Houston Rockets: Why James Ennis should get the start at small forward

With Carmelo Anthony and PJ Tucker set to not play too many minutes together, the Houston Rockets should start James Ennis at small forward, here’s why.

Earlier this week, Kelly Iko of The Athletic dropped a bomb from his conversation with Mike D’Antoni. He stated that MDA isn’t planning on playing Carmelo Anthony and PJ Tucker together very much. A lot of people, including myself, had both of these guys penciled in as starters for the Houston Rockets but MDA sees them both as 4s.

So, that begs the question, who gets the start at the 4? In all likelihood, this means Melo will get the start at the 4 initially though, he may be the first star off the hardwood for the Rockets. The next question then is who gets the start at the 3?

Well, there aren’t a ton of options as to who gets the start. Gerald Green had a rather surprising season last year after being plucked off of the couch. However, Green starting isn’t ideal for the Rockets, he is much better suited for an energy and offense role off of the bench. So, the man that should get the start is free agent acquisition, James Ennis.

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I know what you may be thinking, why should a guy with only 58 games started in his career be a starter on a championship contending team? Why should a guy that only garnered a two-year, $3.5 million contract get the start? At least, if you weren’t thinking those things, you probably are now.

As it turns out, that deal very well may end up being one of the biggest steals of this past offseason. Ennis doesn’t have eye-popping counting stats on either offense or defense. However, a deeper dive into his game indicates that he’ll be the perfect fit for this squad.

For his career, he is a better shooter than both Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute, the guys he’s seeking to replace. He’s a career 45.4% shooter on all field goals with splits of 35.9% from three, 52.1% from two, and 81.1% from the charity stripe. Sure, his usage wasn’t as high but his shot projects well with greater usage.

Ennis also has roots in the “Grit and Grind” Memphis Grizzlies defense. That type of play is the reason the Houston Rockets went out and targeted him over other, more highly touted players this offseason. Just check out the defense he played on James Harden last year.

Ennis often forced the ball out of Harden’s hands due to his stifling defense. Whenever Harden went iso on him, he often forced a bad or ill-advised shot. Not many guys make Harden do this as often as Ennis did on that night.

Starting Ennis at the 3 and Melo at the 4 gives the Houston Rockets an extremely proficient wing defender who can lock down the best of the best. However, Ennis would still fit alongside Tucker if MDA wanted to have Melo come off the bench to lead the offensive charge there.

Ennis is an extremely versatile player who can fit alongside nearly any combination of players the team wants to trot out this season. He doesn’t need the ball in his hands and thrives off of the ball and in catch and shoot situations.

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Ennis doesn’t need the minutes that Ariza got last year either. He can do his damage and provide the juice the Rockets need in about 20-23 minutes a game. The Rockets can rotate in the rest of their depth and use guys in spurts in order to be more effective and to exploit matchups.

Ennis getting the start doesn’t mean all the playing time in the world. It also doesn’t mean the Rockets should give it to him. However, he needs to get the start to help stymie any early offensive burst from opposing teams while the Rockets big three can jump out to huge offensive starts.

Ennis gives this team the best starting five it could field, especially considering MDA views Tucker and Melo as 4s and doesn’t plan on playing them much together. This move isn’t the most obvious choice but it appears to be the smartest.

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For his career, James Ennis averages 6.4 points per game, 3.2 rebounds per game, and 0.9 assists per game. These numbers aren’t great but, Ennis is now in the perfect situation to succeed and is the guy the Houston Rockets need at the 3.

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