Reminds me too much of Julius Randle for me to commit to that thought. I think LMA ends up being Smith’s floor.
LMA in his prime was a Top 15 player. No way that's his "floor", and I love Jabari. I am literally an Auburn grad. That's too aggressive though. I agree his ceiling is probably a little higher, though.
I think for Chet the sky is the limit as far as ceiling is concerned. But he also has the highes bust potential (including "just" being a role player). I expect him to be great - but more as a complimentary piece, not the main one. I think Paolo has the best chance to be a star and go-to player. He can create his shot in different ways and rebound. He takes more than 50% of his shots in the paint, 25% from midrange and the rest from 3. He has the tools to be a good defender, lack of focus and motivation on this side of the ball wories me. Still, I expect him to be rookie of the year and an all-star and the guy that eventually carries the Magic to the playoffs. I think Jabari easily has the highest floor. He is plug and play as a 3pt shooter that defends the other teams best player. He also has the lowest odds to become a number 1 option on a championship calibre team - but he has the highest odds of being a valuable key piece on a championship calibre team. I expect him to be a great complimentary piece to Green and help this team a ton and also be an all-star. And it is a little unfair to talk about shooting as a singular thing. There are great shooters that hit their open corner threes. Jabari is way more than that. He can hit pull ups from behind the three point line with a defender right in his face. He also can hit fadeaways and has a pretty nice fake that he can use. I would bet his iso perimeter percentage is as good as almost any player in all of college. Others might be better at creating space - but few will hit the percentage he does, even with worse shots.
the second half of this game shows multiple times where Jabari gets to the rim. He doesn’t finish every time but the aggression is telling. It’s early in the year so he’s yet to really figure out his role and is clearly trying more stuff. If Jabari eventually has the ability to get to the rim at an above average rate, he’s a home run. Jabari later on in the season became a more comfortable passer making basic but smart reads. If Jabari eventually has the ability to create for others he’s a grand slam.
I really hope we see plenty of back picks and movement in order to fully utilize Jabaris shot from all 3 levels. You cant just give him the ball yet and expect him to create, but you can put him in great spots with a smart offense.
"Cmon" I said all players have weaknesses and just used KD as an example, being that he's one of the best players in the world, and had "weaknesses" before drafted. I'm in no way comparing KD and Jabari. I also never said Jabari improving his game (ball handling, etc) will be easy. It'll take work, which he's shown he has great work ethic. In another post I mentioned anyone who thinks Jabari is going to come out right away and be the perfect player will be highly disappointed. I'm not denying that he has holes in his game. I was specifically responding to a poster who said he was worried about the holes in Jabari's game. ALL PLAYERS need time to develop their game. The good thing is he's an elite shooter, which many players never develop a shot like that. Ball handling can get better with hard work and repetition. Even James Harden had a hard time driving to his right side for a few years. Some people are talking about Jabari as if he won't be able to iron out some of his wrinkles.
I would normally agree, but Smith isn’t a normal prospect. His mentality is his number one trait. I think that is why he is the best prospect in this draft.
This got me looking up Kessler's highlight videos. The guy is the typical defensive center with size, who's in there to protect the rim and clean up on the glass, but is limited on the offensive side. Basically the polar opposite of Sengun. Which is another reason I'm looking forward to seeing the Smith and Sengun front court in action.
The potential to be a top 5 shooter who averages 20-20 ppg who also could be in the top 10% defensively sounds like a championship player
Here are some timecodes for you: 1:16:10: Jabari crosses over his opponent, drives to the rim and finishes against two defenders 1:25:37 Jabari drives by hin man into the paint and gets fouled, almost got the and 1 1:29:05 Jabari crosses over his opponent with a real quick move, got his shoulders turned - but loses the ball to the help defender. Good move still. 1:40:26 Jabari drives by his man into the paint and gets fouled Again, I am not saying this is his strength. I am just saying his handles aren't horrible. He wasn't doing much with them, and I think he needs some more twitch movements and stuff like that. But some people here are acting like he was a horrible ball handler - which I think he is clearly not. There is room to grow here.
He still scored a ton of points. Single handily beat the rockets in the playoffs a few games. Looking he has scored more points than John Stockton, Dwight Howard and Steph Curry.
You said potential doesn't always lead to success and I was just pointing out all 3 prospects had a strong base to build from. Well how do we know the bolded before a player steps on the NBA court?
I saw a stat somewhere that his finishing at the rim when Kessler was off the floor was elite. So the poor finishing could be scheme not talent and that goes in line with your observations.
Kessler shot 20% from 3P. He was also 59% from FT. He may be a 3P threat one day. Maybe. But he sure was NOT a 3P threat at Auburn. More narrative BS.
yea that was me who brought up the splits on twitter and a much better account who provided the stats. watch some of the UCONN game above. Kessler was spacing the floor a bit more than normal and it opened up some lanes. I don't think Pearl felt comfortable letting his team try stuff in games after that one. They lost and would go on a big win streak after. Very stringently ran team, I do believe a looser free flowing system will be incredible for Jabari's development. It's wild how little Jabari got set up by team mates. They didn't even do pick and pops with him often based on my rewatch of his tapes. I'm such a ****ing homer.
I believe so too. Jalen Green is only going to get better and defenses will have to focus on him more this season. Jabari should get plenty of good looks. What the Rockets need most right now is what he's already great at doing; great defense (which creates more offense) and someone who can hit shots.
