I said it early on and I still think he is a small forward, not a power forward. He cannot defend in the paint at all. He is a decent to good perimeter defender.
Problem is he doesn't have the lateral quickness to make all the switches a modern small forward has to make. That's a position which really, really needs to be able to guard downward. I think a lot of the problems with his paint defense right now are just that he is still physically undeveloped. Adding muscle mass will help.
He has many flaws in his game, but he's so young and his development this season after that mediocre rookie year is remarkable. Unfortunately, we are an undersized team with him as our PF. He either needs to bulk up or move to SF. I'll always root for him, seems like a likable guy and he oozes with potential when he is confident on the court.
I agree, no need to rush things. I don't expect Jabari to turn into a freak of nature in a matter of days. The question for me is whether will he eventually bulk up adequately or not? It is not warranted that he will fill his frame fully. If he does, perfect. If not, then he should be a SF.
Only one way to find out! Realistically though, there is nothing about his frame and health that would suggest not being able to. That said, each human body is unique.
Jabari is one guy we should seriously consider trading before it's too late. I don't see the upside and his floor is nothing special.
It is damn hard to find a 6-11 guy that can shoot and move their feet on defense. I dig his professionalism, too. He is going to be in that weight room with Alperen and Steven Adams this off-season, and he is going to get jacked. I don't value him quite as highly as Alperen, Jalen, and Amen, but it would be DAMN hard to pry him out of my cold dead hands. I am waiting to see a full set of games with Tari+Bari+Alperen before I do ANYTHING to this frontline of 19 to 21-year-olds.
I would only trade him for JJJ … that’s it’s - if we keeping Alpi … he’s too slow to play SF even though he’s currently faster than Brooks who is our SF (sadly)
I’m pleased with how he came along this year. I actually think he is going to take a significant OFFENSIVE step over the next couple years. He has a lot of components to his game that I truly believe eventually is going to make him more of a scorer. Very content with him as PF moving forward.
The guy is the one guy that can actually shoot. His body isn't even developed and we want to trade him? No thanks. There's only one player that I'm looking for Houston to trade and that's Greensanity.
How do you think Jabari would handle double teams and two man blitzes? How many of the points did Jalen create for Jabari last night? Half of them?
I don't see him ever being able to still create his own shot/make great passes when teams send help defenders--just doesn't have that kind of ability, not even in flashes. However, his height allows him to get good look on his jump shot against most defenders 1 on 1, and when he's confident and in a good rhythm, they go in at a high clip. That makes him an ideal third or fourth option for a contender IMO, once he develops a bit more and gets more consistent and comfortable out there. He is a good rebounder for his position and a lot of people really underrate that aspect of his game. His rim protection isn't great, but it's solid enough for a power forward. His switchability and overall defense are already above-average. A lot of teams would love to have the player he projects to be in a year or two. The finished product version of Jabari would solve so many problems for a number of fringe contenders. A player like Bari is that last piece a lot of these teams need to take them over the top into true contender status, but don't have the cap space or assets to acquire. So you can argue that he should be available in the right trade, but I would really demand a proven young star (at least #2 option caliber) in return.
I would love to see more actions for the remaining games left where Bari is the screener or the hand off guy in a dho. He can be useful in a dho type play with Jalen where he is in the mid post area because if he hey overplay Jalen, Bari can just shoot over his defender in the middie area. And as a screener in a pnr, they would be more hesitant in doubling off of Bari than someone like Amen or Brooks.
Why would Jabari ever be double teamed? He's the guy who'll be wide open when Jalen and Alpi(and maybe eventually Cam and Amen) draw the defenders. The key is for him to make all those open looks and get stronger so he can finish at the rim.
