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Jalen Green Rumors
Alperen Sengun: 'Jalen Green was like a brother to me'
We were just talking about that the other day here. Let's move on to another teammate—this time, one who's left. You both entered the league together: Jalen Green. When you both joined the team, Houston was starting a new chapter. After trading away James Harden and Russell Westbrook, the team was built around you. So, it was a fresh start. And this new journey took you all the way to the playoffs. But he was traded this summer. He’s also a guard. You guys began together. How did him leaving impact you? Alperen Şengün: Of course it was tough. Jalen was like a brother to me. We learned the NBA together. I didn't speak any English when I first arrived. We learned everything from them.
Cam Thomas sees himself making close to $40 million per year?
Amid the stream of Fischer and Bontemps’ reporting, one league source told NetsDaily where Thomas sees his market, using comparable players around the league: Jalen Green, making $33.3 million per year until 2027-28, when he has a $36 million player option Immanuel Quickley, making $32.5 million over the next four years Tyler Herro averaging $32 million over the next two years “That’s where he sees his market, if not higher,” said the source.
Jalen Green says goodbye to Houston: If I bust y’all a** for 30 next season, just remember the good times!
Jalen Green: I’ll miss Houston and all my guys down there, but I’m smiling, man. I get to play basketball for a living. How can I have a bad day? Every day I’m hooping is a good day. H-Town, thank you for the love. For real, thank you. And if I bust y’all ass for 30 next season, just remember the good times!
Jalen Green: I loved being a Rocket, for real. I almost can’t believe I’m talking about H-Town in the past tense. But that’s life in the league. Listen, nobody likes to get traded. But I can honestly say that I get it, bro. This is a business, and if I was up there in the executive chair, I probably would’ve made the deal, too. I think it’s a better situation for both sides, and I’m just excited to get it popping with Book, and to create that winning culture that we figured out down here in Houston.
Jalen Green: At the end of the day, man, the biggest testament I can say about my time here is that the day I got traded, I spent all day on the phone. I know how it is in this league. Some teams, they’re not that close. Some guys, they get traded and call up their 1 or 2 dudes on the team and that’s a wrap. Me, I was calling the whole roster. Started calling in the morning and it was dinner time before I said my last goodbye, bro. Thank God at least DB is coming out to Phoenix with me. I can’t wait to see a traded DB. He’s gonna be out there creating chaos, bro.
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Jalen Green: Who's my basketball idol growing up? Draya Michele: Kyrie. Green: No. Michele: Growing up? Green: Yeah. Michele: Kobe. Green: No. Michele: Michael Jordan. Green: There you go. (…) Green: Damn, Kyrie as my as my childhood idol growing up? Michele: How were you watching Michael Jordan? He was already done when you were around. Green: Obviously I was’ looking up his highlights.
O'Neal believes the Rockets are better equipped with the addition of the two-time NBA champion. Their two major departures in the trade were Green and Dillon Brooks, both of whom are now members of the Suns. "Definitely got a closer, but they play with intensity, they play good defense," says O'Neal. "Should get them higher, higher towards the top. I know they let go Jalen Green, he carried them last year, but KD is a more consistent Jalen Green. Jalen Green was too up and down for them to get to the next level, but listen, if KD's healthy shooting the ball well, they can make some noise." When asked if the addition of Kevin Durant — who has 170 games of playoff experience — should help them get deeper in the playoffs, O'Neal answers without hesitation. "Yes," says O'Neal.
His girlfriend, Draya Michele, and their 1-year-old daughter, Lyght Green, were by his side as the family spent their offseason in Los Angeles. “Well this was my first time experiencing a trade,” Michele, 40, told The Post in a wide-ranging interview on behalf of the 2025 Jeep Grand Wagoneer campaign, WAGS in Wags. “I just think, you know, as his girlfriend, my main responsibility is to support him wherever we were going. “I always make the jokes with him and tell him, ‘I don’t care what city you’re in, we could go to hell and play for the hell… and I’ll go with you, as long as I have a good SPF… it doesn’t matter where we are, if we have each other we’ll make the best of it.’ It’s really just putting families together with their dream cars and making things convenient and also luxurious.”
The Mint Swim USA founder, who recently became an investor in Sereniby, said she and Green weren’t disappointed when they found out they were heading to the Suns after being at the center of trade rumors for weeks. They’re currently house hunting in Phoenix and enjoying the city, but “we haven’t yet decided on one,” said Michele. “Luckily [Phoenix] is an amazing city,” she said. “We were not disappointed with Phoenix at all. But I just need to be supportive of him and of the change and then just try to make things as smooth of a transition [as possible] for him, and not stressing him out with the worries of moving and all that. “He’s not gonna have to lift the finger. I’ll handle all of that so that he can just relax and play basketball. Once he gets there, he won’t have anything else to worry about. And that’s just really what I try to focus on: keeping things convenient and easy for him.”
So how will this Booker-Green duo work? “We are two people who are going to accept the double team and be able to play off each other,” Green said. “When you look at something like that, it’s like, we’re two people who know how to score the basketball. We’re two people who know how to attract the defense.”
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Dillon Brooks didn't expect Rockets to trade him
Whereas Jalen Green said he was unsurprised by the trade, Dillon Brooks told the Chronicle he didn’t expect “at all” to leave Houston until he started hearing his name in trade rumors about a week before the news broke. When the deal finally went down, he felt more remorse than resentment.
How much have you talked to D (Devin Booker), and kind of prepared or taken notes heading into this thing? Jalen Green: I saw Book out here. He called me—he was outside looking for houses and stuff. From what I’ve seen so far—his vibe and everything—he's excited. He's ready. He knows what we’ve got to do and understands the situation we’re in right now. People don’t expect us to do anything. People don’t expect us to come out strong at all. So I think this situation is just like last year—Houston wasn’t expected to do anything either. And look how that turned out.
Jalen Green on deal to Phoenix: 'I had a feeling. They’ve been trying to trade me since last year'
Green, the former No. 2 pick who spent the first four seasons of his career as the cornerstone of the Rockets’ rebuild, said that he wasn’t surprised last month by Houston’s decision to trade him to Phoenix as part of a package to acquire Kevin Durant. “Yeah, I had a feeling. They’ve been trying to trade me since last year,” Green told the Chronicle. “I’m not tripping. It’s for the better of the team. I know it’s a business at the end of the day. I really can’t handle how I feel. Whatever happens, happens. At the end of the day, I still got the opportunity to play basketball.”
Green said that he was notified of the trade first in a call from Rockets general manager Rafael Stone, and then by his agent. Stone said this week that the decision to part with Green was not an easy one, adding that Green "did everything we asked."
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