Before he wrecked usage-rate records and won an MVP with the Houston Rockets, James Harden was a sixth man for the Oklahoma City Thunder.

More recently, Tyrese Haliburton averaged 13.0 points and 5.3 assists as a rookie backup for the Sacramento Kings until a trade to the Indiana Pacers gave him control of his own team and allowed him to become the All-NBA-caliber superstar he is today.

And Jordan Poole used to come off the pine for the Golden State Warriors until a trade brought him to the Washington Wizards where he…well…OK, so maybe not every up-and-comer busts out with a change of scenery.

The players we’ll cover here will hopefully follow the Harden/Haliburton track more closely than the Poole one, though only a couple have what appears to be star potential.

Whatever their ceilings, we’re arguing that the guys featured here may have a better chance of reaching them on a team other than the one for which they currently play.

Jalen Green, Houston Rockets

Jalen Green’s scoring chops, which have been on much fuller display over the last several weeks of what feels a bit like a breakout, may be vital to the next great version of the Houston Rockets.

On a squad already populated with good to great defensive players—Fred VanVleet, Amen Thompson, Dillon Brooks, Tari Eason, Jae’Sean Tate and Jabari Smith Jr. to name six—Green’s shifty, slashing attack-mode style fills a need.

Houston doesn’t have any other guards wired to do things like this:

At the same time, Green’s improvement in March—26.6 points on 62.2 percent true shooting, both his best of any month—doesn’t change the fact that he’s been a wildly inefficient scorer overall this season and throughout his short career.

So, with the bill coming due in the form of Green’s extension eligibility this summer, Houston may decide it can’t commit major money to the 22-year-old with so many other young players in line to be paid shortly thereafter.

Thompson and Smith have immense two-way potential, and that’s before even considering Alperen Şengün, the team’s best player and likely max-salary star.

Green is showing encouraging signs of late, but the Rockets probably still haven’t seen enough scoring efficiency or contributions in any other areas to be sure he’s a cornerstone. On another team with fewer high-end pieces also in their early 20s, he might have a better chance to thrive.

And just so it’s clear we’re not prisoners of the moment, we’re making this argument in the wake of Green winning Western Conference Player of the Week.

Let’s remain appropriately skeptical of any gaudy stats accumulated late in the year for non-contenders. You can never be sure how real those are.

Moses Moody, Golden State Warriors

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It was baffling when Moses Moody couldn’t consistently crack the Golden State Warriors rotation ahead of championship-winning veterans.

Surely the 21-year-old would get a real shot if he just continued to work (which he always did and drew praise from the coaching staff) and waited his turn. Right?

Unfortunately for Moody, even with Klay Thompson slipping and Andrew Wiggins continuing to prove that his elite play for six months in 2022 was an outlier, there’s still no room for the wing because rookies such as Brandin Podziemski and second-tour vets like Gary Payton II are ahead of him in the pecking order.

Moody is averaging a career-high 17.3 minutes and 7.9 points per game, and he continues to show the hustle, energy and slashing style that brings real value whenever he’s on the floor.

However, it’s becoming clearer that he is a “jack of all trades, master of none” contributor. So, when the Warriors need lockdown defense off the bench, it’s Payton who gets the call. When they need playmakers to keep the ball hopping, they turn to Chris Paul and Podziemski.

If Moody had improved as a spot-up shooter, perhaps this would be a different conversation. But he’s down to 33.3 percent from deep, well below the 36.4 percent he shot as a rookie and the 36.3 percent he canned last year.

The Warriors aren’t averse to playing their youth. Jonathan Kuminga has ascended in his third season to full-time starter and may become a star. Rookie Trayce Jackson-Davis leaped over beloved big man Kevon Looney in the rotation weeks ago and continues to see regular playing time.

Moody has the big-wing size (6’6″, 205 lbs) and two-way game to play a legitimate role on just about any team, and he’s young enough to have two or three more phases of game-improving growth before he peaks.

Based on how difficult it’s been for him to carve out a niche with the Warriors, though, it seems like the best route would be to establish himself elsewhere.

Marcus Sasser, Detroit Pistons

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Who knows how the Detroit Pistons’ priorities might shift if general manager Troy Weaver departs at the end of this season?

If a new top executive takes over—one not committed to justifying draft picks they didn’t make—the Pistons’ incongruous mess of young players could be cleaned up by a flurry of roster-organizing trades.

At the moment, and under current management, it’s difficult to see how rookie Marcus Sasser is going to play the role his game suggests he deserves.

