1 Polarizing yet necessary way Houston Rockets can solve their Jalen Green problem

If the Houston Rockets want to continue to take steps forward as a young team, they may not have any other move to make than to trade Jalen Green.

The Houston Rockets may find themselves in a pickle. On paper, they have one of the most exciting young cores in the league. And with their 13-6 start to the season, that much is very much evident with their on-the-court play. However, one player who is considered to be a big part of their young core may not be a fit. Jalen Green, who the team recently signed to a $100 million-plus extension just before the start of the season, has not been great for the Rockets this season.

But what complicates everything for the Rockets is not just the fact that Green hasn't been great, it's that he's been pretty bad. Even though Houston's impressive start to the season, the Rockets have been better when Green is off the court. That's not a great sign for a player who was widely viewed as the primary piece of this team's rebuild just a couple of seasons ago. Now, it may be time for the Rockets to trade him.

Jalen Green has been a negative asset for the Houston Rockets

Green may be averaging 18 points per game this season but he's shooting just 38 percent from the field and 30 percent shooting from deep. He's also averaging less than three assists per game. Additionally, the Rockets are better on both ends of the floor when Green is off the floor and have a 15.9 net rating when he's riding the bench. At the near first quarter-mark of the season, this is no longer just a small sample size. This could be a concerning trend that may need to be addressed by the Rockets.

It's not even that Green hasn't been a great fit in Houston's offense. It's that Green has been a bad player even individually on the offensive end of the floor. Green has the worst effective field goal percentage (13.3%) in isolation situations too. Considering he's a negative player defensively, there's very little that Green is able to offer the Rockets if he's not scoring or playmaking. Right now, he's not doing either at an efficient pace.

Hammering down this point, the Rockets have made their hay this season on the defensive end of the floor. Powering their strong start to the year is their prowess on that end of the floor. Houston has the second-best defensive rating in the NBA this season and it's been a primary reason for the team's hot start. The further we get into the season, the more it appears that Green may not be a long-term fit for the Rockets.

Even after the big contract extension that the Rockets gave Green this year, it may be time for the franchise to come to the realization that trading their 22-year-old guard may be a necessary move in order to help this team take a step forward. Green may be a good player but it's beginning to feel as if he's never going to hit his ceiling as a member of the Rockets.