“Jalen Green has the worst plus/minus in the NBA”: How the Rockets rookie has been struggling mightily to adjust early on

Jalen Green currently boasts the worst plus/minus in the entire NBA as he continues to struggle on both ends of the floor. 

Jalen Green has unfortunately not lived up to his claim from the offseason that he deserved to be the number one pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. In all fairness, Cade Cunningham hasn’t played like the ‘best rookie’ of his class either as both Evan Mobley and Scottie Barnes have been vying for that title since the start of the season. 

Jalen Green is currently on a roster of several young players who have the potential to be good players in the league upon development. So, getting quality touches isn’t exactly something the Houston Rockets had been able to do with Green out on the floor due to the lack of experience on the roster.

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The 3rd overall pick has been sidelined due to a hamstring injury since the Rockets game against the Chicago Bulls, a game that ignited H-Town’s winning streak that has extended to 5 now. 

Fans have unfairly attributed this winning streak to Green’s absence from the lineup, claiming the Rocket would not have gone on this streak if he had been playing. 

Jalen Green and his league worst plus/minus. 

Jalen Green is currently boasting the NBA’s worst +/- with a horrid –13.8. Now, this cannot solely be attributed to Green as before he went down with injury, the Houston Rockets had won merely a single game.  

Other Rockets players like Daniel Theis, Christian Wood, and Jae’Sean Tate, players who have played during this 5 game win streak are still in the bottom 40 for +/- this season.

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However, this isn’t to say that Jalen Green has been a good player to start off his NBA career. He averages 2.7 turnovers a game, which isn’t all too shabby but considering the fact that he averages 2.3 assists a game, it goes to show that the ball simply isn’t safe when in his hands. 

His momentum moving downhill has been promising but has been too erratic to actually convert into buckets. Overall, high volume shooting rookies always have a hard time adjusting to the pace of the NBA. Fans were witness to this last season when Anthony Edwards shot under 40% from field for months on end.