Jabari Smith’s could be one of the league’s best young sixth men… Why not try it out?
This is the second time this season I have written about Jabari Smith, so it may seem like picking on him. I am not, but we’ve got to talk, TDS family.
Jabari Smith Jr. has not been great. There is no metric that suggests otherwise. Whether it is good old traditional box score or advanced statistics or the plain old eye test, he has not been great. Jabari is a -5 in plus-minus this season, and that is thanks to a +15 and a +18 on the ledger in against the Spurs and Grizzlies, respectively.
Jabari has a PER in of 11.2, where the league average is 15. His defensive rating is 109.9, which is right at the league average of about 110, but forget all that… watch him play. Does he look like a confident NBA player to you? When Jabari takes a wide-open shot, do you feel like it is more than likely that he is going to make it or miss?
Let me ask the same question I asked all of you about Dillon Brooks in my last piece. Does Jabari Smith Jr. do anything markedly better than his obvious replacements of either Tari Eason or Amen Thompson?
Amen Thompson has a PER of 17.2, Tari’s PER is 22.8, Amen is a +38 plus-minus this season. Tari is a +81, but forget all that… watch them play. When Tari and Amen Thompson are on the floor, you expect good things to happen, and they do.
Maybe Jabari Smith Jr. is playing out of position with this team? Maybe the space on the floor that he would flourish in is being occupied by Alperen Sengun? Maybe he needs to take more than nine shots a game to get into a rhythm?
I do not know if any of those things are the case, but I think it could be worth looking at bringing Jabari off the bench and see if he may be able to flourish in that role. Play him more in the pick-and-roll and give him an opportunity to pick-and-pop and score from the mid range.
His defensive versatility allows him to guard multiple positions and coming off the bench that could be an advantage to him as he may be guarding more bench players than starters. This could be a fantastic opportunity for Jabari to gain some more confidence. If there is one thing I do not see when I watch Jabari Smith Jr. play, it’s confidence.
I think Thompson or Eason would be a viable option to replace him in the starting lineup, and I think Jabari could still be a part of a strong second unit along with whichever of those two remain on the bench. Jabari could still see himself on the floor late in games as Ime Udoka seems to like him in the role of the center in late situations. What could it hurt to give it a look?
The argument could be made that the Rockets are 8–4, and if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. My argument would be, as we saw when the Rockets took on the Oklahoma City Thunder both in the preseason and regular season, there are levels to this. The Rockets offense has been in the middle of the pack so far this season, ranked 14th, while their defense is ranked fourth currently. Any improvement in their offense could see this team take major leaps forward.
There is little doubt that more minutes for Thompson and Eason, who are both excellent offensively and defensively would make this team better. I don’t think the Rockets should give up on Jabari Smith Jr., but they should try to find a way to put him in better position to be more successful.
I like Jabari and I want him to do well in a Houston Rockets uniform. I’d hate for him to become one of those draft picks that moves on and hits their stride for another team. He works hard and I think it’s very evident that he cares. No one can accuse him of not playing hard, but when he plays… it looks hard. Not like it’s the game he’s been playing all his life. If he can find his role and excel in it, then the sky really is the limit for the Rockets. I believe that role very well may be coming off the bench playing the majority of his minutes backing up Alperen Sengun.