Jalen Green is slated to have a breakout campaign during the 2022-23 campaign. After earning First-Team All Rookie honors last season, the No. 2 pick in the 2021 NBA Draft is expected to take another step forward as the kind of ultra-explosive scorer around whom the Houston Rockets hope to build in the coming years.
The thing that makes Green so interesting as a player is how he’s able to blend the ability to fill it up with the sort of crazy athleticism that makes it hard for anyone to slow him down. That second thing got put on full display during Houston’s preseason tilt against the Indiana Pacers on Friday night, as the 20-year-old guard challenged noted guy whose name keeps popping up in Russell Westbrook trade rumors Myles Turner at the rim.
Turner, one of the league’s premier shot blockers, is not an easy dude to evade. But Green levitated and just stayed at the top of his jump for a beat longer than Turner expected, so he was able to bank it in and score.
Jalen Green wanted the poster but got the tough finish instead pic.twitter.com/xJYik8hU1r
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) October 14, 2022
As you might have noticed, the 6’4 Green capped this off by hitting the 6’11 Turner with a too small celebration. It is worth stressing that, under most circumstances, Turner is decidedly not too small, but hey, Green is a special athlete.