Garuba and Fernando compete for the position of the 2nd center, which is beneficial and harmless for the Rockets.
Fernando seized the limited opportunity to show his potential, and it's up to the Rockets to see if they keep him this summer. Judging by Fernando's performance and stats over the years, the Rockets only need to issue a basic salary contract to keep the big man inside. What is the salary space for the Rockets is that Raphael Stone chose to keep Fernando, and there was no obstacle at all. This tough interior player deserves to be cultivated by the Rockets.