Report: Jalen Green's Rockets Contract Viewed by NBA Insiders as Likely Trade Chip

There is reportedly a belief within the NBA that the new contract guard Jalen Green signed with the Houston Rockets this week was designed to make him easy to trade should the Rockets decide to move on from him.

Speaking on his Brian Windhorst & The Hoop Collective podcast (beginning at the 8:26 mark), ESPN NBA insider Brian Windhorst said "a lot of people in the league" believe the Green contract was signed with the option to be traded.

Green signed a three-year, $106 million contract with a player option for 2027-28, meaning he can opt out after two years if he so chooses.

Per ESPN's Shams Charania, it is a unique deal in that it is the first rookie extension in NBA history to both be worth nine figures and to include a player option after two seasons.

Although the short-term nature of the deal makes Green quite easy to trade, Windhorst clarified that it is far from guaranteed that he will be traded at some point.

Green made history in 2021 as the highest-drafted player to ever come out of the G League, going No. 2 overall to the Rockets.

After averaging a solid 17.3 points per game and finishing fourth in NBA Rookie of the Year voting in 2021-22, Green took a big leap forward the following season, averaging a career-high 22.1 points and 3.7 assists per game to go along with 3.7 rebounds and 2.5 three-pointers made.

Houston went just 22-60 in 2022-23, but it made some significant offseason additions in the form of Fred VanVleet, Dillon Brooks, Amen Thompson and Cam Whitmore, which pushed the team's record all the way up to 41-41.

Green's scoring took a bit of a hit with so much talent being added around him, but he still averaged 19.6 points, 3.5 assists and 2.5 three-pointers made per game to go along with a career-high 5.2 rebounds.

Perhaps most notably, Green improved significantly as a defensive player in his third season, recording 2.9 defensive win shares after finishing below 1.0 in each of his first two campaigns, per Basketball Reference.

If Green is going to take the next step in 2024-25 and beyond, the key will be improving his offensive efficiency.

For his career, Green is shooting just 42.1 percent from the field and 33.7 percent from beyond the arc. He has never reached the 43 percent mark from the floor or the 35 percent mark from deep in a single season.

Green's scoring potential is immense, however, which is likely why the Rockets committed so much money to him over the next two years.

Of course, the front office could ultimately decide that Green's lack of efficiency will make him expendable at some point, but teams will likely line up to trade for him if that happens given that he is still just 22 years old.

Green will get his fourth NBA season underway Wednesday when the Rockets host the Charlotte Hornets.