Jabari is only 22 years old. He has still room for improvement. On a decent long term contract. What's not to like?
Players have good games, and they have bad games. That’s the nature of playing an 82-game season. It’s especially true for 22 year olds. You’ll have less stress if you don’t overreact to the highs and lows.
I've always said that 2nd or 3rd tier stars whose game is ball-dominant are the most dangerous kind of player to have. They are not good enough to carry a team but can't be anything other than first option. Players like Trae Young, Ja Morant, and LeMelo Ball are like that. A high end role player might be a better choice.
Even a Durant or LBJ could not carry a team full of scrubs in these few years. Times have changed, the bench crew just finds ways to blow games open and dudes enjoy playing stifling Defense again. You are right that potent young stars on the bench and on good contracts are the way to go but this 'Carrying a whole team narrative' got to vanish as well. They are actors in a leading role in an ensemble, that is all.
Jabari usually starts the season poorly. He was putrid in the first two months last season. I think he will really start to shine around december. He's getting more shots this year, and earlier in the game. If he hits his first 2 shots, then it's a long night for the opposing team. Jabari just needs to stay healthy. That means less drives please. His every drive against the Raptors gave me a scare because it looked like an ankle sprain waiting to happen.
It was interesting to see him actually look good on several fairly high-difficulty drives against the Raps, by the way Drive into short-middy, drive into pass for the assist, transition drive into a eurostep through traffic for a contested layup. Maybe there is some hope for him that area.
