Draft Profile: Jalen Green (Don’t Ever Let Your Dreams Die)

People want all sorts of things in life. When I was five, my favorite movie was National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation. And, I was a child of highly refined taste, so naturally I wanted to be Cousin Eddie from the movie. I wanted to be called Sparky. My mom wouldn’t oblige me and continued to call me my early childhood nickname of Booger instead. I never gave up on being called Sparky though or admiring the lifestyle of living in a recreational vehicle.

I’m getting married in the next year or two, and I am slowly warming my fiancee up to the idea of wearing a Cousin Eddie style blue leisure suit at our nuptials. So far we agree that I’m wearing a suit. We will eventually agree that it will be blue and leisurely. I’m telling myself that because I won’t let my dreams die. I hope that Jalen Green takes this attitude with dreams too. 

Jalen Green wants to go first in the draft according to sources that haven’t been named explicitly. Good for him. He’s confident and he’s going to need that to lean on that. If I were in the NBA draft, I’d want to go number one too. Going number one in the draft has probably been his dream for a while; I’m really hoping that the large chance of him never realizing that dream, Cade Cunningham seems to be a lock at number one to the Pistons, motivates him to move beyond his apparent given gifts though.

Jalen was a five star recruit and the number one shooting guard in the 2020 class. He grabbed too many awards to name. He has played for the United States at the Junior level and was the MVP of the 2018 U-17 Fiba Tournament. Despite, those accolades, he said to himself, “college sucks, get money.” Those might not have been his exact words, but he thought some form of them as he signed to the newly formed developmental Ignite team in the NBA’s developmental G-League for $500,000.

Green is entering the draft this season standing 6’6″ weighing 178 pounds and sporting a wingspan of 6’7.” He put up decent numbers playing alongside other lottery hopeful Jonathan Kuminga and washed out vets Jarrett Jack and Amir Johnson on the way to eight wins and seven losses.

The Pros for Jalen Green

Green is among the most athletic guys in this draft and really knows how to use his athleticism, which is honestly his number one skill. His physical prowess lets him finish in a variety of ways around the rim, usually contorting his body rather than going through players. He reminds me of young Derrick Rose. He seems to float for a second longer than his defender to finish in tough situations. He averaged 1.20 points per possession at the rim in the G-League this season past. And, he can dust guys one-on-one with a more than serviceable dribble to actually get to the rack without help.

His physical tools also translated to him being a wonderful transition player (96th percentile), and a decent off-ball cutter. His oops are jaw dropping and he has an an eye for moving when his defender’s back is turned. He won’t get as many easy cuts to the rack against better defenders at the next level, but he’s still going to blast past guys a step out of place fairly often.

As far as shooting goes, he has a repeatable shot, although it is a bit busy as far as his hands and arms go – more on that below. Let’s just say he would be a good massage therapist for the time being.  His lower body movement is smooth and efficient though. He shot 36.5% from deep on 5.7 a game. You can’t build an offense around that, but he’s not being left alone. And, when he is smothered, his high vertical and long step back jumper are always going to be an option.

Green will enter the league a premier scorer. He may even be quite efficient at it, but that’s probably all he is going to be doing for a bit. If the Rockets take him at the two spot, that is all he’s going to be asked to do for even longer, and he may become damn good at it in a team setting considering how well the Rockets utilized James Harden. If Green is to be anything more than a scorer, he’ll have to channel the disappointment of not being the number one pick to get there.

The Cons For Jalen Green

While athleticism is his best trait, his lack of size harms him. Jalen’s a skinny dude. Defensively, he does try. He’s often in the wrong spot, but he will try to come from behind to contest, and he shows a willingness to keep going even after screens. Green averaged 1.5 steals a game. If he stays lean, he will at best be able to cover skinny 3s, hound 2s, and, this is where he could actually shine, smother playmaking 1s by disrupting their passing lanes and blowing up screens before they happen.

His rebounding is also concerning. He grabs just 4.1 a game, which wouldn’t be a huge deal if one of the best part of his game wasn’t transition scoring. Green needs to be soaring in for Westbrook style rebounds, so he can get easy buckets. 

Jalen Green’s lack of rebounding prowess wouldn’t be such a big deal if he was a great pick and roll player or passer, but he’s just okay. He doesn’t have terrible habits; however, it’s hard to see him elevating role players to new shiny contracts. Green notched 2.8 assists to 2.7 turnovers. If he can’t make plays, and he’s reliant on others to get out in transition or for lobs, what happens when he can’t finish at the rim or drain a shot? He shot only 2.3 free throws per game this past season.

The last con to Jalen’s game is his streaky shooting. In a 13 game season (he missed two games) he had two 0-7 from 3 games and an 0-6 game. He had a 2-7 and 1-6 of game too. That’s scary. However, it’s good to know he isn’t afraid to keep trying which is a must for a scorer. 
Much of his inconsistency comes from his upper body during his shot. Green has a two motion shot and adds even more motion to it by using a wrist rotation on his way up to get his guide hand to the side of the ball. He starts with his guide hand under the ball. If he’s tired, there is no way he can do that motion consistently, unless his forearms and wrists are supremely strong. At that point though, a team should just fire their trainer and use Jalen’s strong arms to be a massage and scoring specialist. 

Final Thoughts on Jalen Green

Green is going to a player that sticks in the league. At the very least, I see him being a scoring sixth man like Jordan Clarkson but bigger. If he works at his game and bulks up, he may be the next Devin Booker , Zach LaVine, or Bradley Beal. He’d be a high end scorer with decent defense who shows up on highlight reels every night. If Green can get his 3-percentage over forty, he’s a franchise piece. The thing is, that’s really unlikely. Lanky guys with crazy 3-abilities make no title teams these days. Stephen Curry is the only guy that comes to mind who utilizes shooting to be a franchise guy, and he’s also a phenomenal playmaker on top of that. Green will probably end up being a second guy on a title team. He’s going to need help. 

That’s why the Cavs don’t need him. The Cavs have enough second star scorer prospects, and they still have to develop them. They don’t need more drain on their developmental system. 

For Green’s sake, I hope he doesn’t somehow go number one. He needs a chip on his shoulder to keep growing and becoming the best he can be. Who knows, some extra weight on his shoulders may make him reconsider bringing the ball down to his waist before shooting with his guide hand under the ball.

I’ll be rooting for him. Every person knows you can’t rewrite what has been done. Green can’t go back in time and be the number one pick if he doesn’t get picked there, but he can have writers at least saying he should of been a few years from now. I can’t go back in time to force the nickname of Sparky on myself, but I sure as hell can wear a blue leisure suit at my wedding.

Please take a chance to check out the podcasts we have been posting lately. They have been especially epic. Let us know what you’re thinking about the draft in the comments. Do we have any Green fans on the blog?