Suns Guard Believes We Need to Give Jalen Green More Grace

The Phoenix Suns have been playing remarkably well this season. When they traded away Kevin Durant this offseason, people were expecting the beginning of some sort of rebuild. The Suns received Dillon Brooks and Jalen Green from the Rockets in the Durant trade. Brooks has proved himself to be a key piece for the Suns now and in the future, but Green has had more trouble finding his place on his new team. 

Green is averaging career-lows in nearly every category for the Suns this season. He is only averaging 13.3 points, 2.9 rebounds, and 2.3 assists per game. Last season he averaged over 20 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. 

Green’s declining statistics are almost directly related to the fact that he has been dealing with injuries all season long. Green has only played in 11 total games for the Suns, and hasn’t been able to receive full playing time either. 

Green’s teammate Collin Gillespie recently spoke about how people need to give Green a bit more grace because of his injury struggles. 

"Everybody has got to have a little grace. He's been out for three quarters of the season. It's not an easy thing to do to just insert yourself back into the lineup and be able to just play at that level or play at the speed of the game…I have a ton of grace for him because I've been through that where I missed a whole year. He's missed like three quarters of the season. It's not easy and he's done an incredible job of just fitting in seamlessly. It's been pretty cool to see."

Gillespie is right. It’s hard to judge a player’s performance when they haven’t been able to stay healthy. Hopefully Green will get a healthy stretch soon so he can prove himself on his new squad.