Even without context this team looks like booty juice if Jabari isnt there. If Tari isnt there I largely don't notice because Jaesean Tate is like 85% of Tari Eason. I can find like 5 Tari Easons in this draft and exactly 0 Jabari Smiths. Yall really need to zero in on what Tari does when he isnt manufacturing steals against unaware opponents. He's not like defensive Jalen Green but....he's more in that direction than I'd prefer. It doesnt matter either way I dont see either player going anywhere and neither is high on my priority list to trade (there are two dumber players I'd prefer to trade). Tari is what he is though. I expect to see the same exact version of him for as long as he's here. Jabari I have a different expectation (as do most teams probably).
Will Jabari ever reach in his best season production similar to 26.6/6/4.2 on .642 TS% and slightly below average defense? The answer is no, absolutely zero chance. He simply lack too many offensive skills to even come close. I would prefer the Rockets don't trade Jabari for KD myself due to age and money, but anyone who thinks Jabari can reach the heights of even 37yr old KD is delusional.
Does KD shoot the same 8 shots per game that Jabari gets ? Currently, we don't have a single player..not one that would have a better season than KD ....not if you want to talk reality over the next 2-3 years. He's not going to be anything other than a #1 option.
If Bari was close to a young Horry, this wouldn't even be a conversation. Horry used to make posters on players. He was also transferring from college center to small forward
KD is a grown up JSJ taken to the highest level. That said JSJ couldn’t have a better player to model his game after. KD is what JSJ needs to unlock his potential. Both players playing 3.5 with crazy length and shooting is scary for the rest of the league.
You must didn't see KD year 3. He was light yrs from what Bari is in the same yr. Bari has no basketball feel in game.
Tell me who we have right now that you see hitting that mark ? Let's look at this past season: Jalen- 21.0 pts per game (need 5.6 increase on average PPG and forget .642 TS%- 17.5 FGA PG Sengun-19.1 PPG (needs 7.5 PPG increase,TS% fell from 58.5 to 54.5 TS)% - 15.0 FGA FVV,Amen-14.1 PPG (needs 12.5 PPG increase..won't bother with the rest)- 12.7 & 10.1 FGA Brooks-14.0 PPG (needs increase 12.6 PPG..uh forget the rest)- 11.9 FGA Actually, Jalen would be most likely to have a chance but don't see it...ditto with the rest.Shooting will most likely tick DOWN depending on who we bring in...especially KD or GA.
As raw and tender as he was, KD as rookie had far more offensive skill than Jabari does now. It's a pipe dream to compare the two. Jabari is stiffer and less-skilled. He'll never become a diverse offensive player. As his career progresses and reality sinks in, he'll settle down and focus on what he does best: Jump shooting and defense. Hopefully he'll overcome self-doubt and develop a tougher mentality. From day 1 as a rookie, KD was determined to make an impact each and every game. Jabari doesn't have that programming at this level. When KD was blasted late in his rookie year for not defending and playing smarter on offense, he "took it personally" and sharpened up pretty quickly. TLDR: Please stop comparing Jabari to KD and what he could supposedly learn from him. I would not be surprised at all if KD's presence on the Rockets would impact Amen, Tari and maybe even Cam more than Jabari.
You are correct about KD, his talent along with Westbrook and Harden took a horrible team to finals. It was like a Disney movie. They got there through the draft but couldn’t afford to pay them all as they came off their rookie contracts. (My fear for us as we rebuild through the draft). This is how Harden became a Rocket.
