Jabari Smith Jr.

If that’s what you expect for your 3rd pick, then cool. I said Smith is Thaddeus Young. The Jabari groupies went crazy.

 

Meh. There are worse scenarios than a #3 pick becoming an excellent role player who balances out a team's core. There’s a reason dudes like that make a ton of money in the NBA.

 

A lot of role players exceed values of all-stars.

Mikal Bridges is an example of this, likely will never be an all-star, but a highly sought after role player that teams will mortgage a chunk of their future for.

Jabari's theoretical ceiling is a 6'11, 3 and D player who can guard 1-5. This type of player can easily command a huge contract in the market.

 

I’m not concerned about Jabari. He’ll have a place on this team, whether he’s a starter or not. I appreciate him because it’s hard to find a power forward who can shoot at his height. Plus, it might actually work in our favor financially not to have to pay him a lot.

 

so who should have the rockets picked up with the 3rd pick?

 

What did I make up?

It doesn't matter if its literally 1 injury, it's kept him from playing. 1 injury can change a players career. Everything I've said about him is true.

You are completely ignoring his faults, that he's not a good passer, makes terrible decisions especially on the fastbreak (and this a team that wants to run) and is not a good finisher around the rim.

Jabari is definitely the best fit for Sengun, gives him space to operate in the paint, super willing passer, and honestly the two have great chemistry together.

 

I've also noticed that Jabari and Sengun are pretty decent at finding each other in the paint.

 

Jabari is who he is. It will be tough when his contract comes up because it will be a Harrison Barnes type situation. Do you overpay for a high end role player?

Unless Jabari hits like +40% of his 3's he will always be a high end role player.

 

He's still very young and is consistently improving. I wouldn't peg him as anything just yet.

 

Yeah Jabari definitely has holes in his game but I feel like he gets some unfair scrutiny here. Alot of that probably stems from the disappointment of not getting Banchero. He improved quite a bit from year 1 to 2. No reason to think he can't improve more

 

Jabari is our Robert Horry a defensive PF that can defend and rebound and hit 3pt shots.

What he is not is a max player - so to me he probably fits long term as a super role player.

DD

 

I think we are disappointed because he's playing like his floor instead of anywhere close to his ceiling

 

That wouldn't be the worst thing in the world considering we have three potential max players in Sengun, Green, and Amen. Bari would still make a ton of money, just not necessarily max money. A good example is the Nuggets: three max players in Joker, Murray, and MPJ, as well as a large, non-max guy in Gordon.

 

It's hard to see where Jabari is going to get the volume of shots he needs to prove whether he was worth the 3rd pick or not. Right now, Sengun is going to get the most shots, they are going to defer to Jalen for 2nd most, then Cam is GOING to take his shots whether you like it or not, Reed needs a good amount.

It basically leaves Jabari as 4th or 5th in the offensive pecking order.

If we expected Durant lite that's not gonna be the case because he's not given the opportunity.

 

I would start shopping him around for future first round picks.

 

If Jabari was Durant lite he'd naturally get more shots. Durant had elite self creation ability off he dribble as soon as he got into the league. That naturally gives you an advantage in increasing your volume of shots attempts.

If you can dribble and create your own shot effortlessly you will have a higher chance of attempting more shots.

So if Jabari was Durant lite he'd naturally find a way to get more shot attempts.

 

We can always get James Harden back guys!

 

It really depends where we are when he is a restricted free agent. If he is the perfect puzzle piece, then you pay him the money and let Tilman worry about how to pay the bills, but if still aren't a contender and he is a weakness in the line up, then you let him go.

I like Bari. I think he is a good player. I wish he were on the path to be a superstar, but that's not the case. Ignoring the fact that he is a 3rd pick, and instead focusing on what he brings to the table, I think he is a great fit for this team. I wouldn't be opposed to trading him if a better fit comes along, but I'm not itching to trade him either.

 

He’s gonna be Lauri Markenen on another team next year. I can feel it.

I hope the trade that sends him out is good enough to justify it

 

It's funny how people are so hyper critical of Green but are cool with Jabari underwhelming.

....btw I agree about Jabari being a great complimentary piece to the rest of the roster but I think it would be helpful to apply that same logic to Green where the path is - maybe he is just a quality starting SG and not a future all star and maybe that's okay for the long term development of this team if he's a guy who can hit open shots, occasionally pull off the acrobatic finish, and just hold his own defensively.

On that note, it was REALLY nice to see a play last night where we had Green in the corner and an Adams screen freed up FVV to get a lane to the basket but the defense helped off Green to prevent that and VIOLA - that was Green's first made 3 of the night and a rare example of us actually using Green to finish plays off ball. THAT is how Green can become effective for us if we are willing to give up on the idea of him as a ball dominant scorer.