Jabari Smith Jr. is the Rockets' franchise player

With the way this team is built, the only guys you could reasonably replace him with would also need to be a tall two-way stretch 4/5, just a better version than Jabari. We actually have two of them on the roster already, Tari and KD, but Tari can't be relied on to stay healthy and KD is 37 years old, not a long-term solution.

Then you're talking about guys like, Mobley, JJJ (both on overpaid max contracts), maybe mobile switchable centers who could play next to Sengun like Wemby, Chet, Sarr (all three untouchable for their franchises). After that you start getting down to guys like Jaden McDaniels and Naz Reid and such who I'd argue are not a clear upgrade over Jabari, more of a lateral move.

 

Nobody has anyone else but Jabari at no 3 except for DD who wanted Keegan Murray. I expect receipts if they were gonna claim they didnt want Jabari at 3.


Hell in a redraft I would still take Jabari no 3 after JDub and Duren.

 

This exactly.

Anyone out there who is clearly better than Jabari is way more expensive. So why make a lateral move just to make a move? Tari is probably the only one that can replace Jabari without having to give up any trade assets. But do we want Tari being paid more than Jabari with his health concern?

If we believe we are a star away from contending, then yeah, trade Jabari and a lot more assets for a top 10 guy. If we believe at least one of our young guys (Sengun, Amen) will be a top 10 guy, then we should just keep Jabari because he fits and is being paid at a reasonable salary.

 

Jabari suffers from the same thing that plagues most of our young guys except Sengun. Inconsistency. World beater one game, zero the next.

Reed. Tari. Jabari. Amen. They all do it. Still too much sometimes you sometimes me shenanigans.

 

The Rockets have an incredibly versatile team. I'd guess a lot of the players better than JSJ that aren't stretch 4/5's would be better than JSJ on the Rockets as guys would slide up or down to fit the position.

If one of the young guys (not JSJ) becomes a Top 10 guy, I'd still trade JSJ, matching salary, and picks for a Top 10 guy as long as it was a fair deal (i.e., I might not do the trade because the other team wants too many picks, but JSJ's fit would not deter me from getting the better player).

 

I am assuming that it's extremely difficult to keep two top10 players and still have enough room for high end role players and depth.

 

Too many forwards on this team….get rid of JSJ and we still have Tari and DFS. That’s plenty with all our other needs offensively.

 

I think Chet would be in that conversation?
He'll probably snap in half in the next few years, but still...

 

The NBA has max contracts such that the top 10 players are the most cost-efficient players in the game. It usually costs a team most/all of its high-end players, depth, and picks to get two top 10 players (i,e., the keeping is not the problem, it is the acquiring without wrecking the team). In your scenario with JSJ and trade assets (i.e., draft picks), this would not be the case. Assuming FVV and Capela as the matching salary, the Rockets would have a roster of something like:
Sengun
Durant
SGA
Tari
Amen

or

Sengun
Durant
Tari
Amen
Cade

with a bench of
Adams
DFS
Okogie
Reed
Holiday
Minimums

When Durant comes off books, the Rockets would be able to fill his salary slot with depth. If it was Wemby or Jokic, the Rockets would have to trade Sengun or Adams, but I assume the Rockets could get someone really good for Sengun (in the scenario of Amen is the Top 10 player).

Are you honestly saying that you wouldn't trade JSJ, matching salary (e.g., FVV and Capela), and a reasonable number of picks for one of Wemby, Jokic, or SGA because JSJ just fits the team so well?

 

Who are the lots of guys that would be better that are attainable and affordable?

 

As much as I criticize Jabari's decision-making and defense on a regular basis, his contract makes him a tradeable asset many other teams would love to have. If the Rockets decide he isn't good enough and want to upgrade their roster, Jabari can definitely assist their pursuit.

If he had a max or near-max contract that made him untradeable (like Paolo), a lot more anger would be justified and I would be torching Stone on a regular basis.

 

1. Provide a list of every player better than JSJ.
2. Provide a list of every player better than JSJ that is not obtainable by trading JSJ, matching salary, and up to 5 1st round picks.
3. Remove players from list 2 from list 1.

That is your list. Maybe the Rockets don't want to do a trade for the number of FRPs it would take to acquire (or the player is old), but odds are it is not because JSJ fits with the Rockets. My list will probably be a little longer than your list if I cared to put one together. Affordable is not a concern as the Rockets have plenty of veteran salary coming off the books and JSJ, while a reasonable contract, is still making enough that basically just FVV and Capela are needed for matching salary for the highest paid players in the short term and DFS, Durant, and Adams take care of the long term.

I don't think trades are easy such that I expect JSJ will be a Rocket for a while. However, if another team wants to follow the veins of Nico Harrison with JSJ as the main piece from the Rockets side, I fully expect Stone to accept the trade.

 

Just to clarify, I don't think JSJ is in a trade unless it is for someone like Ant asking out.

 

Actually, I used the word "keep" the wrong way. Like you said, the problem is not keeping them but acquiring them. If the current Jabari was the center piece to trade for a top 10 player, it would require a ton of draft capital. It's more likely that the other team would want a star level player back. It's hard to not give up a top 10 guy to get another top 10 (or at least top 20) guy in a trade.

In other words, if we are to trade for a top 10 player, Jabari will likely be a throw in rather than a center piece.

If rumor was true, Phoenix wanted Jabari rather than Jalen in the Durant trade. That's as close to getting a star player by trading Smith as you can get. And the Rockets refused. (Or looking back, maybe just maybe what they really wanted was Dillon Brooks. LOL.)

 

Pretty much agree, except two star players are hardly ever available at one time and traded for one another except when Nice Harrison is GM, and the Rockets have a ton of depth and picks.

 

Andrew Wiggins
Dillon Brooks
Keegan Murray and kings pick
Trey Murphy
Cedrick Coward and griz pick
Josh Giddey
Jaden McDaniels
VJ Edgcombe
Ryan Rollins and bucks pick
Jalen Green
Jaime Jaquez/Davion Mitchell
PJ Washington and Mavs pick
Ausar
Anthony black
Tari Eason
Mikal Bridges
Jrue Holiday and blazers pick
Derrick White
Max Christie and a pick
Lots of Spurs and OKC
Quentin Post does same thing for cheaper
Christian Braun


Every team in the NBA wants Jabari so I’m assuming it would be a bidding war.

 

Rockets probably refused to include Jabari because he was better longer term value than Dillon and Phoenix had absolutely zero leverage. If Phoenix actually had another tempting offer who knows if Houston would have been willing to include Jabari instead.

Jabari's playing better this season than last so I'm super glad we didn't have to pull the trigger on trading him so early. He's young, healthy, and on a reasonable contract so I'm fine either way, retaining him long-term or including him in a package for a star.

 

waste of a 3rd pick

Can’t dribble
can’t shoot
Can’t do anything. He’s a joke. Trade him asap

 

People say reed gets hunted by good lord 6’10” jabari gets hunted every day