Sam Vecenie did his top 20 prospects over last decade (prospects, not how they actually turned out) https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/64...-flagg-nba-draft-prospects-victor-wembanyama/ Spoiler A few notes: •The first draft featured here is 2015, and players from the 2025 NBA Draft, including Flagg and Dylan Harper, are included. •The best grades on my board to not make it onto the list? Jahlil Okafor, D’Angelo Russell, James Wiseman, Anthony Edwards, Jalen Green and R.J. Barrett. The big miss there is obviously Edwards, who went No. 1 in 2020. I was too skeptical of his ability to consistently create rim pressure and paint touches, as he often settled for pull-up jumpers. •The only draft not represented here is 2024, which featured zero Tier One or Tier Two players. No player in that class would have even rated within my top-30 prospects of the decade. •Again, this list is based solely upon how I graded these players as prospects when they entered the draft, not how it ended up working out. 19. Jabari Smith Jr. | 6-10 big | Auburn | 2022 This one was a bad ranking that I would do over if I could. I’m generally a fan of Smith’s and think he will continue to grow as a starting-caliber player on good teams because of his defensive improvement and shooting ability at nearly 6-foot-11. But I drastically underestimated how uncomfortable Smith was as a ballhandler when thinking of him as a potential wing as opposed to what he’s turned into, essentially a big man. Smith averaged nearly 17 points per game as an 18-year-old at Auburn and drilled 42 percent from 3 but rarely seemed to create easy shots. It was all either catch-and-shoot 3s, jab-steps, or mid-post jumpers over the top of defenders. He wasn’t that capable of driving toward the rim to take advantage of his gravity as a shooter because he played very upright and didn’t have a tight handle. Smith was a tremendous collegiate defender but struggled early on in his NBA career before turning it around. I probably overestimated his shiftiness and lateral agility as it pertains to being switchable. I thought Smith would be a borderline All-Star type who impacted winning at a high level because of his shot-making and defense. He was the consummate high-floor prospect whose ceiling was not as high as I thought. Spoiler 1. Victor Wembanyama | 7-4 center | Metropolitans 92 | 2023 2. Cooper Flagg | 6-8 wing | Duke | 2025 3. Zion Williamson | 6-6 wing | Duke | 2019 4. Cade Cunningham | 6-6 guard | Oklahoma State | 2021 5. Karl-Anthony Towns | 6-11 big | Kentucky | 2015 6. Ben Simmons | 6-10 guard | LSU | 2016 7. Markelle Fultz | 6-5 guard | Washington | 2017 8. Ja Morant | 6-2 guard | Murray State | 2019 9. Deandre Ayton | 7-0 center | Arizona | 2018 10. Luka Dončić | 6-8 guard | Real Madrid | 2018 11. Scoot Henderson | 6-2 guard | G League Ignite | 2023 12. Jayson Tatum | 6-8 wing | Duke | 2017 13. Chet Holmgren | 7-0 big | Gonzaga | 2022 14. Dylan Harper | 6-5 guard | Rutgers | 2025 15. Jalen Suggs | 6-4 guard | Gonzaga | 2021 I loved Suggs pre-draft, and I remain a big fan of his game. He’s already made an All-Defense team on his rookie contract, and I’d expect him to make a few more. But I was too aggressive ranking him as my No. 2 player in the class ahead of the next player on this list. I overestimated his offensive game by a fairly substantial margin and overvalued other parts of his game. He was a monster on-ball defender in college who got a bit gambly on that end, but he had all of the tools to be elite. However, when I went back and watched his tape after his sophomore NBA season, I realized that I overestimated his polish in ball screens. His footwork had a long way to go, and he didn’t always hit the right steps in his gathers. His paint pressure was more predicated upon easy reads within Gonzaga’s offense as opposed to complicated progressions. Additionally, his jumper has been a bit hit-or-miss so far in the NBA, although he’s hit 36.5 percent from distance over the last two seasons on nearly six attempts per game. Suggs is still a consummate winner who helps teams thrive. He’s not going to be a top-two option on a great team, but he might be a No. 3. It would not stun me if he became this generation’s Jrue Holiday, a guy who ends up winning multiple titles as a lead guard who can elevate the games of those around him. But I would probably take him at No. 6 or 7 if we were re-drafting that class, behind Cunningham, Evan Mobley, Alperen Şengün, Franz Wagner, and Scottie Barnes. 