[2022 NBA Draft/1-3] Jabari Smith Jr., F, Auburn

I’m not worried. He can and will shoot over just about anybody and that’s perfect for the switch everything modern NBA

 

Midrange pick and pop with him and Sengun will be interesting

 

Sarcasm is easily detected on the internet.
See what I did there?

 

You're saying that they weren't passing to him...because he is a play finisher...?
If so, that doesn't make a lot of sense.

 

Im saying he isn’t going to take charge at this juncture. Chet and Paolo (especially the latter) are far less reliant on people passing to them.

 

That makes sense, and that's part of what I like about Jabari's game. He's the quintessential Robin.

If we can get another creator/scorer through the draft or natural improvement, I think we can have something nice going on. Especially if that scorer ends up being a big man or a dynamic point guard. Coaches will be salivating over the possibilities.

 

Because he isn’t always going to be able to rely on others creating open looks for him.

All I’m saying is I hope he becomes an improved player in handling the ball and 1v1 situations because ideally you want a multifaceted player at a top 3 pick and not a spot up shooter.

 

Let’s use hindsight and pick an anomaly hall of fame player.

Regardless of what Jabari ends up being, the criticisms are warranted.

Much like Jalen’s were early on last season. He’s flourish since then and I hope Jabari does the same.

 

How is the criticism warranted? He is not supposed to be a primary ball handler. He is not supposed to be a primary facilitator. He doesn't need to do either things to rise above his defender and shoot. That is what he is; a shooter and a scorer. I truly do not comprehend why people are suddenly obsessed with this idea of bigs needing to know how to handle the ball like guards.

 

He is a multifaceted player. Elite defense is a facet. Elite shooting is a facet. He has a body that looks a lot like a skinny Giannis and with his work ethic he will fill out nicely. He doesn’t need to create his own shot. We have Green, KPJ, and Sengun. Two are incredible scorer and the other passes and has a bbiq rarely seen for a 19 year old. There is no definition of what a top 3 pick has to be. Multi time defensive 1st or 2nd team with one of the best 3 pt shots to come out in decades is plenty good enough.

 

Your mistake is falling in love with KPJ and Sengun when we are still one of the worst teams in the league.

We need the best talent, not the best fit.

 

I think he was just being too polite and that won't continue.

 

Because they are highly valuable and some of the best NBA players are wings and bigger that can create and score.

As I said above, we should be drafting for superstar potential, not fit potential at this stage.

I will root for Jabari and I don’t think the rockets did any wrong in drafting him.

 

Maybe, but I also don’t think he can do what Paolo and Chet can do at this stage (in the context of shot creation).

 

He can't, but he showed last night that he can create. I'm not worried about that, he just turned 19. He can/will improve a lot as long as he stays healthy.

 

In his first year he is going to need someone to give him the ball, because our guards are ball hoggers. Many top NBA analyst warned that if Jabari goes to Houston he would have a hard time getting in the offense because the guards in Houston are selfish. That's why I wanted Ben Simmons in a trade because he can setup easy shots for him. Jabari reminds me of Mobley....Mobley is very passive of asking for the ball as Jabari but Cleveland helped Mobley with Rubio....we do not have a Rubio.

 

All the top 3 prospects will improve as long as they are healthy.

 

Nope.

 

You mean the Ben Simmons that hasn't played in virtually 2 years?

 

I am not sure, what we are critizing? He played one summer league game so far. In this game he drove to the basket several times - that was (and still is) a question mark about his game. He wasn‘t demanding the ball more and put his stamp on the game - but you can see him waving his arms to signal the guards he is open multiple times and the guards ignoring him. He only shot 40% - well yeah, a shooter can have an off night, but if just one more three had went in, he would‘ve sat at 50%.

Don‘t get me wrong, he didn‘t have a good game - but I wouldn‘t look for holes in his game off of one summer league game with other players, that don‘t want to pass the ball (he was pretty close to being the assist leader).

Let‘s wait with „warranted criticisms“ until he has played a couple of games in the real league after ha had training camp. And even then, he just turned 19, it will be a process for him - just as it was for Green. So let‘s not go overboard with criticisms…