via Scott Polacek, Bleacher Report
The Houston Rockets challenged for a play-in tournament spot for much of the 2023-24 campaign, and they reportedly plan on bringing back multiple role players for next season.
Kelly Iko of The Athletic reported Tuesday that “all signs point toward the Rockets picking up the options on veteran forwards Jae’Sean Tate and Jeff Green.”
Houston ended up 41-41 and five games behind the Golden State Warriors for the final spot in the Western Conference play-in tournament. It was a notable improvement from the previous three seasons when it went 22-60, 20-62 and 17-55, respectively.
Tate appeared in 65 games for the Rockets last season and averaged 4.1 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.0 assists and 0.6 steals while shooting 47.2 percent from the field. It was his fourth season in the league but his lowest scoring production after averaging double-digit points per game in each of his first two campaigns.
As for Green, he has bounced around for much of his career.
He has been in the league since 2007-08 and played for the Seattle SuperSonics, Oklahoma City Thunder, Boston Celtics, Memphis Grizzlies, Los Angeles Clippers, Orlando Magic, Cleveland Cavaliers, Washington Wizards, Utah Jazz, Brooklyn Nets and Denver Nuggets.
Even at 37 years old, Green played 78 games for the Rockets this past season and averaged 6.5 points, 2.3 rebounds and 0.9 assists while shooting 45.6 percent from the field and 33.1 percent from deep.
It seems like both forwards will be back in 2024-25 as role players while the Rockets look to take the next step and make the postseason for the first time since the 2019-20 campaign.
