https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/3365655/2022/06/16/nba-draft-2022-top-75-prospects/ Hollinger: Tier 1: The two biggest fish in a medium-size pond 1. Jabari Smith Jr. | 6-10 freshman | PF | Auburn Smith is an unusual player for a top overall pick because he didn’t always dominate games athletically. He had unusually low rates of rebounds, blocks and steals for a prospect of this caliber and shot just 43.9 percent on 2s in SEC games. (Reminder: I often rely on stats in conference games because they winnow out the early-season joke games against St. Leo’s and Incarnate Word.) So what’s the case for Smith? Let’s start with his jumper, which is just smooth as butter. Smith might have the best shooting form of any prospect I’ve evaluated since Michael Porter Jr. launching perfect parabolas toward the rim and having the footwork to get into this stroke during live play. At a legit 6-10, Smith can rise over anybody and launch, providing something of an offensive cheat code that should set up the rest of his game as he develops. Meanwhile, his athletic gifts are also pretty significant. Some of his defensive clips had me cackling, yelling, “Noooooo don’t do it!” at my monitor while some rando college guard decided to try his luck isoing Smith off the dribble. Smith can slide his feet like a guard, plus his length allows him to play a half step farther off dribblers and cut off any driving angles. He sometimes gives a little too much cushion and will need to play closer in the pros, but his switchability at the pro level seems rock solid. He also rarely gets faked off his feet, a bugaboo for a lot of bigs who otherwise can hold up on switches. Quick, hard changes of direction occasionally leave him a step behind, but he also has the “catch-up” ability to get back in the play and block shots from behind. With his body still filling out, Smith has a low post defense that’s maybe not quite as clinical. Opponents could duck in and get position, especially when Walker Kessler was off the floor and Smith had to play the five, and he didn’t contest their shots as aggressively as you might hope. Adding some muscle obviously will help here, but I’d be leery of playing him much at the five in the NBA until he adds more lower body strength. Finally, there’s the age issue. With a May 2003 birthdate, Smith is six months younger than Banchero and a full year younger than Holmgren. He’s physically young too, as he’s still pretty clearly growing into his body. In a draft without a surefire future All-Star, he seems the one most likely to earn that honor. https://www.si.com/nba/2022/06/15/nba-draft-big-board-jabari-smith-paolo-banchero-top-100-rankings Jeremy Woo(then at SI, now at ESPN) 1. Jabari Smith Jr., F, Auburn | Freshman Height: 6' 10" | Weight: 220 | Age: 19 | Last rank: 1 Smith’s combination of elite, translatable strengths makes him a special prospect, and the simplicity of his game is still a bit underappreciated: Hisadvanced mechanics and touch give him a chance to be one of the best jump shooters in the NBA; he’s an agile defender who will be able to switch across the position spectrum; and he’s an extremely focused competitor. There aren’t many jumbo-sized scorers who create space with the threat of their shot and also shrink it for opponents as a defender the way Smith can. He has to improve his ball-handling and work on creating separation from defenders to maximize his considerable potential, but his jumper is balanced and consistent, and he won’t need to waste dribbles to score efficiently. While he didn’t get to the rim a ton in college, that issue feels more situation-dependent than a fatal flaw. Smith has strong instincts and few bad habits, and could be one of the league’s most dangerous shooters and versatile defenders by the time he hits his prime.
Jabroni's Dad definitely bought them mu****ers, none of that **** resembles the actual player we've seen for 2 years.
I don't really believe that to be honest. Seems like a very resilient player to me. Just young and figuring things out.
Alperen was benched for Brunos and others. Still he proved himself from scratch. Jabari was given starter position from day 1, thanks to his dad.. and he never proved himself. so dont try to put blame on others. It has been two+ seasons now. no change in his game.
this is insulting to harrison. he's closer to Brian Cook. Harrison has top 1% athleticism in the NBA. Jabari is so unathletic that he needs to fade away against the likes of Tre Mann. I still remember him last week fading against Shai and getting hilariously stuffed and Shai isn't even considered athletic and he's like 6'4.
Just need him to be a 3 and D specialist and one of those guys who can be effective without having the ball. Anything extra would be a bonus. Need guys that dont need the ball all the time. We have Amen, Reed, Green, Cam, Tari and Sengun. Not enough ball to go around.
His problem aside from a lack of offensive talent is that he thinks he can be a star, and so he doesn't want to play like a 3 & D roleplayer.
I don't know about that. If he was thinking that he's going to be a star, he would have been more aggressive, constantly looking to get his. But he's the opposite of aggressive. His most glaring problem is being too passive and never really asserting himself.
lol Chet just dominating, Paolo is a superstar and here we are hoping our prized 3rd pick can eventually become a 4th option at best.