16. Evan Mobley | 7-0 big | USC | 2021 Mobley was a no-brainer at No. 2 in 2021, but I had him third behind Suggs. I wrote in that year’s draft guide that Mobley “has potential to be one of the few guys in the league who can be real shot creators and offensive initiators along with providing All-Defense-level skill. He’s one of the most skilled big-man prospects to enter the league in a long time.” I was worried about two factors, though. First, I was concerned about his frame, as he wasn’t overly strong. Second, Mobley struggled to shoot it at the time, and I was worried about his offensive game falling apart without the threat of the jumper. That bore itself out over his first few years, as NBA defenders could close out short on him and make him less impactful as a driver when he was spacing. But his athletic tools, mixed with his tremendous anticipation and feel for the game, won out. Mobley was an All-NBA selection this year in addition to winning his first Defensive Player of the Year trophy. He’s going to be a many-time All-NBA guy for Cleveland. I’d only take Cunningham in that draft over him long-term. 17. Brandon Ingram | 6-9 wing | Duke | 2016 18. LaMelo Ball | 6-6 guard | Illawarra Hawks | 2020 19. Jabari Smith Jr. | 6-10 big | Auburn | 2022 20. Paolo Banchero | 6-10 big | Duke | 2022 This is the one that I wish I could have back in 2022. Banchero is one of the few young guys in the NBA who has a chance to be the primary scoring option on a title team. He’s a ways away from that still, largely because he’s not quite the shooter he needs to be to make it happen, and I think Holmgren’s two-way game makes him a better bet to be a top-two option on title-winning teams. But the ceiling is the roof with Banchero. He averaged 26 points per game while shooting 45 percent from the field and 32 percent from 3 this season, numbers right in line with his career averages. Can he ever become not just a good contested shot-maker from the midrange, but rather an elite shot-maker from all three levels? That’s the swing skill, because there’s not a player 22 or under in the league better at creating mismatch opportunities and advantageous situations. That’s always been Banchero’s superpower. When the game tightens up, Banchero has proven in the last two years against top-six defenses in the league that he can still get his own shot at an elite level. He’s just a tremendous blend of size, power, physicality, and skill. The reason I had him at No. 3 in 2022 was that I worried the shooting wouldn’t quite get there and that it might resign him to being an elevated version of a Julius Randle type. But Banchero is far more capable of creating advantages from more versatile situations than Randle. He’s far more skilled with the ball. He’s going to make All-NBA teams even if the shooting doesn’t come around. But if it does, he might end up being this era’s Carmelo Anthony, and unlike Anthony he already has a team around him in Orlando that works to accentuate his gifts.
Yes and no. Hes not someone you can give the ball to out top to produce his own offense or create for others like a Banchero type, but Bari's self created offense from inside the arc where he does minimal dribbling just to get to a spot and then rises up and shoots over a defender was actually really good. Tbh, id rather he work on his back to the basket/faceup game from mid range and pattern his game after Lamarcus Aldridge than to always talk about improving his handles every off season. Just fully embrace his actual strengths.
I had not heard of Vecenie until the Rockets started their tank job 5 years ago and I remember being really dumbfounded as to where these glowing pre draft evals of Smith as #1 overall on the big boards or whatever came from. I didn't watch him in college but him as a rookie looked like a completely different player than what was advertised. Not much speed, no dribbling, can't jump high, slow release. The whole thing made me just fed up to here with the dumb draft eval industrial complex Props to him for admitting he was wrong, ON THE INTERNET. I have also listened & read a lot of his stuff since and he is now one the guys I will always read. Anyway he's spot on - the few remaining Jabari hypesters still think of him as "switchable" - and sure, he can guard 4s and 5s (sometimes) - but perimeter guys? Nope. He's a stretch 4, solid player, nothing special or irreplaceable (and a big WHIFF with a high lotto pick)
The people high on Jabari are more enamored about his potential than what he actually is. Also his potential is heavily dependant on him learning how to dribble, drive and not be a ghost for half the game. Jabari has a low ceiling because for him to reach his potential, it requires him completely changing who he is and his mindset. I think he has a weak mindset and seems content being just a guy. It's why I rather have a guy like Jalen who fails because it's not a lack of trying or desire, he's just not good enough but I rather bet on those guys. I can't stand guys who are happy just being a contributor, especially as a 3rd pick.
