Hearing Jabari right now I am very happy. I was a little put off last year by Jalen Green talking about his goals (max contract…) - Jabari just said he doesn’t care about stats or rookie of the year, he wants to win and go to the playoffs. He sounds very mature and that will really benefit this young team.
This place is going to be insufferable during summer league games where Paolo will flourish in those type of settings and the opposite is true with Jabari with the terrible spacing in them.
Not thrilled, but 10000% the right pick. There will be no stanning Ivey or anyone else picked after him from me, unlike some posters around here last year.
02. Jabari Smith Jr. | F | Auburn | DOB: May 13, 2003 (Age: 19) | 6-10 | 220 LBS | Hometown: Fayetteville, Ga. STRENGTHS Elite consensus five-star, and a top-10 recruit in the country. He was named to the rosters for the McDonald’s All-American game, the Nike Hoop Summit and the Jordan Brand Classic. In his first collegiate season, was one of the most decorated freshmen in the country. He was first-team All-SEC, won the SEC Freshman of the Year award and won multiple National Freshman of the Year awards, including the Wayman Tisdale Award. He was named a consensus second-team All-American. Tremendous size at 6-foot-10 for the type of player he is. Has good wingspan at 7-foot-1. Moves well for a player his size. Has good twitch and quickness. Gets off the ground quickly, athletically and functionally. Has good hip rotation. Has an excellent frame that should allow him to put on weight with ease and functionality. His key skill is shooting. He is the best 6-foot-10-plus teenage shooter I have ever evaluated. Has pristine mechanics. Perfect balance. Great footwork into the shot. Great rhythm and tempo throughout the shot. Quick release. Doesn’t have to dip the ball to get into the rhythm every time. High release point allows him to make contested ones. Everything is clean and simple with his jumper. All the numbers are absurd for a 19-year-old, let alone one this big. Among high-major players since 2000, only Lauri Markkanen and Jason Kapono made at least 42 percent of their 3s on at least 150 attempts as true freshmen. In total, Smith hit 41.4 percent of his catch-and-shoot jumpers this past season on 133 attempts, with almost all the makes being 3s. His shot prep off the catch is terrific, and he consistently is ready to fire. If you don’t pick him up in transition, it’s over. If you don’t find him in the corners, it’s over. If you close out short, it’s over. If you don’t switch the pick-and-pop, it’s probably over. He’s a ridiculous weapon. Moreover, Smith generates 3s and midrange shots with an awesome pull-up game. There are shot-creation issues, but this is an immediately translatable way for him to be an effective NBA scorer. Made his pull-up jumpers at a 48.1 effective field-goal percentage, 10th-best among all high-major players in college hoops to take at least 100 such shots in the half court. Before he gets to the half court, you have to pick him up quickly because he’s a legit threat to pull up in transition and hit a 3 in your face. If he moves off the ball, the key is to chase him off the line given how good he is as a catch-and-shoot guy. Even if you do, he’s excellent as a relocation shooter. Loves the one-dribble stepback 3 to his left but can also hit a one- or two-dribble midrange jumper going to both his right or his left if he needs to get some space. He can realign his body in midair to get a clean look at the rim and can rise over the top. Smith has my favorite move of any player in this class. It’s his left-hand dribble into a spinning turnaround back to his right, where he elevates when wrong-footed, fixing his alignment in midair and sinking it. It’s insane and not guardable. If you overplay the spin, he can fake the spin, pivot back and hit a jumper going left. Auburn ran some interesting actions to get him cleared out at the elbow, where he is comfortable hitting a jab-step pull-up after a dribble or a mini-hesitation rise-up for a jumper. Almost automatic from the elbows. Again, his high release point and ability to generate rhythm from a standstill is lethal. Any type of stepback or turnaround, wrong-footed or right-footed, Smith has it. Can throw together a large variety of complex moves off the bounce and string them together to get a stepback look. He finished 39th in the NCAA among the 229 players nationally to take at least 100 pull-ups in terms of effective field-goal percentage. It’s kind of unheard of for a player his age