Jalen Green's fall from grace just hit crushing new low

It is easy to forget that the Phoenix Suns have a 23-year-old with clear All-Star level upside in Jalen Green on this roster. That's because he hasn't even managed two full games with his new team yet.

We won't get to see the former Houston Rocket this side of Christmas, but all signs point towards a successful rehab from the hamstring injury that has curtailed his first season in The Valley.

Green doesn't feature on ESPN's 25 under 25

It flew under the radar in Phoenix, but ESPN recently released their list of the 25 best players under 25 playing in the league right now. There's not a lot of controversy there, with the exception of the omission of Green.

Are we saying he should be top 10? Of course not, but this is a guy who before this campaign hadn't missed a game, regular season or playoffs, in two full seasons.

He also had a coming out party of sorts with his scoring exploits against the Golden State Warriors in the playoffs, although admittedly it was a rough series for Green for the most part.

Number 25 on the list is Reed Sheppard of the Rockets. Surely Green has more offensive upside and is the player most teams would want if they had to choose between the two?

We don't know for certain, but there's every chance the Suns didn't even want Sheppard when they were landing both Green and Dillon Brooks from Houston in exchange for Kevin Durant.

Sheppard also had a rough start to the season, although he has since turned things around in the absence of Fred VanVleet. But Green basically guarantees you 20 a night, and the brief stint we've seen from him with the Suns so far was electric.

In a game and some change he showed how ridiculous it was to suggest he and Devin Booker couldn't co-exist, while players like Brooks and Mark Williams would appear to be the ideal teammates for him to cover for his defensive deficiencies.

It is on Green to play his way back onto this list, but you get the sense this is more "out of sight, out of mind" than anything else. If the Suns make the playoffs this season and he plays his part, he'll easily usurp Sheppard and even overtake guys like Ausar Thompson.

There remains a concern here for the Suns, and it will continue to haunt them. Phoenix is already in love with Brooks, but the Rockets have three players on EPSN's list.

Sheppard (25), Amen Thompson (6) and Alperen Sengun (5), and the Suns gifted them Durant to go alongside that core without getting one of the three back. But if Green can prove he is for real, and if rookie center Khaman Maluach can make strides, this won't look so bad before long.