If Jabari keeps playing like he did in the playoffs he will be the starter. If he doesn’t he’s gonna be 6th man and Tari will start. They are going to let play on the court decide early in the year, and that’s great.
Part of Jabari's 45% shooting figure was also coming off a broken hand so I don't know if that number is the most accurate of where a healthy Jabari is. Similarly for DFS, he looked very slow in LA with the eye test - he didnt look like he would be able to defend anything more than slower 3s, and 4s, and maybe smaller 5s. I don't know if I just caught some bad games or he was still playing himself into shape from his previous injury but I have a hard time thinking that version of DFS would be more useful than JSJ as a switchable defender but again - it could be a most injury/recovery look for DFS and not illustrative of his value today.
If Jabari doesn't command that 5th spot and retain it, that would be pretty disappointing. I mean the guy was the #3 overall pick.
I didn't watch DFS guard guards recently, but he was great on the 3s, 4s, and backup 5s that I saw. Length and size just gave skilled players problems. I thought he looked better guarding 3-5 than Brooks last season. When he's on a guy, the guy feels it, while sometimes JSJ will be stuck on his man, but just not bother them. I'd have some concern with him swithcing onto guards, but I have that same issue with most of the 4s on the team. Always in the right spot defensively. This skill seems highly valued by Udoka. Doesn't rack up a ton of steals, but is in passing lanes preventing passes. I think DFS's off-ball defense is more valuable than him at the POA even though he doesn't put up gaudy stats. I will say that JSJ worked incredibly well with the double big lineup.
I'll refrain my judgment on DFS until I see whether he can break the shooting curse in a Rockets uniform.
He did get surgery this offseason to address an ankle injury he has been playing through that has been causing various lower body injuries over the last few years. I imagine he starts the year with more recovery minutes but agree he has demonstrated he is a high level switchable defender in the past. Hoping the surgery restores a little of that agility he had because this team is a defensive monster pairing a somewhat healthy DFS with guys like Tari, Amen, Jabari, Okoro, etc.