The point guard, who has a 39.2 percent stroke from long range, was the 25th pick in the 2023 draft. While experienced rookies with familial NBA pedigrees and reliable shots like his tend to establish themselves quickly, he is struggling to break through a logjam at his position.

The Pistons have a trio of higher-profile draftees ahead of him, and all three of Cade Cunningham, Jaden Ivey and Ausar Thompson project to be best with the ball in their hands. And that’s before rehashing the whole “Killian Hayes: NBA starter” fiasco from early this season.

Sasser’s shooting gives him off-ball value, but the recently acquired Quentin Grimes brings that element, too. Though he came into the league billed as a terrific defender, Sasser is listed at just 6’2″. That makes him harder to deploy against positions other than point guard.

So much remains unsettled about the Pistons’ future rotation and overall player hierarchy, but it’s hard to see the 23-year-old securing a consistent role in any realistic scenarios.

Detroit is going to give Cunningham, Ivey and Thompson the bulk of the developmental minutes, which seems like the right choice. That will leave fewer and fewer opportunities for the Houston product to contribute.

On another team with fewer roadblocks and more clarity of direction, he could settle in as a potential future starter. Execs around the league should be calling to see if they can pilfer Sasser before it’s too late.

Ziaire Williams, Memphis Grizzlies

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Ziaire Williams is one of the best examples of how quickly things can change in the NBA.

Coming off a 2021-22 rookie campaign in which the then-20-year-old appeared in 62 games (starting 31) and averaged 9.5 points on a 46.6/36.2/80.0 shooting split after the All-Star break, it appeared he was a critical part of the Memphis Grizzlies’ future.

Remember, this was a 56-win Grizz team that looked like a juggernaut in waiting. Williams had the makings of the rangy two-way combo forward every team covets, and he seemed ideally suited for a starting role next to a young, rising core.

As the Stanford product settled into a major role that year, Ja Morant made his first All-Star game, finished seventh in MVP voting and won Most Improved Player. Desmond Bane, then in his second season, finished fifth in MIP voting while averaging 18.2 points and hitting 43.6 percent of his threes. Jaren Jackson Jr. made the All-Defensive first team while leading the league with 2.3 blocks per game.

Heading into the following season, Williams was an easy breakout pick.

Injuries got in the way, though, limiting him to 37 games in 2022-23 and cutting his minutes from 21.7 to 15.4 per game. His shot abandoned him, and it didn’t return in 2023-24 as he battled issues with his hip and back.

Meanwhile, this season’s Grizzlies got eye-opening performances from GG Jackson, Vince Williams Jr. and a handful of other young players. Going forward, Jackson and Williams Jr. have done enough to be viewed as equally or even more valuable than Williams. Plus, the Grizzlies dealt for Marcus Smart last offseason.

None of this is to say the book is closed on Williams becoming the impact player his rookie season suggested. But Memphis has alternatives now—cheaper and/or more experienced ones.

That could mean Williams and the Grizzlies (who need to start thinking about an extension or the possibility of restricted free agency in 2025) might be best off parting ways.

AJ Griffin, Atlanta Hawks

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It should go without saying that giving up on a 20-year-old sophomore with a first-round pedigree is almost never the right decision. But because it seems a bit like the Atlanta Hawks have already decided AJ Griffin isn’t in their plans, a change of scenery might be for the best.

The 6’6″ wing, whose funky form didn’t stop him from drilling 39.0 percent of his treys as a rookie in 2022-23, has spent this season buried behind journeymen and underperforming vets in head coach Quin Snyder’s rotation.

Amid inconsistency and even a G League demotion (which started with an ankle sprain during his debut with the College Park Skyhawks on Feb. 22), the pair of game-winners Griffin hit as a rookie seem like a decade ago.

Snyder may have tipped his hand by reducing Griffin’s role after taking over late last season, and he even held the then-rookie out of Atlanta’s Play-In game entirely. It certainly seems like the Hawks head coach doesn’t trust his shaky work on defense.

Personal issues kept Griffin away from the team for several weeks in December, and the layoff both hurt his ability to establish a rhythm and removed the opportunity for him to seize minutes amid injuries elsewhere on the roster.

Jalen Johnson is a bright spot in this otherwise rough Hawks campaign, and his third-year ascent should serve as proof of patience’s value. But Griffin’s role shrank so dramatically this season that it’s difficult to imagine him replicating his teammate’s rise in 2024-25.

Opportunistic organizations should approach the Hawks with trade offers. If the head coach of another team is willing to give the promising wing more court time, and if Griffin can defend more consistently, he could be an absolute steal.

Unless something dramatic changes in Atlanta, it just doesn’t feel like Griffin will get the opportunity to prove himself that might be available elsewhere.