Jabari’s offensive ceiling is limited. The elite offensive players are heliocentric playmakers that can score and also run the entire offense. Jabari is not that archetype and that’s why Paolo got drafted #1, because he is. Jabari’s upside is going to come on the defensive end, because he has no weaknesses there and the ceiling is through the roof. He is disruptive on the perimeter and can switch out to guards, he was 90% percentile in post defense which should translate after putting on a few pounds, and his shot blocking was underrated at Auburn playing next to Kessler. Next to Sengun I expect Jabari to turn into a legit rim protector. Even with his relatively limited offense, if he becomes an all nba defender that’s an allstar. If he becomes DPOY he’s close to a superstar. I will say though, as others have noted, while he lacks the handles for a dribble drive or ability to put pressure on the rim, he draws a surprisingly high amount of fouls. He has craftiness in his game despite being just a jump shooter, he’s got the KD swing through arms move down pat and an array of pump fakes to get his guy in the air because his shot is so respected and hard to block. Which is to say, there are some elements of a “scorer” in there besides just spot up shooting.
Bullet reference was hyperbole but you're not dampening my mood brother. Rockets Nation will love this kid soon enough. If they don't already. And FYI - bottom line is still bottom line. For all his flaws, Jabari is near elite in many more areas than Paolo. Including FT rate and FT%.
I think you summarize it well. There are archetypes for what a superstar Jabari might look like. Dirk with defense. LMA with 3 point shooting and better defense. LMA was a 7x all star, 3x all nba third team. KG with better 3 point shooting, slightly worse defense and passing, Chris Bosh with better shooting and defense but fewer post soon moves. there is the potential to say I want MOAR!! Give me those guys plus strong, consistent dribble drives and kick outs. Sure that’d be cool. I think he Likely to develop a bit of this but more so if he reaches the “ultimate” upside it’s Dirk with defense. Dirk was a 14x all star, 12x all nba team member (James Harden has 7 of these so would need 5 more to match Dirk), MVP, etc. their games are so similar. Using their height and shooting prowess to get into a series of crafty small moves to get to their spot, hit efficiently, create occasionally, stretch the floor, dribble drive occasionally. Dirk shot 9 fts/g his peak season too. Do I think this final form likely… well, no. But there’s no reason I’m saying no other than probability. There are not a lot of Dirks… but then there’s not a lot of top 25 all time players lol… just 25 of them and they’re all somewhat unique. but that’s type of final form that would be the superstar level Jabari and it’d be amazing.
You know...after some time of analyzing the kid, it's escaped me who he reminds me of. The sort of stiff yet purposeful body, the cat like reflexes on defense, the fluid post moves. He seems a bit stiff but fluid at the same time. Idk why but he at times reminds me of a young Dream. Weird to say but they both have kind of similar mechanics, especially in the mid to low post. Wiry and lanky but smooth. I saw one play where he did a post spin move into a one handed psuedo shot put lay in that was straight up Hakeem. Obviously not the same player but if you squint kinda hard....
I don't think this is necessarily true. Dirk wasn't a guy who ran the entire offense and I wouldn't call him a central playmaker in the sense of running the offense either. Neither was peak Lamarcus Aldridge. And really, Durant isn't that type of player either but these guys are/were definitely elite offensive players. There's different ways to accomplish that goal as an "elite" offensive player. Jabari's pathway to becoming an elite offensive player isn't going to be the same as Paolo's...But he could technically end up being the better offensive player when it's said and done. If you can give Jabari the ball on the wing or elbow and he can make shots a very high percentage using short area moves like step backs, one/two dribble pulls ups, jab steps, post moves, ect... Not to mention if he commits to learning how to move off ball to get himself open looks as well... The pathway to being an "elite" offensive player is there even if he never is a guy stringing together multiple dribbles and playmaking in that sense.
Maybe this is an out there comp but what about Peja Stojakovic with defense and more athleticism? Edit... as I'm rewatching Jabari highlights he does have a lot of Durant in his game. I was remembering at UT how Durant's handles were questionable then too. He doesn't need to have Kyrie level handles to be extremely successful with his shot and how quickly he can get it off. I do agree he doesn't have the same fluidity as Durant did back in college
Maybe because Rockets fans have been watching Harden for so long, they assume that superstar offensive players have to be ball-dominant dribble penetrating, playmaking scorer. (BTW, maybe that's why people here do not think Curry could carry his own team because Curry while has good handle isn't that kind of ball dominant play maker.) But there are other types of offensive superstars. I still think that Dirk is the best ceiling comp for Jabari on the offensive side. Big jump shooter who isn't much of a ball handler or passer.
A player don't have to score in multiple ways to be valuable in the NBA. A healthy Klay Thompson isn't a de facto franchise/alpha guy but he's definitely an irreplaceable player. You need guys like that and Jabari can be that guy. If Jabari's "limitation" on offense is that he can't score from everywhere on the court at the age of 19 then we're really just picking nits here.
100% this. We can't keep using Harden as the bar for how a franchise player should play or look like. I loved James but he wasn't perfect by any means. It's okay to NOT be a ball-dominant franchise player. We saw how difficult it was on Harden and on the team to have him try and will the franchise to the Finals. We're seeing it now with Luka in Dallas.
@Nook mentioned how valuable Jabari will be once we get into the playoffs and hopefully start making deep runs…His shooting and scoring ability however that may be will be very very valuable. I also keep seeing comments about how Jabari can’t / won’t be able to have the offense run thru him or he can’t / won’t be able to create his own offense…while that may be true and imo it’s false…that is a very good thing! Jabari doesn’t have to exert a ton of energy on the offensive side to get his shot off or score. And that is a very valuable asset to have…especially in deep playoff runs. He doesn’t have to run all over the place he doesn’t have to have the all in his hands and he doesn’t have to dribble dribble dribble iso to have his way. It’s very simple turn around post up or 2-3 dribble and bucket. And other variety of ways.
The highlights actually look pretty similar - more similar, than I was expecting. But highlights always look good - KD put up way better numbers- And he does look quicker than Jabari. But really, I don't think anybodys expects Jabari to turn into KD. But if he can turn into KD light on offense, and maybe even a little better on defense, that would be a huge win. He won't ever be as good at shot creation, especially of the dribble - but I do believe he can improve in that area and be decent. I think he will be considered as an elite defender and shooter, and good shot creator and passer. And that would be great.
Maybe I am crazy, but call me crazy. We could have a Giannis on our hands with a shot if he builds his body in a similar manner…
Giannis in terms of the way they play/score or in terms of build? if it's the latter...perhaps? If it's the former, I highly doubt it.
IMO, there have been a lot of all-time greats who possess some of Jabari’s weaknesses, in different positions too. Performance-wise, I see Jabari’s ceiling somewhat like Kawhi’s: a great two way player who probably wont be in the running for the sexy awards, like season mvp, but once the playiffs come, his skills shine brightest and win close, tough games. And that’s something that has been sorely missing for us. Imagine it was Jabari’s sky high release in those last two posessions against the Warriors when Dwight got here. Those probably don’t get blocked, like James’. Or maybe it’s his defense switching unto Dame in the perimeter, preventing .9 from happening. Not saying those don’t happen and he automatically wins us championships. Just think that his ceiling is a player who does a lot of great, hard to find little things that impact winning, and that sounds amazing to me.
