Though he averaged 14.4 points and 9.4 rebounds in 29.7 minutes while excelling on defense, rookie forward Jabari Smith Jr. wasn’t a strong shooter in summer league for the Houston Rockets. He shot just 37.7% overall and 25.9% on 3-pointers over five games in Las Vegas, which doesn’t mesh with pre-draft scouting reports that raved over his form.
But there were some extenuating circumstances for the No. 3 overall pick of the 2022 first round, and it goes beyond simply a small sample size. On the Game Theory podcast, The Athletic’s NBA draft guru, Sam Vecenie, explained while speaking with fellow draft analyst Adam Spinella.
“Offensively, I think there’s been some consternation because of the shot creation,” Vecenie said. “It looks like what we thought it would look like, basically. It’s not polished, his handle is still quite loose. His passing has been a little bit better than what we’ve seen at Auburn.”
“But a big part of Jabari’s value proposition is his spacing, and his ability to consistently knock down shots,” Vecenie added. “Up until that last game, Houston’s guards have just been horrible in terms of distribution. There’s just not another way to say it. They have not done nearly a good enough job of getting him the ball in the right spots, to where he can be successful. It is what it is. When Josh Christopher is up there chucking 30 shots every 36 minutes, it’s a disaster.”
Spinella largely concurred with that assessment, and he made it clear that he expects improvement once Smith plays with Jalen Green on Houston’s real roster, as opposed to one comprised of summer league guards.
Spinella’s comments:
At the end of the day, I’m just a really, really big fan of how Jabari Smith has defended. The shot is going to fall. He’s going to play with guards who put him in good positions.
If you’re looking long-term at the pillars of the organization in Houston, Jalen Green and Jabari Smith together, it’s a really good combo because they complement each other so well. Somebody who wants to guard on one end in the way that Jabari does, and then the floor spacing to be maybe a little bit more of a complementary piece (on offense) while Jalen plays with the ball in his hand.
I’d love to see late clock pick-and-pops with those guys, and ghost actions, and all the different Xs and Os things that a really smart mind like (Stephen) Silas can do.
I’m not discouraged by the (offensive) stuff with Jabari because a lot of us saw this in the pre-draft process as some areas that he needed to continue to work on. It’s probably not an issue that’s going to get solved in four or five months during a pre-draft process. It is going to be a longer process, to where he’s not a No. 1 or No. 2 option on an NBA team in his first year. He’s just a really good floor spacer, he defends, and on a night where he goes mercurial from 3, you’re winning that game because of him.
The complete podcast episode can be listened to below, with the Smith discussion starting at approximately the 38:50 mark.
