Why didn’t new Utah Jazz guard Josh Christopher work out with the Houston Rockets?

The Utah Jazz signed Josh Christopher but why was he available in the first place?

The Utah Jazz made waves this week when they signed former first-round pick Josh Christopher to a two-way contract. It was a move that generated a lot of internet buzz as it’s rare for a player, not even into his third year officially yet in the league, and at just 21 years old, would be a free agent.

But when young players struggle and struggle hard, they are moved on from. Especially on a team like the Houston Rockets who have a smorgasbord of young players to shift through. Christopher became expendable and was traded to the Memphis Grizzlies as part of the deal for Dillon Brooks. The former 24th overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft was released shortly after and became a free agent.

So why? Why was he traded and why did the Grizzlies not want a young prospect?

Well, on the plus side of things; he’s got good size for a good – 6’5, 215 lbs. He’s not bad on defense. While his defensive box plus-minus is bad (-1.4), he was right there with Kevin Porter Jr., Jabari Smith, and Kenyon Martin Jr. So clearly, the team’s defense was just bad, but Christopher showed some flashes.

He’s also a solid scorer from inside, shooting 55% from inside the three-point line.

So why did he get traded and then waived?

Well, because he’s a terrible shooter.

A lot of his scoring is within 10′ of the basket. For his career, he’s taking shots right around the rim at a clip of nearly 50%. He’s a slasher, it’s what he does best. Shooting, not so much. Outside of 10 feet, and including the three-point line, he’s shooting just .33%.

So if you can stop him from getting depth off the dribble, or if you’re able to close down the lane to prevent him from slashing, you’ve made him as effective as a statue on offense. And while you can teach a lot of things, you can either shoot or you can’t.

Sure, you can get better, but even in college, he struggled. He shot 30% from three. And if we’re being honest, his 15 games were not enough to warrant him being drafted at all, least of all in the first round. The Rockets reached on Christopher, who is an incomplete player.

It’s possible he will develop a shot and make it back in the NBA, after all, look at the transformation of Brook Lopez from a traditional center to a stretch big. It is possible, it’s just highly unlikely.

Now Christopher joins Romeo Langford as reclamation projects that Danny Ainge and the Utah Jazz are taking on and hoping to fix the issues with. Will it work? Not likely, but hey, we’d love to be wrong.