to be as good of a shooter at his size. The other part of Smith’s game that makes him so awesome is his defense. Smith is a terrific defender, one whose game should translate well in NBA settings. Will have no issues switching and should be a plus defender in that capacity as a four. Slides laterally extremely well. Beats his man to the spot and stays in front. Sticks with guards in switches and defended a ton of wings this past season with ease. Does this largely with his lateral quickness. If he beats his man to the spot, he’s awesome at using his length to contest and completely swallow up guards. Not the twitchiest guy in the world, but he reacts well to counter moves. While he’s still relatively skinny, he’s pretty difficult to go through if you try to plow through his chest. Can’t post him. Only going to get stronger too, given his frame. Does a good job in overall team defensive constructs, as well. Closes out onto shooters well for a player his size and also fights to recover. Good in help defense and very conscientious. Tries to be there if a teammate gets beaten. Makes smart plays as a weakside shot blocker on occasion. Positive anticipation, but not great. Has good hands to get into passing lanes to deflect the ball. Overall, I see him as a strong plus on defense, not necessarily a likely All-Defense team member. WEAKNESSES While Smith is extremely functional athletically with his balance, lateral quickness and hip flexibility, he’s not necessarily the most explosive athlete in the world. Doesn’t have a wild first step or crazy vertical leap. Plays with more of a hunch and wide stance than actual bend through his legs. There is room for him to add explosiveness if he starts playing with less stiffness in his lower half, but it will take time. His current way of playing may sap some of his burst. This bears itself out a couple of ways on offense as problematic. First, he can struggle to drive off his back foot and get leverage or blow by opposing players. Not as fluid as some of the best creators in the NBA. That’s the key difference between someone like him and, say, Jayson Tatum right now. Second, he’s not a good finisher given his size. Doesn’t go up with a ton of strength and doesn’t explode upward. Made 52.1 percent of his shots at the rim; that’s a below-average mark for a player of any size, let alone someone who is 6-foot-10. Needs to be able to pressure the rim in a more effective way. It feels like Smith’s not all that comfortable handling the ball to attack. His handle isn’t that tight. Doesn’t have that suddenness in change of pace off the bounce. When he tries to go forward stringing together moves, he can lose control of the ball. On top of that, also doesn’t pass well. Often passes as a last resort and misses open reads. Doesn’t collapse the defense right now because he can’t force help. The end result is that he ends up taking a bevy of pull-up jumpers that are exceptionally difficult to live on. Almost all his pull-ups are contested. He might be good enough to live off it as he keeps improving as a shooter but could be little margin for error as a creator if he doesn’t get rid of some of the stiffness over the next few years. SUMMARY Much like the other two prospects in the class, where you rank Smith is kind of a cipher for how you see basketball in the modern era. I don’t see Smith as the primary ballhandler on a team, but I do see him as an efficient, effective 20-plus point-per- game scorer who also plays great, switchable, versatile defense. Elite shooting and very good defense are two of the best assets for a teenage NBA player. It sets him up to be a no-fail prospect in many respects and a guy who could make a real impact early on. I do think there is some real upside as a shot creator, depending on how much explosiveness, athleticism and strength he can add. There is a real chance that by the time he’s 25, Smith can strong-arm his way into whatever spot he wants on the floor and shoot efficiently over the top. I see him as a high-floor, high-ceiling prospect. Because he plays on both ends, he’s someone who could impact winning at an exceptionally high level, either as a No. 1 or No. 2 option. Every team is looking for big, switchable defenders with shooting ability and potential to create shots. Smith is that guy in this class.
Shooting is the most important skill in today’s NBA and Jabari is elite at that. At his height nobody is going to block his shot. We got a legit foundational piece here folks. Pair him with Jalen and our rebuilding is off to a great start.
