Who is Gerald Green?

The Houston Rockets traded for Gerald Green this week, and as a lifelong fan of the Rockets I was ecstatic. Gerald Green is the kind of player we haven't had since Eddie Griffin's rookie season: a mystery.

Right now every Rockets fan has taken Gerald Greens talent and merged it with the players around him, like Nick Nolte in the Hulk movie. If Green can get his head together, learn ball movement from Adelman, pick up some D from Battier, Some garbage skills and hustle from Landry, learn how to create for others within the system like TMac...why, he'll be the greatest player of all time by the playoffs!

Unfortunately, this is not the case. He's exciting because of his mysterious potential-we don't know who he's going to be yet. That aspect - the undefined on court potential is always so exciting. That's why the draft is great, that's why imported players seem so exotic, etc. We need to keep in mind, this kid should focus on one thing at a time. Trying to be TMac has been his downfall so far. Let's get him into a structured system, and let him develop one or two skills within that system, and next year he can be a very successful role player.

That isn't to say he can't be great. He's 22 (or 21) and a lot of high school kids take time to develop in the pros. He's never been on a good team, and being on a good team is how players develop the best. For some kids, freedom is what they need (LeBron and his ilk) but for most guys, the road to competency runs through developing within a system, figuring out how to do a couple of things well, and letting the rest of the game be lagniappe. That is how TMac developed in Toronto; it took him a few years. That's how Yao developed; it took him a few years to stay in the court without getting into foul trouble.

So, Houston: don't suffocate this kid, he needs to grow on his own. Resign him for three years, and keep an option on the fourth. Let him grow from within the system, and look what you can get: he might never become the force that Peja was for Adelman, but wouldn't you settle for Doug Christie or Bonzi?