Jalen Green‘s up-and-down expedition with the Houston Rockets has reached its conclusion. The team traded the Dunkstronaut to the Phoenix Suns for former scoring champion Kevin Durant. However, even in Green’s departure, his parallels to a former Rockets icon continue. The Green trade has remarkable similarities to when the Rockets swapped Steve Francis for former scoring champion Tracy McGrady. Will this young franchise player trade work out better for the Rockets?
The Rockets Did The Jalen Green Trade Once Before
Green averaged 20.1 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.4 assists over four seasons and 307 games with the Rockets. His shooting splits were 42.2% from the field, 34.2% from three, and 79.9% from the free throw line. Normally, it would be fair to exclude a player’s rookie season from a summation like that, but Green has actually yet to surpass the 54.7% true shooting percentage he achieved in his debut.
Green will probably be remembered most for his erratic performances, and perhaps his especially lackluster ones in six out of seven playoff encounters versus the Golden State Warriors. But the Green era wasn’t all bad in Houston. He was the leading scorer for a 50-win second seed in a loaded Western Conference. Green put together stretches of excellent play that seemed to show glimpses of a future superstar shooting guard.
But the Rockets’ front office had seen enough. They pulled the trigger on a deal to acquire a star scoring wing to pair with their international All-Star center. It is a move similar to the Rockets’ 2004 upgrade from Stevie Franchise to T-Mac.
The Young Franchise Players
Green and Francis were both electric guards who wowed Rockets fans with their athleticism and explosive dunking ability. Francis was the better player of the two, at the very least relative to the league at the time. He was a three-time All-Star with the Rockets, albeit in an era when the fan vote held more sway. Francis’ immense popularity carried him to a starter spot in all three years. It’s also true that the Western Conference guard depth wasn’t very formidable at the time. He averaged 19.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, 6.4 assists on 43.1% from the field and 34.6% from three over 374 games with the Rockets.
Ultimately, the comparison is doomed by a generational divide. The older fans who appreciated Francis in his prime will fairly point to Francis’ more pronounced creation burden in a lower-scoring league, as well as his All-Star status. The younger fans who appreciate Green as an icon in his own right likely won’t know who Francis even is.
The Former Scoring Champs
While any modern basketball fan has to be familiar with Durant, most will know McGrady, too. The epitome of cool, both players were known for their smooth, off-the-dribble games and outlier size at their positions.
Of course, the two superstars are by no means a perfect match either. McGrady was 25 and theoretically entering his prime at the time of the trade. Durant, meanwhile, is already 36 years old (will be 37 when regular season begins). But with all those extra years comes a whole heck of a lot more playoff success. For that matter, at 25, Durant had already made an NBA Finals, whereas McGrady didn’t win a playoff series until he was a 33-year-old bench warmer with the San Antonio Spurs.
The question is whether Houston’s attempts to move on from a fan favorite for an all-in title window will prove more successful a second time around. Not that Houston has put all of its eggs in one 36-year-old basket.
The International All-Star Centers
Both Green and Francis shared the limelight in Houston with international big men. In both cases, the big outshone and outlasted the guard. Alperen Sengun had his somewhat controversial All-Star debut in 2025. He had a down year in his efficiency. But that is partly explained by the increased scouting by opposing defenses and an increased focus on improving his own defense as well. In any case, the coaches chose to recognize his steady contributions to Houston’s winning season. Green, who finished as the team’s leading scorer, was held back by lower lows. Essentially, it boiled down to “always” versus “sometimes”.
Sengun’s counterpart in the Francis era was seven-foot-four Chinese sensation Yao Ming. Often considered one of the NBA’s biggest “what-ifs”, strenuous offseasons competing internationally for China derailed Yao’s prime. Of course, Sengun doesn’t possess Yao’s outlier dimensions. His game has more in common with Yao’s teammate, Luis Scola, as well. The Rockets will just be hoping that Sengun’s health will be another point of differentiation between the two.
The Results
Houston’s big swing for McGrady turned out to be a miss, mainly due to the health of their star pairing. They pushed the eventual champion Lakers to seven games in a second-round series in 2009. That was even with McGrady out injured. However, that was the furthest they would go.
The Rockets will hope for better results this time around. Sengun missed a chunk of his breakout third year but bounced back nicely for his All-Star fourth. Durant, 37 by the time the season starts, is a much more significant injury concern.
But the Rockets have an ace up their sleeve this time around. Going forward, this team will not be built primarily around Durant and Sengun. Instead, the focal point is expected to become defensive ace Amen Thompson. Thompson hasn’t asserted himself as a two-way star yet. He averaged just 14.1 points per game in 2024-25. But the Rockets’ confidence in Thompson clearly contributed to their willingness to move on from Green’s upside.
The Last Word
A lot of Rockets fans had their frustrations with Green. They won’t exactly hope he finds greener pastures in his new home either, given that Houston still controls Phoenix draft capital in 2027 and 2029. However, there’s no question that he inspired a whole generation of younger Rockets fans. Some may even follow him to Phoenix or elsewhere. For the others, lifelong Houston fans though they may be, and whatever heights the franchise may reach, they’ll always have one first favourite player – the Dunkstronaut himself, Jalen “Sometimes” Green.
Photo credit: © Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
The post The Rockets Did The Jalen Green Trade Once Before appeared first on Last Word On Basketball.