Might be the most "safe" of the top 3 picks with the highest floor. The other two might have higher ceilings but with the accompanying risks of the lower floor. I think Jabari makes us a better team quicker than maybe we want to be frankly. We might accidently be pretty decent next year.
https://www.si.com/nba/draft-tracker A+ Jabari Smith | F | Auburn Smith was the top prospect on my big board and is a player I firmly believe in, so this is a massive win for the Rockets, who will be pleased that he was surprisingly available at No. 3. He’s one of the best jump shooters I’ve ever scouted at his size, he’s incredibly competitive and unselfish, particularly for an elite scorer, and he’s a switchable defender who plays with intent. This is a very good pick, and I don’t think I really need to gush any more. I think Smith ultimately makes Orlando and Oklahoma City regret passing on him. https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/...first-round-wraps-up-with-surprises-all-over/ 3. Houston Rockets: PF Jabari Smith, Auburn For much of the draft process, Smith was assumed to be the No. 1 overall pick. And in a class with three high-level big men prospects, Smith became an easy pick when he slipped to third overall. Smith still needs to develop in lots of ways but is already a great shooter and switchable defender who plays with undeniable energy and fits nicely with Jalen Green. Grade: A+ https://theathletic.com/3380606/2022/06/23/nba-draft-grades-analysis-2022-vecenie-hollinger/ 3. Houston Rockets Jabari Smith Jr. | 6-foot-10, forward | 19 years old, freshman | Auburn Vecenie’s ranking: 2. Where you rank Smith compared to the other two consensus top prospects (Holmgren, Bancheron) is a cipher for how you see basketball in the modern era. I don’t see Smith as the primary ballhandler on a team, but I do see him as an efficient, effective, 20-plus point-per-game scorer who also plays great, switchable and versatile defense. Elite shooting and strong defense are two of the best assets for a teenage NBA player. It sets him up to be a no-fail prospect in many respects. I do think he possesses some real upside as a shot creator, depending on how much explosiveness, athleticism and strength he can add. Because he’s a positive player on both ends, he’s the type of prospect that can impact winning at an exceptionally high level, either as a No. 1 or No. 2 option. Every team is looking for big, switchable defenders with shooting ability and potential to create shots. Hollinger’s team fit: The Rockets get my top-rated player with the third pick, and a great fit for their current roster as well. Smith projects as a knockdown shooter who can space the floor around Jalen Green’s drives, and a big, switchable defender who can cover for some of the team’s other shortcoming at that end. Picture native Houstonian Rashard Lewis, but with more defensive chops. Houston still has picks 17 and 26 in the first round, so expect to hear more from these guys. https://theathletic.com/3381212/2022/06/23/jabari-smith-rockets-draft/ The fit in Houston This is essentially a dream come true for Houston. The Rockets want to build a new, versatile defensive identity. It doesn’t get any better in this class than Smith, a legitimate Swiss Army knife on that side of the ball. There’s a reason Smith had been long presumed as the top overall pick, as he generated stops at an elite rate and also hit an efficient amount of 3s for the Tigers. Expect Smith to slot into the starting lineup alongside Jalen Green, Kevin Porter Jr., Alperen Şengün and Jae’Sean Tate. Smith should get the bulk of tough assignments from Day 1, and judging from his Auburn tape, he should be able to hold his own. He’s also going to serve head coach Stephen Silas well with his floor-spacing ability, giving more room for Green and Porter to operate in between the lines. Smith might not be as good as creating his own jump shot right now, but he doesn’t have to be. It will come with time, development and reps. I wouldn’t be surprised if Silas occasionally trots him out as a small-ball center given his size and strength. That should prove useful in games where Houston is relying on spacing, stops and speed to overwhelm opponents. — Kelly Iko Summary Smith has All-Defense in his future. He’ll instantly raise Houston’s defense on Day 1 and should see an example for the others to follow. Offensively, Smith will do all the right things and fall in line. The Rockets ended up with a player who legitimately might have been at the top of their board for weeks. That should be considered a slam-dunk selection. Now, the real work begins. — Iko
