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Jabari Smith Jr. is the Rockets' franchise player

Discussion in 'Houston Rockets: Game Action & Roster Moves' started by Houston77, Jul 7, 2023.

  1. peleincubus

    peleincubus Member

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    Ahh ok i understand. I remember that draft night as well. I was also bummed they traded him away.
     
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  2. roslolian

    roslolian Member

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    With Jabari's 25M deal he can stay the same player and still be a valued player on this team. He can play 3 positions and provide solid defense, rebounding and spacing. Its not flashy but contenders always on the lookout for people like him even old ass washed guys like Al Horford and Jeff Green still get offers due to how impactful they are.

    Posters here always like to act like every player is paid the same amount of money but the reality is the expectations from them should be based on their salary. For example between Scottie Barnes and Jabari most casuals will say Scottie is way better but when you consider Barnes is making almost twice what Jabari does while only being marginally better it is clear Jabari is better overall.

    In the past teams can just pay luxury tax and ignore the cap so you just need to look at which player is better. But now with cap limitations its better to get the slightly worse player if he also ends up a lot cheaper. Jabari's new deal is so cheap I dont think he ever gets moved.
     
    #2462 roslolian, Aug 27, 2025 at 3:56 PM
    Last edited: Aug 27, 2025 at 4:05 PM
  3. Arnel

    Arnel Member

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    I was more than bummed. I couldn't sleep literally that entire night and kept reading about the trade, and in the morning went to my first ever yoga session to blow off some steam LOL
     
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  4. Arnel

    Arnel Member

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    who cares
     
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  5. Stephen_A

    Stephen_A Member

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    well this is what he’s been up to. Still skinny. But working on a post game and using the body to bump.

     
  6. RB713

    RB713 Member

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    Don’t want him suspended like Brian Cushing bruh.
     
  7. roslolian

    roslolian Member

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    With star players already getting injured left and right and with plummeting ratings I dont think NBA gonna shoot their own foot by cracking down and exposing roiding players.
     
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  8. Dobbizzle

    Dobbizzle Member

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    Yeah that's fine, let him stay skinny. As long as he doesn't get power we should be ok I think. If he ever figures out he's basically a taller version of Ja and consistently starts jumping over people then we'll need him traded from the Suns. If he stays trying to shoot step back 3's and crappy middies we're probably good lol.
     
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  9. glimmertwins

    glimmertwins Member

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    I was just bummed we missed out on the comedic opportunity of the Rudy Gay/Luther Head draft class.
     
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  10. glimmertwins

    glimmertwins Member

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    Say what you want about Jalen but he always delivers with the offseason workout videos. I know his name is mud on the board here, but props to the guy for improving physically every offseason.....Unfortunately the area he needed to improve at is between the ears but maybe it will start to sync in around game 600 of his career.
     
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  11. glimmertwins

    glimmertwins Member

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    Spot on analysis - especially about the new cap rules!

    Real contenders are built in one of two ways. Either you have the best player on the court - a legit top 5 guy.....OR you have a few good but not elite stars(at least a couple of top 30 guys) and you NAIL the value part of the equation when filling out your roster. Jabari definitely is one of those guys with this contract with modest gains to his game and if he has any kind of bigger leap in his game(and I suspect he will this year), he will be SUPER valuable to this team.

    I'm still somewhat concerned that while we have Durant, we still lack that long term offensive cog on this team. There is time here to see if Alpi, Amen, maybe Reed grow into more complete offensive players but if that doesn't happen - I think a guy like Jabari becomes potentially one of those valuable trade chips.
     
  12. MystikArkitect

    Supporting Member

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    Cushing was innocent. Overtrained athlete syndrome buddy.
     

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