Jalen Green was the premier addition of the offseason for the Phoenix Suns. Plenty are going to look at this situation with a glass-half-empty mindset, but Jalen looks to be in a good situation with his basketball situation, as well as how he's embracing the move to a new city and franchise.
Recently, Green published a piece in The Players' Tribune highlighting his experience of getting traded to Phoenix and leaving the team that drafted him. There was certainly a lot to take away from this summer for him, but one big one being how much he's embracing his own growth.
In his piece, Jalen talks about how he first arrived in Houston as a kid, eating Skittles before games. And now he's leaving the organization as a father. But this isn't all about his personal development, either. He also grew quite a bit on the hardwood.
When he was a rookie with the Rockets, he explains how there was a lot of talk of rebuilding, and not much expectation to be exiting the rebuild in super quick order. But he acknowledges that he and his teammates built the wherewithal to shatter that limiting view of things and break through to make the playoffs just three years later.
Jalen Green is set up for success in Phoenix
That puts him in an excellent spot to outperform expectations with a Suns squad who people also expect to be near the bottom of the Western Conference standings. And when it comes to his on-court role, we know that he's going to have a lot of opportunity.
Jalen will likely get quite a few more shot attempts than he had in a more crowded rotation in Houston last season. And not only that, but he'll get to do it while learning from one of the best shooting guards in the association. It won't be a surprise if Devin Booker's influence on Green is evident from the start. Don't forget, these guys have had the chance to train together for over two months now.
All things considered, I still think the national audience is underrating Jalen Green's situation with the Suns in this upcoming season. He not only is set up in a solid system with well-fitting teammates, but his mental approach to his situation seems conducive to success as well.
I think Green is going to surprise a lot of people in Phoenix. He knows that no one outside of the Suns' fan base is really expecting him or the team to do much of anything, and that's all the motivation he needs to blow everyone away.