Jabari Smith Jr. - Auburn

[SNPA]

He is a fine player once you accept he is just a 4th or 5th starter type of player. That might be fine in Houston but in general him being a top 3 pick he is a pretty big disappointment as a prospect.

This. The Harrison Barnes comp is interesting. What’s the value of a taller, bit better defensively, Barnes worth? I’d say a solid amount. Is that what you want with the third pick? No. But the draft is long over. Sac would love to have a guy like Smith.

[Chi town]

He is a fine player once you accept he is just a 4th or 5th starter type of player. That might be fine in Houston but in general him being a top 3 pick he is a pretty big disappointment as a prospect.

This. The Harrison Barnes comp is interesting. What’s the value of a taller, bit better defensively, Barnes worth? I’d say a solid amount. Is that what you want with the third pick? No. But the draft is long over. Sac would love to have a guy like Smith.

Kangz have their own 4th pick disappointment.

Better than our 4th pick Pat Williams head case overpaid bust. That could be Jabari tho if he gets a bag.

[Dat2U]

The comp is Obi Toppin. Both are upright, stiff and have narrow hips... neither will do anything offensively off the dribble and are regulated to low volume, catch & shoot roles.

[greg4012]

He is a fine player once you accept he is just a 4th or 5th starter type of player. That might be fine in Houston but in general him being a top 3 pick he is a pretty big disappointment as a prospect.

This. The Harrison Barnes comp is interesting. What’s the value of a taller, bit better defensively, Barnes worth? I’d say a solid amount. Is that what you want with the third pick? No. But the draft is long over. Sac would love to have a guy like Smith.

Barnes' handle and passing are like Steve Nash compared to Jabari's

[EvanZ]

If you transported Robert Horry to 2025 he'd look a lot like Jabari.

[JMAC3]

If you transported Robert Horry to 2025 he'd look a lot like Jabari.

Is this supposed to be a good thing? Horry was a 5th option, bench player who averaged 7 ppg for his career while shooting 34% from three.

I mean if the bar for success is now for the #3 pick to fail on his first team so he can become the 8th man on a title team someday than sure, great pick.

[EvanZ]

If you transported Robert Horry to 2025 he'd look a lot like Jabari.

Is this supposed to be a good thing? Horry was a 5th option, bench player who averaged 7 ppg for his career while shooting 34% from three.

I mean if the bar for success is now for the #3 pick to fail on his first team so he can become the 8th man on a title team someday than sure, great pick.

No. You could have just left it at that and asked me if I meant it to be a good thing. But of course you had to assume it was some weird 4D chess compliment.

[SeattleJazzFan]

especially when talking about one and dones, often times the difference between a meh type player and a star is improvement and as long as the guy is an otherwise hard worker (which jabari seems to be), that is impossible for anybody from a NBA GM to the fat ass draft geek sitting in his mom's basement to evaluate/predict. Jabari had/has the tools, but if you don't get better from the time your rookie/second season to your 5th or 6th season, you are probably going to be a bust. now he is only three seasons in, but it's not an encouraging trajectory.

the point is, if you missed on Jabari, it's not as if you were wrong about his ability or the kind of player he was, it's that that player didn't get better which is beyond anybody's ability to predict.

[babyjax13]

especially when talking about one and dones, often times the difference between a meh type player and a star is improvement and as long as the guy is an otherwise hard worker (which jabari seems to be), that is impossible for anybody from a NBA GM to the fat ass draft geek sitting in his mom's basement to evaluate/predict. Jabari had/has the tools, but if you don't get better from the time your rookie/second season to your 5th or 6th season, you are probably going to be a bust. now he is only three seasons in, but it's not an encouraging trajectory.

the point is, if you missed on Jabari, it's not as if you were wrong about his ability or the kind of player he was, it's that that player didn't get better which is beyond anybody's ability to predict.

Yes and no. I think the things we missed on (those of us who were high on him as #1 or #2 in the draft) was how hard it is for players to develop functional ball handling. Or me, who was totally wrong, and assumed he would be doing a lot more from the high post because he did in high school (I was envisioning a role like Al Horford, but not as good at passing). Either way, he still is a valuable archetype in the NBA as a floor spacing 4/5 that offers some secondary rim protection. He is far from the most valuable of that archetype, but I think most if not all teams would be happy to have him in their rotation given that skillset.

[tmorgan]

The comp is Obi Toppin. Both are upright, stiff and have narrow hips... neither will do anything offensively off the dribble and are regulated to low volume, catch & shoot roles.

Except Obi is a really bad defender (by eyes and by truly awful D stats), while Jabari is a good one (eyes and stats again).

Adding good defense to Obi Toppin makes a very good player. Not a star, not exactly what you want picking third, but still a good player.

