Houston Rockets: James Ennis is the perfect fit at the perfect price

The Houston Rockets signed James Ennis III to a two-year deal at the perfect price. Let’s take a look at why he his the perfect fit for this team.

After moving at a snail’s pace this offseason, the Houston Rockets have finally made another move! The Rockets have signed James Ennis III to a two-year deal worth $3.4 million. The second year of the deal is a player option worth $1.8 million.

Ennis has had an interesting career. He’s been in the league for four years and has already played for four teams. He has had plenty of ups and downs in terms of his production. However, that makes perfect sense since he hasn’t had a chance to settle down anywhere.

Ennis has slowly worked himself into being a very solid 3-and-D player on the wing. This is a spot that the Houston Rockets needed to fill entering free agency. Trevor Ariza left to join the Suns and Luc Mbah a Moute is rejoining the Clippers. So, this was definitely an area of need and the Rockets filled it admirably at a terrific cost.

The biggest strike against Ennis is that he doesn’t hold anything resembling star power. The Houston Rockets and fans were keen on adding another star this offseason but, that didn’t go as planned. However, Ennis adds the 3-and-D the Rockets need at a literal fraction of the cost. He helps the team retain what little cap flexibility they have as they look to round out the roster.

His fit with the Houston Rockets

Standing at 6’7″, Ennis has the proper length that teams want from a 3-and-D wing. His defensive chops don’t show up in counting stats, however, diving into his metrics paints a better picture. Let’s take a look at the Ben DuBose’s comparison between Ennis and Mbah a Moute.

Some numbers on Ennis vs. Luc:

Age: 28 vs. 32
WS last two seasons: 3.1, 3.1 vs. 3.1, 2.8
WS/48 last two seasons: .101, .092 vs. .884, .086
PER last two seasons: 10.6, 11.5 vs. 10.2, 10.2
Career % on 3s: 35.9% vs. 33.4%

He's a very nice replacement for the minimum. #Rockets
— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) July 11, 2018

So, Ennis has been just as good, if not better than Mbah a Moute. LMM might have a better reputation but, combining his age and production Ennis could turn out to be a better player for the Houston Rockets than LMM was.

Additionally, Ennis has upped his defensive win shares every year he’s been in the league. He has totaled 3.7 win shares in his career. Two of those came this past season so, he’s only getting better.

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As DuBose also pointed out, Ennis has a better career percentage on threes. Coming in just below 36%, no one will mistake Ennis for a sharpshooter but, he’s more than serviceable. His last full season with one team where he played consistently was in the 2016-17 season. During that season, he knocked down nearly 40% of his corner threes.

Ennis isn’t as good off of the dribble as Ariza or LMM were but, the Rockets don’t necessarily need him to fill that role. But, he is faster than both of those guys and can speed up the Rockets fastbreak offense. In that, he can sprint and get to the corner quicker to nail down those jumpers.

As I mentioned earlier, Ennis came in on the veteran’s minimum. This allows the Rockets to also pursue other players. The team seems dead set on adding Carmelo Anthony once he becomes available. Even though I think the Rockets should avoid Melo, Ennis could help mitigate the poor defensive skills Melo brings.

Ennis also played for Houston Rockets assistant coach Jeff Bzdelik in Memphis. So, there won’t be an issue with Ennis fitting in and learning the system.

Next: Top 30 Rockets players of all time

So, Ennis is a great signing at a great price. He may not be the move that fans wanted to see but, he adds exactly what the team needs. His 3-and-D qualities and his age are perfect fits for this time.

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