Rockets sign Jabari Smith Jr. to 5-year, $122M extension

End of Season
Then another such jump Next year
by time KD leaves
HE should be ready to step in

Rocket River

 

Good call. Similar list of strengths and weaknesses. Jabari’s got a hint of the clutch gene, but he’s got a long way to go to sniff Horry’s postseason magic.

 

I know you were asking the other guy, but I think this year for everything but the rebounds although I think they will improve. Look at his stats when Jalen was off the floor, it’s pretty staggering. Ime was really fond of Jalen’s work ethic and wanted badly for him to get it. When it was Jalen or Durant, he made the move and everybody on the team will benefit. Jalen was just a bad fit for this team. He will be a good player for somebody. Ime needed a superstar go to guy and he got him.

 

Jabari is a very different player than KD, but if he's an efficient 20/12 guy in 2-3 years, I'll take it.

We can all see his stroke is pure, but he's gotta make it consistently translate on the court in the NBA. Most of his 3s are uncontested catch-and-shoots, which is why his percentage should be into the 40s.

 

If he can make the BIG Step to the basket when people chase him off the three
He will be a monster
He definitely could use a confidence boost
I think that is all he really needs . .. more aggression

Rocket River

 

IIRC, Horry was more athletic and fluid than Jabari. But Jabari is a better shooter.

I was surprised to see that Horry averaged over 10 points a game only 3 times in his long career. He's mostly a spot up catch and shoot and some slashing. Not much of a midrange or low post game. Jabari is already a better scorer. He has the potential to score more at good efficiency if he is more aggressive and/or they do a better job setting him up.

 

Honestly . .. Horry did not live up to his potential
His years with the Rockets showed so much Promise

Rocket River

 

I agree, Horry was more explosive and athletic, at least as a young player on the Rockets. That part of his game mostly disappeared after he went to the Lakers and he became strictly a 3 and D player. Horry was never a good ball handler. Probably worse than Smith. But Horry was a better passer.

 

Yeah, he's one of our best entry passers to Hakeem.

 

Bari is on the cusp of blowing the door open. Its right there. We can see it. Everyone that knows basketball, that had him as the #1 pick in the draft before PB jumped ahead....that potential is slowly coming to life.

This is going to be a STEAL in a couple years. I think he takes a giant step forward this year...the rest will be history.

I wasn't a believer at first...but I feel it in my heart. Its going to happen.

 

I doubt Horry worked on ball handling as feverishly as Jabari did........if he did, things would be different, that era he played didn't need him to be positionless.

Everyone needed to double check why do players in different ages do different things.

 

People gonna laugh at him putting himself on Paolo and Chet's level so far, but IDK man. Paolo is a chucker and I'm not convinced he'll ever be the best player on a championship team, and if he's not that I don't know what he is. Chet has already been hurt like half his career so far and I wouldn't be surprised to see that continue.

 

I’ve always thought that Jabari will turn out to be the better player than Paolo. I have never been impressed by the guy. Chet is will have the better career if he stays healthy. He is a brilliant player, a true unicorn like Wemby. But injury concerns are real with both guys. Availability is a big deal. Ask the Pelicans.

 

I dunno about everyone else, but I was kinda pumped when Bari fell to Rox. Then we nabbed Tari and I was like "we had the best draft".

I liked Chet, but man he just looked like a walking injury.

IIRC Dyson Daniels was the only other player I felt was going to be really good from that draft. (And that's why Sam Presti is an NBA GM and I am not.)

 

Paolo has just averaged 26, 7.5 and 5 on 50% eFG. Yeah, his efficiency should improve, but those numbers are at least all-star kind of numbers. Plus he has improved every year he was in the league (starting out as 20, 7, 4 and 46% eFG).+

Compare that to Jabari who just had a season with 12, 7 and 1 at 52% eFG. That is only marginally better than his rookie season, where he averaged 13, 7 and 1 at 467% eFG. Paolo definetly had the better NBA career and is the better player between those two. I agree that it might be tough to win a championship with Paolo as your best player, but he gives you a lot better chance than if Jabari is your best player.

I also was high on Jabari and still have high hopes, but so far he has been disappointing and hasn´t proven a lot. Looking back at that draft, he seems to have been the third best player.

 

I’m laughing my ass off

Paolo may not ever be the best player on a championship team (very few are), but Jabari will never be the best, 2nd best, probably even 3rd best

Paolo plays with arguably the worst spacing in the league and receives heavy defensive attention…Jabari down in Orlando would be a disaster

Is Paolo just a chucker, or does somebody have to put up shots in Orlando? Aside from him and Franz, who else has been competent offensively?

Is Franz a chucker too? He basically takes the same amount of shots with the similar efficiency.

Chet >>> Jabari, I don’t even think it’s close between the 2

 

On raw talent I think both are clearly better than Jabari at this point--but it's not all about raw talent in the NBA. You have to be able to put together a championship roster. There's a reason some top 10-15 players never win anything or even come very close--certain guys are just too hard to build a roster around. They want the ball in their hands too much without being elite enough to justify it. Paolo might be one of those dudes based on how he's played so far.

In terms of roster building, give me an elite roleplayer (which Jabari still might be) on $25M a year over a guy getting paid the max to not be good enough to lead me to a championship.

As far as Chet... best ability is availability. I'd take him over Jabari 10 times out of 10 if I was sure he was going to stay healthy though.

 

Dude, Jay Dub, Dyson Daniels, Nembhard, Mathurin, Shaedon Sharpe are all still from that Draft Class.

Not that everyone of them is better but they got a chance to improve a lot.

If Paolo's only weakness is that he takes a few shots more, then I don't know what Jalen Green did with 10 attempts of 3 point shots a game.

I swear that I was one of the only ones calling Jalen Green a chucker on this board.