For a long time, the Houston Rockets' interior player type is either a basket-guarding center, or a tall shooter with three-point shooting ability, such as Capela and Tariq Black, who are representatives of the basket-guarding center, and Ryan Anderson, and now the Rockets' two-center centers, Olnick and Wood, are representatives of the shooter-type interior line.
The Rockets are particularly short of the kind of "spring man" who can run and jump, and many years ago the Rockets got a physical explosion, but the inside technology is quite rough of the big forward Stromayer Swift, but it only took one season, Swift was abandoned by the Rockets because of his inability to adapt to the Rockets' tactics and limited personal ability.
Today, the tactical style in the league is deeply influenced by "small balls", and even some interior players have learned to shoot three-pointers. The Rockets' inner line is also transforming into a tall and shooter. In addition to Wood + Olynyk, the Rockets often put 20-year-old rookie forward Kenjan Martin Jr. in the center position in the small lineup, such as the recent Rockets and Jazz games, Silas put Martin Jr. in the main center position to test.
Martin Jr. is also unambiguous, he shot 11 of 19 in 39 minutes in that game, 8 of 4 from three-point range, and bombed 27 points, 10 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals, not only that, in the game against the Bucks, Martin Jr. also had 26 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists.
In the game against the Blazers, Martin Jr. also contributed 15 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals. Martin Jr. didn't have many chances in the first half of the season, and even the Rockets sent him and Porter Jr. to the Vipers of the Development League.
In the Vipers, Martin Jr. didn't do badly, so the Rockets only recalled him and Porter Jr. to the first team after All-Star Weekend.
After the Rockets suffered an injury wave, Martin Jr. also smoothly became the main rotation of the Rockets bench, the "dunk" who can run and jump, has been reused by Silas in the past month, not only can often have gorgeous data contributions, but also on the court his athletic talent and comprehensive personal ability, but also well received.
Even Rockets general manager Rafael Stone has publicly stated that Martin Jr., like Wood, Porter Jr. and Tate, is one of the 4 cornerstones of the Rockets' future.
From a normal viper to a Rockets starting center, Martin Jr. has gone from a lowly valued second-round rookie to the Rockets' most potentially athletic interior in one season.
Even Martin Jr.'s father, 2000 NBA striker Kenjan Martin, publicly praised his son, saying, "Rockets' Kenjan Martin Jr. jumped a lot higher than I did before!" ”
A 4-year salary, this season's annual salary is only $900,000, this is the Rockets to Martin Jr.'s contract, but seeing Martin Jr.'s hot performance and eye-catching data now, I have to say that the Rockets have earned another contract. In the future, Martin Jr. and Jessin Tate will become ace players in the Rockets' forward and interior positions. This year is just their first NBA season, and I believe they will improve every season. In particular, the 20-year-old Martin Jr., in the first year of entering the NBA, experienced the "big scene" of this bumpy season, which is extremely helpful for his future growth.