Preface:
In this year's draft, the Rockets selected Jabari Smith with the third pick in the first round, Tari Ethan with the seventeenth pick, and Taitai Washington with the twenty-ninth pick, but the most surprising thing for the Rockets was not the prodigy pick, but the seventeenth pick. After playing in the Summer League, he was selected for the Best Team, and immediately after that, he went to the field to kill all sides. The Rockets waited for years to finally have a small, sizing-sized forward, and the Eason, who can't sing, could be the next Leonard.
The rocket's small former death
Since Yao Mai, the Off-Seasonton Rockets seem to have completely broken off their fate with excellent small forwards. Remember when Yao Mai was together, the Rockets had Battier, there was Artest, at that time the Rockets never worried about the position of small forwards, but since Yao Mai, the Rockets have never found a reliable small forward. Ariza briefly played with the Rockets for a year, but he did not take the position of the boss of the team, leaving the Rockets in just one year, and since then the team's forwards have become players of chase Bardinger's level, and with the arrival of Harden, the dilemma of the Rockets small forward has never been solved.
In the era of the Morden combination, the Rockets once found the answer to their front line, Chandler Parsons, parsons once played an average of 16.6 points per game in 2014, but the Rockets failed to keep him, in fact, Parsons is also high salary and low energy, short-lived, and then the Rockets' forward position is completely blurred. Later, the Rockets once got Sam Decker, another qualified forward player, but because he grew too slowly and became a chip for the Rockets to trade Paul, during this period, what headband brothers Smith and Brewer were either too old or not in their own right, and soon left the Rockets.
And since Paul was traded to the Rockets, this team has not had a qualified small forward, when PJ Tucker has to play big forwards, Eric Gordon has to play small forwards, Ariza has to run the center position, the Rockets really lack a sufficient size of the forward, even Gerald Green has to play inside the Rockets. In recent years, the Rockets have been repeatedly eliminated by the Warriors, and they have suffered losses in the front line against the Warriors' "four famous shops", such as Thompson, Green, Durant, and Iguodala's lineup has always been the object of the Rockets' envy.
Later Harden and Paul left the Rockets, the Rockets' rebuilding lineup still did not find a potential forward, Martin Jr., who practiced for a long time last season, was too talented, Jeshaun Tate was more suitable for the fourth position, the Rockets really couldn't find a potential small forward, until this year's draft, when Tari Ethan had not yet been selected, the Rockets knew their opportunity was coming, and finally got a forward player of sufficient size.
Defensive start
Like Leonard, Tari Ethan started defensively. Although he was not selected until the 17th pick in the first round, Ethan is known as the best defensive player in this rookie, and Ethan's defense has been honed very well in college. He is 2.03 meters tall for small forwards, 2.18 meters in arm span, 2.74 meters tall in standing and touching, with excellent physical fitness, running and jumping are top-notch, and this is a natural excellent defensive player. Ethan, who is currently 21 years old and has been working in college for two years, is ready to contribute right away from the court and can perfectly adapt to the rhythm of the NBA's confrontation, which is more than many of his rookies, which is why he is optimistic about his foothold.
Although Ethan has a nickname called hexagonal warrior, saying that he is an all-round player, in fact, for Ethan who joined the NBA, the first thing to do well is to show his offensive talent. When Leonard first entered the NBA, he was actually not top-notch, but he started defensively and gradually became a superstar. Ethan is the closest player to Leonard's size in recent years, although his best template is Ariza, and the almost template is Bamot, but Ethan is ultimately going to become a superstar, the templates are just references, but the talent will not deceive.
It still needs a lot of hard work
Defense is the beginning of Ethan's foothold in the NBA, and the improvement of offensive ability is the key to his becoming a star. Ethan averaged only 7.3 points per game in his freshman year, but in his sophomore season Ethan's scoring came to 16.9 points, especially the three-point shooting rate from less than 30% to nearly four games, in just one school year, Ethan has been rapidly improved, and the three-point shooting ability is the key to the modern front line based on the NBA.
In Ethan's draft report, the scout said that his projection was unstable and that his finishing ability needed to be honed, which was actually where he had to improve in his first season. It's easy to be a scorer, but it's hard to be an efficient scorer like Leonard, and Ethan is targeting Leonard, so he can't slack off. Ethan averaged 17.2 points, 10.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.8 steals and 1 block in five summer League games, shooting 44.7%, 33.3% from three-point range and 78.6% from the free throw line, which is actually a very good answer, indicating that his offensive ability can be practiced.
After the end of the summer league, Ethan also went to the Drew League to play wild ball, to the low-confrontation league, Ethan's skills on the offensive end perfectly showed 37 points, 13 rebounds and 2 caps, to know that the offensive kaleidoscope James is only 42 points, Trae Young can even get 22 points, Ethan's skills are very skilled, he needs to fight more fiercely in the NBA, can also come up with this scoring ability, so he is Leonard.
Epilogue:
Select Ethan Rockets as a treasure, this team really has not met a full-size small forward for many years, and Ethan gave the Rockets this expectation, and he has the potential to become a super small forward of Leonard's level, Leonard is only 15 picks, Alphabet Brother is also 15 picks, don't look at Ethan 17 picks, but as long as it is cultivated, Ethan may be better than Tanhua, I hope the Rockets will cultivate well.