Jalen Green is a prototype of the modern NBA player. He’s 6 ft. 4 with an albatross-like wingspan of 6 ft. 7 inches. He’s lightning fast and whippet lean, a shooting guard who can jump out of the gym.

He’s in his third campaign, coming off seasons where he averaged 17.3 (NBA All-Rookie First Team) and 22.1 points, and he’s still only 21 years old.

This is the year Green should be establishing himself as a team leader and blossoming into a star performer.

So why is he sitting on the bench in the fourth quarter, crunch time when NBA games are decided?

Most in the media and the stands at Toyota Center point to Green’s – no getting around it – awful shooting, especially of late. He’s averaging 16.9 points this season, shooting 39.4 percent from the field and 33.1 percent from beyond the 3-point line. All three numbers are down from his first two seasons. And so are his minutes.

His numbers the last 10 Rockets games are appalling to say the least. He’s averaging 12.7 points and barely shooting 30 percent from the field, and that’s including a 23-point outburst with 8-20 shooting Wednesday night against the Phoenix Suns.

But shooters gotta shoot and a good scorer will break out of slumps. There’s no reason to give up on Green yet, far from it. He’s barely old enough to order a beer.

Sure Rockets coach Ime Udoka would like to put a hot-shooting Green on the floor with the game in the balance. Udoka isn’t discounting Green’s shooting woes. He’s saying things like Green is passing up good shots in favor of “inefficient” looks. He says that Green is “making it harder on himself.” He’s “second-guessing” himself.

But there’s a bigger reason that Green has found himself on the bench in critical situations. Take one look at Udoka on the bench. Does he look like a coach who doesn’t put an emphasis on defense?

Defense. If you don’t play rock-hard, tough-as-nails, blood-and-guts defense … you don’t play for Udoka. That’s not Green’s game. Udoka knows it. Green knows it. But he better figure it out.

To be fair, 2021 wasn’t an outstanding draft year. Despite his recent woes, Green is still starting and averaging nearly 17 points a game.

The No. 1 overall pick, Cade Cunningham is averaging 23 points but he’s plying his trade for the Detroit Pistons, possibly the worst team in NBA history. Cunningham’s scoring average is, as the saying goes, the tallest mountain in Iowa.

Before the NBA opened its borders to international players and the G League opened for business, first-round picks made the team and played.

Take a look at the NBA’s draft class of 2021. Now, when they should be experienced, established players, the best of the crop three years ago, besides Cunningham only Franz Wagner of Orlando, and Cam Thomas of Brooklyn average 20-plus points. Half of the first-rounders are bench players averaging single-digit points. Some aren’t with their original team. Some aren’t in the league.

You know who’s looking like the gem of the 2021 draft? It’s Rockets center Aperen Sengun, who was drafted by the OKC Thunder and traded to the Rockets. The No. 16 pick is pushing 20 points a game and becoming a star before Rockets fans’ eyes.

And in defense of Cade Cunningham, it’s unfair to compare underachievers to the tallest mountain in Iowa. The highest peak in Iowa is Hawkeye Point – elevation 1.670 feet.

The real benchmark for not fulfilling expectations should be the tallest mountain in Florida. The Sunshine State has the lowest highest point (that sounds weird). Britton Point is only 345 feet above sea level.