[Braggins]

especially when talking about one and dones, often times the difference between a meh type player and a star is improvement and as long as the guy is an otherwise hard worker (which jabari seems to be), that is impossible for anybody from a NBA GM to the fat ass draft geek sitting in his mom's basement to evaluate/predict. Jabari had/has the tools, but if you don't get better from the time your rookie/second season to your 5th or 6th season, you are probably going to be a bust. now he is only three seasons in, but it's not an encouraging trajectory.

the point is, if you missed on Jabari, it's not as if you were wrong about his ability or the kind of player he was, it's that that player didn't get better which is beyond anybody's ability to predict.

Yeah, this is something I was going to mention. I didn't pay any attention to this draft class so I have no predraft opinion on Jabari, but Ive been watching a lot of Houston games since he was drafted and he really just has not developed much at all since coming into the league, which is not something that can really be predicted unless a guy has obvious character or work ethic issues, which doesn't seem to be the case with Jabari.

[K_chile22]

The comp is Obi Toppin. Both are upright, stiff and have narrow hips... neither will do anything offensively off the dribble and are regulated to low volume, catch & shoot roles.

Except Obi is a really bad defender (by eyes and by truly awful D stats), while Jabari is a good one (eyes and stats again).

Adding good defense to Obi Toppin makes a very good player. Not a star, not exactly what you want picking third, but still a good player.

As someone whos not really a fan of either of those two I don't think their offensive games are similar at all either, very weird comp

[JMAC3]

The comp is Obi Toppin. Both are upright, stiff and have narrow hips... neither will do anything offensively off the dribble and are regulated to low volume, catch & shoot roles.

Except Obi is a really bad defender (by eyes and by truly awful D stats), while Jabari is a good one (eyes and stats again).

Adding good defense to Obi Toppin makes a very good player. Not a star, not exactly what you want picking third, but still a good player.

As someone whos not really a fan of either of those two I don't think their offensive games are similar at all either, very weird comp

Never a fan of which 2?

[Dat2U]

The comp is Obi Toppin. Both are upright, stiff and have narrow hips... neither will do anything offensively off the dribble and are regulated to low volume, catch & shoot roles.

Except Obi is a really bad defender (by eyes and by truly awful D stats), while Jabari is a good one (eyes and stats again).

Adding good defense to Obi Toppin makes a very good player. Not a star, not exactly what you want picking third, but still a good player.

As someone whos not really a fan of either of those two I don't think their offensive games are similar at all either, very weird comp

Their body types are very similar which is where my comparison is coming from. The limitations of their body type force them into off-ball low usage roles, however different you perceive those roles to be.

[mattg]

Except Obi is a really bad defender (by eyes and by truly awful D stats), while Jabari is a good one (eyes and stats again).

Adding good defense to Obi Toppin makes a very good player. Not a star, not exactly what you want picking third, but still a good player.

As someone whos not really a fan of either of those two I don't think their offensive games are similar at all either, very weird comp

Their body types are very similar which is where my comparison is coming from. The limitations of their body type force them into off-ball low usage roles, however different you perceive those roles to be.

Uhh I think it's far more likely skill level or lack thereof is what is forcing those dudes into off ball low usage roles. It's not Jabari's body that is the issue limiting his role, it's that he doesn't have the handle/ball skills to create so naturally he's going to be relegated to a catch and shoot/play finisher. If Jabari had the handle of Ben Simmons or something his role on Houston would be different.

[Dat2U]

As someone whos not really a fan of either of those two I don't think their offensive games are similar at all either, very weird comp

Their body types are very similar which is where my comparison is coming from. The limitations of their body type force them into off-ball low usage roles, however different you perceive those roles to be.

Uhh I think it's far more likely skill level or lack thereof is what is forcing those dudes into off ball low usage roles. It's not Jabari's body that is the issue limiting his role, it's that he doesn't have the handle/ball skills to create so naturally he's going to be relegated to a catch and shoot/play finisher. If Jabari had the handle of Ben Simmons or something his role on Houston would be different.

High narrow hips prevent you from having the flexibility & bend to get low on dribble drives. If your too upright, your handle gets too high and it's alot easier to lose the ball. Its beyond a skill issue, it's a physical limitation.

[NO-KG-AI]

Guys becoming fluid and creative ballhandlers later in their development almost never happens. Even the dudes that are super duper raw that become studs usually improve everywhere else, and had the ballhandling thing as a youngster.

I think it’s the hardest thing to improve in the NBA offensively, which is why I was apprehensive. Development is super hard to predict anyway. Basically impossible.

[NotACat]

Guys becoming fluid and creative ballhandlers later in their development almost never happens. Even the dudes that are super duper raw that become studs usually improve everywhere else, and had the ballhandling thing as a youngster.

I think it’s the hardest thing to improve in the NBA offensively, which is why I was apprehensive. Development is super hard to predict anyway. Basically impossible.

To add to this, I see dribbling as a skill that is developed at an exponential scale rather than linear.

It's not just being able to do some dribble moves, it's about being able to improvise them on the fly and being able to effectively use counters. Kids learn much faster than adults and there's so much more room for experimentation and learning at their level of play compared to the NBA.