Orlando got a guy in Paolo Banchero who is the best offensive big and passer in his class and is likely to be the most prolific scoring big from his class. OKC got a question mark who when it's all said and done could be anything from a bust to one of the most skilled 7 footers to dominate the game. In Jabari the Rockets got one of the best defensive players in the entire NBA, and is likely to be considered the best within a few years. You have a guy who can do anything - block shots, rebound, contest, clamp down, give bigs headaches, give guards heachaches and more. He's not just the best defensive big in his class, he's one of the best defensive players in the NBA currently. Offensively, you got the best shooting big on this team since Yao Ming, and the best jumper from a big man in this class. You also have the hardest working big in the class and the most driven guy in the draft to succeed. Only a fool would think this guy's offensive isn't going to get better and better ala the greats like Kawai. Man - did we ever get lucky with Jabari Smith!
Its an interesting pick as murray and ivey are clearly superior players. But we gotta keep in mind that the Rockets are trying to establish a culture and identity. They lack defense and shooting and Smith fulfills these weaknesses. I believe the thinking here from management is exactly this—to establish culture and identity as a good defensive team filled with guys that can switch and can shoot the 3 ball. It’s a very interesting pick. I can’t say management is wrong if this is what they want. But fans need to understand this instead of setting high expectations for Smith as a player.
If they were early superior why did no one consider them for first pick? Honestly, once Jabari improves his handles and taking guys off the dribble, he's the complete player. Guarding 1 thru 5 is rare and very valuable.
I could see bigger Kawhi... he had to take a few years to develop his floor vision and ball handling... was a great shooter and spacer in the meantime...
Shouldn't u b following your own advice Mr. "top 3 pick, you're trying to draft the next Superstar, not another role player!"
Agree for most part but Barnes and Curry were num 7 picks. Klay was 11. This was their core championship team before Durant. Those weren’t late first round picks.
Scottie can handle the ball as he played point forward. Jabari has no handles. And no its not about age or development if you think he can overnight or over a few summers develop into a point forward. Doesn’t work like that. His skillset is strictly an elite shooter and elite defender. He is vastly a different player than Pippen.
Murray is so undervalued and I’m not sure why. Watching his tape in college and high school and reading all the reports and then the dominant summer league games he is the real deal and still don’t fully understand why we didn’t draft him. Or Ivey for that matter.
Read it again, I stated late lotto not late first rounders. Curry is mid , Klay is late lotto if there are 14 picks considered lotto. Point being that they did not have multiple years of top 3 picks and if you have late lotto and second rounders like Warriors did, it is ok to draft based on need.
I agree with you on him being a 3-D player but he is better than Battier and Ariza. Those guys didn’t necessarily have the dribble pull up moves or semi post game or turn around js smith does. He is more of Rashard Lewis with better defensive awareness.
I just want to address what I think is a common myth most people believe in terms of player development. Just because you’re young doesn’t mean you can transform your whole game into a completely different player 180 degrees even with hard training and development. Smith isn’t a great ball handler and he isn’t going to turn into jalen green or steph curry with the handles. He can improve it to handle better in transition or dribble drive to basket better. He might even learn couple hesitation moves etc but he won’t be an adept ball handler taking people off the dribble. Thats not his game. You are who you are as a player. You establish an identity early on and you hone those skills thru the years. Jalen didn’t become a great one on one guy overnight. Its woven into his identity as he played like that for a long time. Jabari always been a shooter and defender. He isn’t going to be an iso guy. He isn’t taking the ball coast to coast. But in terms of development and improvement it isn’t drastic. Could be footwork or post moves or attacking of the dribble and finishing in the paint etc. minor things players work on to better for next season. Again what’s our expectations for him? He is who he is—a solid 3-D guy.
Settle down with the "he's just a role player" talk... sure, he might be - that's the way the draft goes. But he was also consensus #1 pick until 24 hours before the draft for a pretty good reason... big, agile enough, great shooter and defender, quick enough release, able to hit various step-back shots, super young and with room to grow offensively. Do I think Paulo has a higher ceiling? Yes (and I said that pre-draft!), but I also wanted Smith as the "best fit" of the big 3 for our situation. Paulo has some great face up skills, but may not have meshed well with Alpy, and we may have been stuck developing 1 guy (either Alpy OR Paulo) instead of 2 (Alpy AND Jabari). Just putting it out there, but if Jabari had made a couple more of his 3s in the each of the last 2 games, we're probably all drunk on the Kool-Aid right now!! He's a shooter - he'll get hot (off-topic, but his shot has looked a bit flatter than it was in college - maybe tired legs from over-training)
The idea that a player can not develop handles is nonsense. There are many things he can do to improve in that area. Many drills and techniques. To say he can't develop in those areas is just ludicrous. With hard work improvement will happen.
Yes, agree….think how much better Jalen’s handles got towards the end of last season. One thing you can tell about Jabrari is he is going to be a hard worker. He will make Houston proud.
Not into a point forward as the post specifically compared him to Pippen. Improvement yes but not a dramatic change. It does not work like that man especially for a guy who doesn’t play that way. I posted this recently. You are who you are as a player and you have an identity. If you have bad handles and never played point you aren’t turning into a point guard. Thats not how development works at this stage. Your game and style and identity as a player is shaped over the course of AAU, High School, college and professional. If your game is one on one then you work on that craft throughout your career. If its paint D and low post then thats your game. Your identity as a player. Now of course you can hone your skills and make improvements at certain things but to dramatically re create a player into something else isn’t realistic. Jabari isn’t going to become steph with handles. Hes a shooter and defensive player his whole career. He can improve his dribble including some face up dribble and drive moves etc but to say he will somehow develop into a Harden and take people off the dribble with variety of moves or play point is unheard of and not realistic. That’s usually not how development works.
