Jabari not getting enough credit. He's better at everything than last season. His rebounding is down but that's because he's guarding away from the basket a lot more. 2PT%, 3PT%, FT%, Asst:TO ratio, steals, blocks all up. We should get him a couple of more catch and shoot opportunities in the offense.
With all due respect, posts like this crack me up. "You don't draft X type of player at Y spot." Sorry, but 20/20 hindsight vision is something I don't deal in. I look at whether, when you drafted, you got a guy who can help you win a championship. To do that, you need (1) stars, and (2) really solid starters who complement the stars. I'd rather end up with the latter than a "star" who is incredibly hard to build around, but who insists on being treated like a star (i.e. Paolo). What's funny about this whole conversation is I guarantee Bari could put up "star" numbers if drafted to a bad team. Look at MPJ - narrowminded people like you called him a "role player" for years. Now he's averaging a 24/8/3 on really good efficiency. "Disagree" all you want. Here are our team NetRTG leaders among our guys averaging 25 mpg or more. .
His scoring rate could be higher but he’s been mostly fine on offense. He’s disappointed me on the defensive end, his perimeter defense has looked really bad.
It's an interesting comment. I just flicked back over the last 15 years of drafts to have a look at players drafted mid to late first round. I basically checked every player non-lotto in the 1st rd. Players 6'11 who average 13+ppg [I ignored the ability to guard the perimeter and shoot the 3] From 2010-2025 Alperen Sengun (2021) Pascal Siakim (2016) Giannis Antetokounmpo (2013) Nicola Vucevic (2011) I dunno man. Maybe there is something more to Jabari? Would I have preferred Jalen Williams 3rd [and Evan Mobley 2nd the year before]? Sure. But that's hindsight on Williams.....
Exactly. The idea that guys like Bari grow in trees is ludicrous. His profile is very rare and desired by virtually every team in the NBA.
would you trade him for Naz Reid today? Naz like 3 years older but also doesn’t play the same minutes.
The idea of having certain expectations just based on where a guy was picked is pretty flawed inherently because every draft class is different in quality/depth and there is always an element of chance at any pick, even #1 overall. Anthony Bennett being exhibit #1A. The idea, too, of looking back at these drafts with hindsight and being like "the Cavs should have picked Giannis #1 instead" (he was picked 15th in the same class as Bennett) is so silly. There are often guys who surprisingly turn out to be stars or even superstars later on in the draft, but the whole point is that it's surprising. Nobody knows which of these dozens of prospects is going to be That Guy. And a GM picking really hard against consensus is risking his job. Obviously, that's almost never going to happen. The only time these hindsight discussion make some level of sense is when it's kind of up in the air who should be picked at a certain spot. The Green versus Mobley one, for example; Rockets could have gone either way there. (Although there was also the factor of him not wanting play for Houston and not working out for us at all.) But if you want to be like "the Rockets should have picked Jalen Williams instead of Jabari" it's just not even a realistic scenario.
I agree with your post except for this. Jabari was drafted to a bad team. We were horrible and he wasn't ready to produce despite being given a 31mpg starting role from day one. Al P, Amen, and Reed didn't have that luxury. The first two have completely surpassed him and IMO so has Reed already after only 64 games played. Jabari looks like a role player because he is one, not because of the circumstances he was drafted into. I'm totally fine with Jabari's production and the contract he's earned, by the way. MPJ already put up 19/7 on amazing efficiency as a sophomore. Jabari has never done anything comparable. MPJ is the one that's been on a good team his whole career and putting up good numbers for years, not Jabari. At this point I think putting Bari on a bad team would look like Ariza trying to be the main man in his first stint with Houston. I really don't think Bari would be putting up "star" numbers if his efficiency in his current role is barely league average.
Are there actual human beings that think Jabari Smith has ability to create offense by himself I like Jabari and everything but let’s be real, he has trouble hitting wide open shots, and if he puts the ball on the floor when he’s not posting up it’s a disaster waiting to happen.
