8-for-1 Trade! Debut Game! NBA's No.2 Pick Set to Face Off Against Rockets

Wow~

The Rockets are soaring, currently ranked fifth in the West with a 49-29 record, just one win behind the fourth-place Nuggets and third-place Lakers.

It appears the Rockets have a good chance to reach the third position in the West before the regular season concludes.

Looking at the Rockets' remaining regular-season schedule, they have four opponents to face: the Suns, Philadelphia, Timberwolves, and Grizzlies.

Wait, the Suns... Isn't that about seeing the 2021 No.2 pick Jalen Green battle his former team, the Rockets.

In the three previous Rockets-Suns matchups this season, Jalen Green missed all games due to injury, but fortunately there's still one final showdown at the end of the season.

Last summer during the offseason, the Rockets traded Jalen Green + Dillon Brooks + the 2025 first-round No.10 pick (Maluachi) + five second-round picks to acquire Kevin Durant from the Suns.

Interestingly, Jalen Green, who was an iron man during his Rockets tenure (playing every game for two consecutive seasons), has faced frequent injuries since joining the Suns,This season he has only played 30 games, starting 25, averaging 26.4 minutes per game with 18.4 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1.1 steals, shooting 42.5% from the field, 32% from three, and 75% from the free-throw line.His performance hasn't met expectations, leading to heavy criticism.

However, since March this year, Jalen Green's performance has improved, often scoring 20+ points per game, though still inconsistent. During this period, he had two games with single-digit scores: 9 points against the Timberwolves and 8 points against the Magic, and occasionally was even DNP'd by Suns coach Jordan-Out.

It's worth noting that the Suns, who missed the play-in tournament last season (36-46, 11th in the West), haven't tanked for the top draft pick as imagined this season. They currently sit seventh in the West with a 43-35 record, three wins behind the sixth-place Timberwolves.

Unless something unexpected happens, the Suns will likely enter the play-in tournament as the seventh seed in the West. If they win against the eighth seed, they'll secure the 7th seed for the playoffs; if they lose, they can still play another play-in game against the winner between the ninth and tenth seeds to compete for the 8th seed playoff spot.

Unfortunately, the Rockets can't climb to the top two in the West, otherwise we could have seen a drama-filled matchup between the ex and the current team in the first round of the playoffs, generating massive buzz and traffic.