Rockets sign Jabari Smith Jr. to 5-year, $122M extension

sssssllloooowwww down... I said "I think". I forgot to add "at a minimum"... I remember at the time, I thought it was too much to move up to #1 pick obvi

If it turned out to be #2, #23/#24, + DET pick, I prolly could have lived with that (back then), but if IIRC it was a crazy ask.

So I wanted Mobley.

 

Not too bad. I expect him to have a good year. He should get a ton of open shots with all the attention KD & Alpi will draw.

 

TBH I think Jabari is the weak spot of the starting lineup. I would even start Finney Smith to begin the season. Jabari either needs to bulk up or take lessons from KD.

 

I think he's already better than DFS in most ways honestly. But sure, he's definitely the 5th starter on this roster, assuming FVV's shooting bounces back to its career norms. Hopefully Jabari can get a little stronger this offseason like you said, and get more consistent with his shooting.

 

Nah. Finny can pump fake drive and lay with either hand. He is also a dawg defensively, he stripped Amen.

Jabari gets abused by Buddy Hield. Steph chest bumped him into the third row.

 

Yeah, Bari needs more sand in his pants no doubt. Even still, Jabari is easily the better rebounder, I guess due to his height. DFS also looks like he lost a step, Jabari is more switchable at this point IMO. As far as shooting goes, DFS was better last season, but Jabari was better the season before that and should be on an upward trajectory (hopefully). I'd call it a wash right now on floor spacing.

In any case, I don't think we paid Jabari $122M to come off the bench

 

Lineup next year

Sengun
Bari
Durant
Amen
Fvv

 

Not a bad fifth option though. He's somewhat of a glue guy like Ariza but it'd be nice if he was an above average scorer. Think he's already an above average defender; hope he's all defensive team great like Amen.

 

Ime don't know offense. And I like Jalen but he wasn't passing the ball for S**t. Sengun wasn't much himself for kicking the ball out. Itr'll be interesting to see if there's enough shots to go around next year.

 

So what is the expectation from Bari next year?

My guess - 16 pts / 9 rebs / 2.5 ast / 2 stocks
46% FG% / 38% 3PT % / 82% FT%

 

Depends how passive he is and how efficiently he shoots the ball. 16 ppg might be a stretch.

 

It'll probably be Capela at the 5 with Bari coming off the bench while Sengun starts at the 4. Bari is currently a lackluster redundancy of Durant but isn't strong enough to be a 4.

 

LOL, this is 100% wrong.

If you are being sarcastic, forgive me.

 

At the time there were big debates between each fanbase as to who would be the best big.

The funny thing is I think Orlando fans wanted Bari more than Paolo and here we wanted Paolo more than Bari but I think that's just because the mock drafts originally had Orlando taking Bari up until like the last day lol. So I think it was just both fanbases locking in on who was mocked to them for most of the time.

Personally, I was cool with either of them but I was wary of Chet because of his injury concerns. I don't really remember caring either way. I do remember I was big on Mobley > Jalen (I never toot my horn on that one) and was all in on Amen too just because I felt like he had the highest possible upside outside of Scoot and Wemby in that draft.

As they stand now. Paolo IMO is the best of the bunch, he has the bigger role being the #1 option on a playoff team while Chet is the #3 option and some nights just basically a role player. Chet IMO is a bit overrated, I see multi-time all-star for sure but people compare him to Wemby and nah...he don't got it like that. Wemby can legit put the ball on the floor and will be a top 10 player and MVP candidate health willing.

As for Bari, I still think he has a lot of potential and I hope we start to see more of that and I do think, on paper at least, he'll play better with KD than he did with Jalen. So we'll see.

But yeah I see nothing wrong with that statement especially considering it was in reference to the draft. Those three were definitely interchangeable and I remember the mood around here was that we better take whoever falls to us. Like there weren't people here (despite some who claim it) that were saying draft Jalen Williams at #3 and everyone liked the Bari pick when it was made but I do think most preferred Paolo, not that it mattered.

 

Jabari was 21, DFs is 32. Calm down.

 

Truly feels that dawg thing got out of hand.

 

Paolo is the best playmaker out of Chet and Jabari, hands down, that is what Orlando was seeking.

He might not even be the best scorer but promising.

Team him up with another playmaker like Franz, they have Double Dragon for years.

 

The best player in the 2022 class is JDub. I am not sure who I like more between Paolo and Jabari, I mean sure Paolo plays like the no 1 option but the dude is so inefficient. Him and Jabari actually have the same efficiency, think about that the no 1 option and the role player on Rockets score at the same rate lol.

When you consider Paolo is gonna make the super max while Jabari is only making a cool 25M you know what I'd take Jabari over both Paolo and Chet. Chet esp has had major injuries 2 of the 3 yrs he has played so far. That dude is gonna be Bill Walton 2.0.

 

Paolo def has playmaking potential but I dont think the gap between him and Jabari is worth a super max. I dont see Magic doing anything in the Banchero era they are paying 2 super maxes to 2 guys who should prob be a 2nd option.

 

I wouldn't trade Amen for Cade + Ausar.

He pretty much is Cade + Ausar plus other stuff.