Gerald Green is sort of perfect for the Rockets

For a team in desperate need of depth outside of their top players, the Houston Rockets seem to have struck gold with Gerald Green. Green has bounced around the world since being drafted out of high school in 2005, playing for no fewer than eight NBA teams and three international teams in Russia and China. He’s essentially been the same guy at every stop: extremely athletic, can shoot the lights out, but doesn’t bring much more than that to the table.

Fortunately for Green, playing for his hometown Rockets doesn’t require much more than that, especially if he’s going to score like he did on Wednesday against Orlando.

Even at full strength, Houston had a depth problem. James Harden and Trevor Ariza are both playing more than 36 minutes per game as head coach Mike D’Antoni has steadfastly refused to trust the majority of his bench. Guys like Bobby Brown, Zhou Qi, Demetrius Jackson and Troy Williams barely get any playing time, and with Luc Mbah a Moute sidelined with a shoulder injury until mid-January, D’Antoni was essentially down to an eight-man rotation.

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For a team with bigger goals than regular season success, it seems ridiculous that the Rockets play so few players, and general manager Daryl Morey went out and got another wing D’Antoni can play to soak up those minutes. (Harden will also miss some time with a hamstring strain, magnifying the need for a player like Green to come off the bench and give Houston some modicum of production).

And produce he has — at least to this point. 27 points in 28 minutes on 9-for-15 shooting against Orlando is certainly a good sign for both Houston and Green, who’s told multiple interviewers how happy he is to be playing for the Rockets. A bench role on this Houston team is perfect for him. His strengths are useful to a team that could struggle to score without both Harden and Chris Paul in the lineup, while his weaknesses are almost entirely mitigated, both by the personnel on the floor with him and Houston’s culture.

Green’s been a consistently above-average 3-point shooter throughout his career, making just north of 36 percent of his triples in his career. 7-for-10 against Orlando is obviously an outlier, but given the open shots he got and will continue to get on this Houston team, his ability to knock down those open shots will certainly be a boon to their offense. He’ll do the vast majority of his damage from beyond the 3-point line, but his ability to create for himself and others will be something to watch when he’s on the floor in this period without Harden. He’s not incapable of running a quick pick-and-roll as a secondary ball handler, a role he plays when Paul sits.

Briante Weber is technically the Rockets’ backup point guard in these situations, but he’s not capable of being a primary creator, even on the second unit. Weber’s a very good defender at the point guard position but struggles mightily on the other end. Eric Gordon, who played every minute Paul didn’t against Orlando until things got out of hand, plays the role of primary creator on the second unit, with Green able to help him out a bit with those duties.

Green’s ability in pick-and-rolls could be a small but important part of his contributions to the Rockets. They won’t throw him a ton of pick-and-roll possessions, but any secondary creation he can bring to the second unit will boost the Rockets’ offense in this time without Harden.

There are certainly going to be things for Green to iron out, but the no-mid-range-jumpers culture in Houston should take care of some of those tendencies. Plays like this, where he pulls up for a mid-range jumper in transition with 18 seconds on the shot clock, just won’t do on Morey’s Rockets team:

Same with this mid-range jumper off a closeout:

Those shots will either turn into layups or he’ll pull the ball out to get a better shot for one of his teammates, but Green’s mid-range tendencies will have to be surgically removed from his game if he’s going to continue to get minutes for the Rockets.

On the other end of the floor, things should be relatively smooth for Green. He’s not the strongest defender in the world, but he’ll consistently be tasked with guarding the third-best perimeter threat on the opposing team playing on a second unit with Weber and Gordon, something that shouldn’t pose much of a problem on the majority of bench units.

Still, there has to be some question as to whether he can keep up the level he’s shown over the past four games and what happens if his shot disappears. Will D’Antoni continue to trust him to soak up those bench minutes if 9-for-15 turns into 4-for-15? If those mid-range jumpers don’t disappear, will he join the third unit of guys who never get a minute in D’Antoni’s rotation?

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It seems that Paul trusts Green at this point — he was actively looking for him on the weak side early on in the game against Orlando — which will go a long way toward Green’s playing time staying at a high enough level to make an impact. As long as he continues to make good decisions and shoot the ball efficiently, there will be a place for him on this Houston team, but consistency has always been the issue with him. Time will tell if he can keep up this hot start and retain his spot in the rotation.